It is tempting to see corruption as more or less baked into Latin American politics and societies, as varying somewhat in more-versus-less terms, but ultimately embodying ineluctable aspects of the region's history and culture. That sort of view is all the more tempting because it can account for any social problem that comes to mind, because it relieves us of the burden of distinguishing carefully among the 20 countries and assorted dependencies, and because it seems to justify the pessimism and sense of resignation that push the region well down our list of international priorities.
But Stephen Morris, Charles Blake and their eight collaborators show us how wrong that sort of view can be. They tackle corruption issues at both the international and the country levels, showing that while corruption across the region has distinctive elements it also reflects the full range of influences at work around the world. They take a sceptical view of the old argument that corruption is functional or useful for development, but also caution against the assumption that corruption explains everything bad about a society or negates all that is good. Moreover, dismissing corruption as the extended consequence of ‘culture’ fails basic tests of evidence, and hides far more than it reveals. Worst of all, thinking about corruption at that level of generality diverts our attention from very real opportunities in country after country.
Morris and Blake, who have collaborated on a number of projects pulling together strong scholarship on these issues, begin with a chapter on corruption itself, basic connections to politics in the region, and the overall plan the book will follow. There follow six chapters on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela, a chapter on the ‘anti-corruption agenda’ in the region, and a concluding chapter on ways in which the politics and interests driving the corruption issue, as well as those forces impeding reform, are changing.
Those last two chapters are particularly welcome. The anti-corruption movement is overdue for a reassessment in its own right, both in terms of the interests it embodies but often does not overtly acknowledge, and in terms of its track record of successes (few, but not zero), missed opportunities and failed or even harmful initiatives. Changes in the politics of corruption and reform are equally important: sophisticated reformers now recognise that reform must mean more than just improving state administrative processes, liberalising economies in order to reduce rent-seeking opportunities and waiting for ‘political will’ to save the day. Reform requires social and political foundations that cannot be built simply by appealing to the public interest or urging people to be good. Building such constituencies, often in the face of risk, deprivation and repression as well as the usual collective action problems, is no simple matter. Frustrating as the fact may be, getting from here to there is a political journey.
The chapter on Cuba, by Sergio Díaz-Briquets and Jorge Pérez-López, is particularly worthwhile. Long-standing attempts to isolate that nation mean that we have little comprehensive evidence on its corruption; thus the chapter's survey of varieties of corruption and vulnerabilities to it is a real asset. Five decades of Castro's political and economic system, overlaid on a Spanish heritage, have created corruption dynamics distinctive in the region. Major change may be in the offing, but serious attempts to democratise or marketise Cuba might just put corruption into overdrive. Recent constructive developments in the international community's attitudes are a positive factor, however, and there are reasons for hope as well as for apprehension about future corruption trends.
Venezuela, Leslie Gates reminds us, is a petro-state as well as home to Hugo Chávez, and thus combines elements of the so-called ‘resource curse’ with the implications of an outsized political personality and his following. Argentina, analysed by Blake along with Sara Kohen, and Brazil, as discussed by Matthew Taylor, are enigmas in corruption terms, albeit of quite different sorts. Patterns of corruption entrenched in Argentina's society since the nineteenth century are under pressure from both would-be reformers and forces of economic change; will corrupt interests adapt to new realities and, in so doing, inhibit changes as they often have done in the past, or might Argentina be on the verge of a new era of effective, transparent government? The answers, while difficult to foretell, revolve around the vitality of electoral politics. Brazil, for its part, might seem to be doing very well, particularly if we limit our view to the more buoyant sectors of the economy. But corruption has done far more harm to democratic processes than is generally recognised, with potential consequences reaching far beyond day-to-day politics. At least for now corruption remains the exception in Brazil, rather than the rule; thus, the region's biggest country and economy have everything to play for in terms of reform.
Bolivia, taken up in the chapter by Daniel Gingerich, brings two other major issues to the fore. One is the long-term impact of entrenched corruption: in some respects, what has not changed in Bolivia is as important as any new forces that may be at work. That argument is brought home in a particularly useful way by evidence on the way key institutions, social as well as official, can sustain corruption and keep it entrenched. It is fashionable to refer to corruption in terms of the spread of disease, and to predict the collapse of corrupt societies; Bolivia, however, shows us how such scenarios can be flatly wrong.
Mexico is the focus of a chapter by Morris and, as in a number of his other works, it emerges both as a fascinating case in its own right and as a symbol of so many of the hopes and risks to be seen across the region. Mexico has done many things right: the economy has been opened up, some state institutions have been significantly strengthened, and highly successful election reforms culminated in Vicente Fox's victory over the PRI machine in 2000. But the anti-corruption pay-offs have been scant: progress has been minimal while expectations raised by reforms have, if anything, increased the risks of cynicism and resignation. It is tempting to speculate that Mexico embodies one of the oldest rules of politics: no good deed ever goes unpunished.
No book, this volume included, can consider all relevant influences, variations and consequences across such a large and diverse region. Links to and contrasts with the rest of the world are of equal importance, and, while several chapters offer suggestive ideas on that level, much basic comparative work has only just begun. At the same time, those seeking an introduction to the region and its political prospects would do well to start with the Morris and Blake volume; those looking for a more advanced account of corruption in the region will find much to appreciate as well.
