Institutional weakness and organized crime in Mexico: the case of Michoacan

In the case of Mexico, the prevalence of organized crime and drug trafficking can be explained more as a consequence of the weak and insufficient institutional bureaucracy that impedes the application of the law than the demand for narcotics in the United States. In this context, a study was undertaken in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, the state where one of the most violent criminal groups, Los Caballeros Templarios (the Knights Templar), a splinter group of La Familia Michoacana (the family Michoacan), is located. This article, which draws upon LaFree's 'social control' research, raises the question of the urgent need to strengthen state and municipal government within an integrated strategy to combat organized crime. Failure to reform bureaucracies and the continued lack of local and state institutions that guarantee a modicum of compliance with the law will result in an institutional environment which continues to favor impunity and delinquency.