A Critique of the International Anti-Corruption Debate
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A CRITIQUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DEBATE: LESSONS FROM EL SALVADOR AND PAKISTAN by WILLIAM H. JOHNSON A THESIS Presented to the Department of International Studies and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts September 2014 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: William H. Johnson Title: A Critique of the International Anti-Corruption Debate: Lessons From El Salvador and Pakistan This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of International Studies by: Dr. Anita Weiss Chairperson Prof. Michelle McKinley Member Prof. Ibrahim Gassama Member and J. Andrew Berglund Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2014 ii © 2014 William H. Johnson iii THESIS ABSTRACT William H. Johnson Master of Arts Department of International Studies September 2014 Title: A Critique of the International Anti-Corruption Debate: Lessons From El Salvador and Pakistan Corruption is an age-old problem that affects every society, government, and institution. In recent decades it has received considerable attention from scholars, development experts, and global policy-makers, and anti-corruption reforms now exist in nearly every country in the world. Unfortunately, decades of research and activism have created a proliferation of data and policy prescriptions that continue to follow a set of narrow, misguided assumptions about the causes and consequences of this serious problem. This is a critique of the perspective that has dominated the international anti- corruption debate. Building upon comparative research conducted in El Salvador and Pakistan, this thesis sheds light on how these narrow-minded assumptions lead to misguided and ineffective anti-corruption efforts in two distinct regions of the world. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: William H. Johnson GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene University of Nebraska, Lincoln Southeast Community College, Lincoln, NE Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, International Studies, 2014, University of Oregon Doctor of Jurisprudence, 2014, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, International Studies, 2010, University of Oregon AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Transitional Justice, Peacebuilding, and Human Rights Law PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Adjunct Instructor, Department of International Studies, University of Oregon, Spring, Summer & Fall 2014 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of International Studies, University of Oregon, Fall 2011-Fall 2013 Research and Lecture Fellow, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, Islamabad April – May, 2013 Legal Intern, The Center for Justice and Accountability, San Francisco Jan – March 2013 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Law Fellow, Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, 2013-2014 Research and Lecture Fellowship, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, 2013 SYLFF Fellowship for International Research, Tokyo Foundation, 2011-2012 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express sincere appreciation to Professors Weiss, McKinley, and Gassama for their assistance and support in the preparation of this manuscript and throughout my academic experience. In addition, special thanks are due to the staff at the American Institute of Pakistan Studies in Islamabad and Asociación Pro-Búsqueda de Niñas y Niños Desaparecidos in San Salvador for supporting me personally and professionally while I worked in their respective countries. Specifically, I owe a debt of gratitude to Ghulam Rasool, Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, and Zaman Malik in Islamabad, and Ester Alvarenga, Salvador Menendez Leal, and Carlos Mauricio in San Salvador for helping me with my research. This research was supported in part by fellowships from the American Institute of Pakistan Studies and the Tokyo Foundation, and by grants from the Department of International Studies and the Knight School of Law at the University of Oregon, Eugene. vi This thesis is dedicated to Laura, the love of my life, for supporting me in all my wild-eyed endeavors. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 1 A. Statement of the Problem................................................................................. 1 B. Research Methodology..................................................................................... 6 II. LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................ 13 A. Historical Context of Corruption ..................................................................... 14 B. Definitions and Types of Corruption ............................................................... 24 C. Measuring Corruption ...................................................................................... 39 D. Consequences of Corruption............................................................................ 42 E. Combating Corruption: Domestic and International Efforts............................ 49 III. ARGUMENT........................................................................................................ 60 A. What the Dominant Perspective Is Lacking..................................................... 61 B. Transparency International & the Corruption Perceptions Index .................... 63 i. Organizational Structure.............................................................................. 64 ii. Presentation of the Report .......................................................................... 67 iii. Methodology of the CPI ............................................................................ 70 iv. Standard Critiques of the Methodology..................................................... 72 v. My Addition to the Critiques ...................................................................... 73 IV. RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF ARGUMENT: EL SALVADOR ....................... 78 A. Relevant Background Information................................................................... 78 B. Research Findings ............................................................................................ 84 viii Chapter Page i. Local Perceptions: Corruption Runs Rampant ............................................ 84 ii. Corruption and Violence in El Salvador..................................................... 90 iii. El Tribunal de Ética Gubernamental ......................................................... 91 V. RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF ARGUMENT: PAKISTAN ............................... 94 A. Relevant Background Information................................................................... 94 i. Corruption in Pakistan: The Early Years..................................................... 94 ii. Corruption in the Contemporary Context: Benazir Bhutto to the Present.. 101 iii. National and International Implications for Corruption in Pakistan ......... 108 B. Research Findings ............................................................................................ 110 i. Initial Assumptions...................................................................................... 110 ii. Two Types of Corruption in Pakistan......................................................... 114 iii. Anti-Corruption Efforts: The National Accountability Bureau................. 120 VI. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 123 A. Suggestions for Reframing the Debate ............................................................ 126 B. Suggestions for Further Research .................................................................... 129 REFERENCES CITED................................................................................................ 131 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Corruption is an age-old problem that exists in every society. In certain parts of the world, however, corruption reaches a pervasive, systemic level that influences all aspects of the relationship between a citizen and his or her government. Once corruption reaches this systemic level it erodes state legitimacy, thus further decreasing respect for the rule of law and increasing the potential for violence and conflict. Impunity is a necessary condition for systemic corruption, and when impunity becomes pervasive it acts to reinforce levels of both corruption and violence within a society. Corruption became a hot topic for scholarly research and governmental action in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to twenty years of large, headline-grabbing corruption scandals in both Western states and the developing world.1 The creation of Transparency International (TI) in 1993 provided the framework for what would soon become a global anti-corruption movement. TI’s first major accomplishment, the Corruption Perceptions Index or CPI, represented the first attempt to measure and compare corruption across countries and regions, and since this time numerous other studies have been completed to address the causes and effects of corruption throughout the world. This proliferation of corruption-related research provided a wealth of data and new perspectives on the problem, yet arguably this has not translated into successful anti-corruption policies or improvements at the local, national, or international level.