The nexus of organized crime and politics in Mexico / Stanley A. Pimentel -- Organized crime and the organization / Luis Astorga -- Organized crime and political campaign finance in Mexico / Leonardo Curzio -- Scope and limits of an act of good faith: the PAN's experience at the head of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic / Sigrid Arzt -- Containing armed groups, drug trafficking, and organized crime in Mexico: the role of the military / Raúl Benítez Manaut -- The historical dynamics of smuggling in the U.S.-Mexican border region, 1550-1998: reflections on markets, cultures, and bureaucracies / Louis R. Sadler -- Organized crime and democratic governability at the U.S.-Mexico border: border zone dynamics / Francisco Javier Molina Ruiz -- Mexican drug syndicates in California / Elias Castillo and Peter Unsinger