Where Corruption Lives
Gerald Caiden, O.P. Dwivedi, Joseph Jabbra, editors
Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT (2004)
274 pages. $24.95
In a recent interview with this writer, Honduran Minister of Security Oscar Alvarez called corruption "the mother of all sins. Blind, deaf and mute, it contaminates all segments of society. When it infects both the structure and mechanism of governance, nations are at once imperiled, often irreversibly."
If corruption is easy to define, it is often hard to isolate, harder yet to stamp out. This is especially true --- though not exclusively --- of developing nations with a history of deception and a deep-rooted tradition of impunity that not only shields or exculpates corruption but also destigmatizes it. Nations with a murky political past and ritualized penchant for obfuscation, are especially vulnerable. Decades of cronyism, nepotism, secrecy and prevarication have helped rationalize corruption. It has since become a "wink-wink, nod-nod" business-as-usual instrument of personal enrichment, influence peddling, political clout and kleptocratic control.
The meshing of political and business elites into a tangled latticework of duplicity and fraud has helped enthrone and sanctify corruption. A pattern of impunity and immunity in high places has further dampened the public's will --- and ability --- to challenge increasingly unyielding power structures.
The dimensions of this universal --- and growing --- problem are meticulously explored in this unique, highly readable and compelling global survey of official corruption in governance. Twenty-one distinguished scholars have joined to dissect corruption from both a theoretical and practical perspective, analyzing the complex cultural matrix in which it percolates, and comparing liberal democracies that enjoy relatively clean governance to autocracies or semi-democratic states where institutionalized corruption is rampant.
Abuse of authority, fraud, misappropriation of funds, bribery and perjury, the authors contend, are fostered and perpetuated by a preexisting culture of corruption fueled by fear, apathy and complacency. Also blamed is a conspiracy of silence by a growing segment of society that perceives corruption less as a misdeed than a rite of passage, a privilege earned by people in high places. In Central America, where corruption is embedded and calcified, such value system has emboldened common folk to suborn public officials in schemes that have resulted in a convoluted and inextricable symbiosis of intrigue and crime.
One message that comes through in this remarkable exposé is that corruption is a habitualized part of the social fabric. Another is that any attempt to frustrate the spread of corruption must first be anchored in the political will to do so. This resolve must then be shored up by incorruptible bureaucrats, a vigilant and engaged citizenry willing to make its public servants accountable for their actions, and a collective ethos that fosters civic self-esteem and repudiates corruption wherever it is likely to occur.
In a concluding chapter, scholars from the University of Southern California, the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), and Loyola Marymount University call good governance "an essentially moral enterprise:"
"The objective of good governance is to create an environment in which public servants as well as politicians are able to respond to the challenges of good governance. The challenge for public officials involves a notion of duty, as well as acting morally and accountably. No society, no matter its political and religious orientation, can live in a spiritual or moral vacuum."
Where Corruption Lives is must-read for students of comparative politics, public administration, and ethics. Central American heads of state will find this erudite and provocative wake-up call enlightening and, hopefully, inspiring.
The book is available through Kumarian Press, 1204 Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield, CT 06002, USA. (FAX) 860-2867 or at http://www.kpbooks.com.
W. E. Gutman is a veteran journalist on assignment in Central America since 1991. He lives in southern California.
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