Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. However, since 2000, both Brazil and Mexico have seen a steady decline in inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, after both countries maintained a fiscally responsible economic model while enacting pragmatic social policies that addressed the neediest in each country. This has occurred despite Mexico being led by the right-wing PAN government and Brazil being led by the leftist PT. This thesis argues that inequality dropped because democratic openings and a strengthening rule of law in the 1980s and 1990s forced politicians to stick to a fiscally responsible economic model and seriously address poverty reduction, while limiting the threats of populism and clientelism.
