Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T00:39:07.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Political Corruption in Central America: Assessment and Explanation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. Mark Ruhl
J. Mark Ruhl*
Affiliation:
Dickinson College. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Analysts agree that political corruption is an obstacle to democratic consolidation but disagree about how to measure the extent of corruption in individual nations. This analysis of the Central American countries demonstrates that the most important competing quantitative measures of political corruption produce strikingly different rankings. These contradictory results are caused less by poor measurement techniques than by the existence of two different dimensions of corruption that do not always coincide. Statistical indicators based on expert perceptions of corruption and alternative indicators based on ordinary citizens' firsthand experiences with bribery measure, respectively, grand corruption by senior officials and petty corruption by lower-level functionaries. This study attempts to explain why several Central American nations suffer primarily from one or the other rather than both. It advances recommendations for future research and future anticorruption policies that may be applied to Latin America as a whole.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , Spring 2011 , pp. 33 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Booth, John A., Wade, Christine J., and Walker, Thomas W., eds. 2009. Understanding Central America: Global Forces, Rebellion, and Change. 5th ed. Boulder : Westview Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Ed, and Cloke, Jonathan. 2005. Neoliberal Reform, Governance, and Corruption in Central America: Exploring the Nicaraguan Case. Political Geography 24: 601–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canache, Damarys, and Allison, Michael E.. 2005. Perceptions of Political Corruption in Latin American Democracies. Latin American Politics and Society 47, 3 (Fall): 91–111.Google Scholar
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2009. CIA World Factbook 2009. Washington , DC : United States Central Intelligence Agency. <http://www.cia.gov> Accessed January 2010.+Accessed+January+2010.>Google Scholar
Close, David, and Deonandan, Kalowatie, eds. 2004. Undoing Democracy: The Politics of Electoral Caudillismo. Lanham : Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Sardan, De, Olivier, J. P.. 1999. A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa? Journal of Modern African Studies 37, 1: 25–52.Google Scholar
Due Process of Law Foundation. 2007. Evaluation of Judicial Corruption in Central America and Panama and the Mechanisms to Combat It. Washington , DC : Due Process of Law Foundation.Google Scholar
Galtung, Fredrik. 2006. Measuring the Immeasurable: Bountries and Functions of (Macro) Corruption Indices. In Measuring Corruption, ed. Sampford, Charles et al. Burlington : Ashgate. 101–30.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Kate. 2006. The Middle East's Corruption Conundrum. Current History 105: 40–46.Google Scholar
Global Integrity. 2008. Global Integrity Reports. Washington , DC : Global Integrity. <http:report.globalintegrity.org> Accessed December 2008.+Accessed+December+2008.>Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven : Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, Roberta Ann. 2004. Corruption in Four Countries. In The Struggle Against Corruption: A Comparative Study, ed. Johnson, . New York : Palgrave Macmillan. 145–65.Google Scholar
Johnson, Roberta Ann, and Sharma, Shalendra. 2004. About Corruption. In The Struggle Against Corruption: A Comparative Study, ed. Johnson, . New York : Palgrave Macmillan. 1–19.Google Scholar
Johnston, Michael. 2002. Measuring the New Corruption Rankings: Implications for Analysis and Reform. In Political Corruption: Concepts and Contexts, ed. Heidenheimer, Arnold J. and Johnston, . New Brunswick : Transaction. 865–84.Google Scholar
Johnston, Michael. 2005. Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy. New York : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Daniel, Kraay, Aart, and Mastruzzi, Massimo. 2008. Governance Matters VII: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indicators, 1996–2007. Policy Research Working Paper no. 4654. Washington , DC : World Bank Development Research Group/World Bank Institute.Google Scholar
Knack, Stephen. 2007. Measuring Corruption: a Critique of Indicators in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Journal of Public Policy 27, 3: 255–91.Google Scholar
Lambsdorff, Johann G. 2008. The Methodology of the Corruption Perceptions Index, 2008. <http://www.transparency.org> Accessed June 2009.+Accessed+June+2009.>Google Scholar
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). 2008. Political Culture of Democracy in El Salvador, 2008: The Impact of Governance. Nashville : LAPOP, Vanderbilt University.Google Scholar
Latinobarómetro. 2009. 2008 Report. Santiago , Chile : Corporación Latinobarómetro. <http://www.latinobarometro.org>..>Google Scholar
Mauro, Paolo. 1995. Corruption and Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 110, 3: 681–712.Google Scholar
Miller, William L. 2006. Perceptions, Experience, and Lies: What Measures Corruption and What Do Corruption Measures Measure? In Measuring Corruption, ed. Sampford, Charles et. al. Burlington : Ashgate. 163–85.Google Scholar
Montinola, Gabriela R., and Jackman, Robert W.. 2002. Sources of Corruption: a Cross-National Study. British Journal of Political Science 32: 147–70.Google Scholar
Morris, Stephen D. 2008. Disaggregating Corruption: a Comparison of Participation and Perceptions in Latin America with a Focus on Mexico. Bulletin of Latin American Research 27, 3: 388–409.Google Scholar
Morris, Stephen D., and Blake, Charles H.. 2009. Introduction: Political and Analytical Challenges of Corruption in Latin America. In Corruption and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Blake and Morris. Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press. 1–22.Google Scholar
Orces, Diana. 2009a. Corruption Victimization by Public Employees. Americas Barometer Insights Series. Nashville : LAPOP, Vanderbilt University.Google Scholar
Orces, Diana. 2009b. Corruption Victimization in the Public Health Sector. Americas Barometer Insights Series. Nashville : LAPOP, Vanderbilt University.Google Scholar
Porter, Michael E., Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, and Schwab, Klaus. 2007. The Global Competitiveness Report, 2007–8. New York : World Economic Forum/Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Quah, Jon S. T. 2006. Curbing Asian Corruption: an Impossible Dream? Current History 105: 176–79.Google Scholar
Rose-Ackerman, Susan. 1999. Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences and Reform. New York : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Tina. 2003. The Taint of the Greased Palm. New York times Magazine, August 10: 28–33.Google Scholar
Seligson, Mitchell A. 2006. The Measurement and Impact of Corruption Victimization: Survey Evidence from Latin America. World Development 34, 2: 381–404.Google Scholar
Seligson, Mitchell A., and Zephyr, Dominique. 2008. The AmericasBarometer 2006: Report on Corruption. In Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector, ed. Zinnbauer, Dieter and Dobson, Rebecca. New York : Cambridge University Press. 312–15.Google Scholar
Sieder, Rachel, Morris, Megan, Vickers, George, and Spence, Jack. 2002. Who Governs? Guatemala Five Years After the Peace Accords. Cambridge , MA : Hemisphere Initiatives.Google Scholar
State of the Nation-Region Program. 2008. Central America: State of the Region on Sustainable Human Development, 2008. San José , Costa Rica : State of the Nation Program. <http://www.estadonacion.or.cr> Accessed June 2009.+Accessed+June+2009.>Google Scholar
Thacker, Strom C. 2009. Democracy, Economic Policy, and Political Corruption: Latin America in Comparative Perspective. In Corruption and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Blake, Charles H. and Morris, Stephen D. Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press. 25–45.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2003. Perfil del Sistema Nacional de Integridad de El Salvador. Berlin : Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2006a. Los sistemas nacionales de integridad: estudio del pais Costa Rica 2006. Berlin : Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2006b. Los sistemas nacionales de integridad: estudio del pais Nicaragua 2006. Berlin : Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2006c. National Integrity Systems Country Study Report: Panama 2006. Berlin : Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2006d. Sistema Nacional de Integridad de Honduras 2006. Berlin : Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2007. National Integrity Systems Country Study Report: Guatemala 2007. Berlin : Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2008. 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index. <http://www.transparency.org>..>Google Scholar
Transparency International. 2009. 2009 Global Corruption Barometer. <http://www.transparency.org>..>Google Scholar
Triesman, Daniel. 2000. The Causes of Corruption: a Cross-National Study. Journal of Public Economics 76, 3: 399–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triesman, Daniel. 2007. What Have We Learned about the Causes of Corruption from Ten Years of Cross-National Research? Annual Review of Political Science 10: 211–44.Google Scholar
Tulchin, Joseph S., and Espach, Ralph H.. 2000. Introduction. In Combating Corruption in Latin America, ed. Tulchin and Espach. Washington , DC : Woodrow Wilson Center Press. 1–12.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1997. Helping Countries Combat Corruption: The Role of the World Bank. Washington , DC : World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2008. World Bank Governance Indicators for 2007. <http://Info.world-bank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp>..>Google Scholar
Zephyr, Dominique. 2008. Corruption and Its Impact on Latin American Democratic Stability. In Challenges to Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from the AmericasBarometer, 2006–07, ed. Seligson, Mitchell A.. Nashville : LAPOP, Vanderbilt University. 251–76.Google Scholar