ISSUE BRIEF 07.29.16 Does the Presence of Women in Politics Reduce Corruption in Latin America? Leslie Schwindt-Bayer, Ph.D., Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar, Latin America Initiative; Albert Thomas Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science, Rice University ABSTRACT Corruption has become one of the most important political challenges for Latin American governments in recent years. Is the presence of women in politics a solution to corruption problems? Research from the early 2000s on women’s representation in parliaments and corruption levels from countries around the world suggests that the answer to this question is “yes.” However, analysis of the relationship between women in government and corruption in Latin America shows that the answer is “not yet.” Greater presence of women in Latin American governments has the potential to reduce corruption but only when combined with institutional improvements to the quality of democracy and electoral accountability in the region. Corruption and corruption scandals have Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released long plagued Latin American democracies, earlier this year. Although the corruption but in recent years, attention to corruption scores of countries vary, Latin America’s and public frustration with it has taken regional average and the fact that only center stage. Examples of rampant three countries are among the least corrupt corruption throughout the region include countries in the world (Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil’s 2005-2006 mensalão scandal and Costa Rica) indicate that corruption continues the country’s current lava jato scandal; to be a serious problem in the region. The allegations in Argentina that former prevalence of and concern with corruption Is women’s presidents Néstor and Cristina Kirchner in Latin America raises important questions representation skimmed from public coffers while in about how to reduce corruption in politics. in public office a office; the Mexican president’s wife’s One possible answer to this question questionable housing deal; and, perhaps emerged in the early 2000s when solution to corruption most extensively, the customs scandal in researchers at the World Bank identified in Latin America? Guatemala that forced the resignations of an interesting relationship—representation Not yet. the country’s vice president and president of women in government, particularly in last year. Citizen frustration has been legislatures, is associated with reduced evident through street protests, at the levels of corruption. Dollar et al. (2001) ballot box, and in public opinion surveys directly compared women’s representation and government approval ratings. in parliaments with overall corruption Table 1 shows the most recent data on levels in their governments and found a corruption in 18 Latin American countries strong correlation between the two across from Transparency International’s 2015 a large number of countries. Swamy et al. RICE UNIVERSITY’S BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY // ISSUE BRIEF // 07.29.16 Fifteen years have passed since Dollar TABLE 1 — CORRUPTION IN LATIN AMERICA (2015) and Swamy initially linked the presence of women in government to lower levels CPI Rank CPI Score Country (Highest = Most Corrupt) (Highest = Least Corrupt) of corruption. During this period, women’s representation in politics increased Uruguay 21 74 dramatically in Latin America (see Figure Chile 23 70 1). Yet, corruption appears to have become more, rather than less, problematic for Costa Rica 40 55 governments in the region. Is women’s El Salvador 72 39 representation in public office a solution Panama 72 39 to corruption in Latin America? Not yet. Research has found no relationship between Brazil 76 38 women’s representation and corruption in Colombia 83 37 Latin America. However, in combination with institutional reforms to improve the Peru 88 36 functioning of democracy and electoral Mexico 95 35 accountability, women’s presence in Bolivia 99 34 government does have the potential to improve the corruption problems that Dominican Republic 103 33 plague the region. Argentina 107 32 Ecuador 107 32 CAVEATS REGARDING THE LINK Honduras 112 31 BETWEEN WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION Guatemala 123 28 AND CORRUPTION Nicaragua 130 27 In the years since the initial findings from Paraguay 130 27 Dollar et al. and Swamy et al., research on Venezuela 158 17 women’s representation in government and corruption has expanded. Three important Average 38 caveats to Dollar’s and Swamy’s findings have emerged. First, the relationship NOTE Transparency International’s CPI measures corruption perceptions but, as they note, “Capturing between women’s representation and perceptions of corruption of those in a position to offer assessments of public sector corruption is the most reliable method of comparing relative corruption levels across countries” (Transparency reduced corruption is context-specific. In International 2015, 1). other words, it exists in some countries SOURCE Data available at http://www.transparency.org/cpi2015. and political contexts, but not all. For example, Esarey and Chirillo (2013) found that the relationship is strong and (2001) explored the relationship between significant in democracies but nonexistent in corruption and women in parliament, authoritarian regimes. In a series of cross- bureaucratic agencies, and the labor force, national experiments designed to measure finding that the presence of more women in willingness to engage in corruption, Alatas these institutions was associated with less et al. (2009) found that women were less corruption. In the aftermath of this research, susceptible to corruption in some countries some governments enthusiastically brought but not in others. Specifically, they found women into civil service positions as an gender differences in willingness to engage anti-corruption measure (Moore 1999). The in and tolerate corruption in Australia but state of Mexico, for example, implemented not in India, Indonesia, or Singapore. an all-female corps of traffic officers in 2013 A second caveat is that the reason why in an explicit effort to end problems of police women’s representation is linked to less accepting bribes when issuing citations corruption is not that women are essentially (Kahn 2013). more honest or trustworthy than men. Dollar et al.’s (2001, 423) study suggested 2 DOES THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN IN POLITICS REDUCE CORRUPTION IN LATIN AMERICA? that the perception that women are “more FIGURE 1 — WOMEN IN LATIN AMERICAN LEGISLATURES (1980-2015) trustworthy and public-spirited than men” is the reason why they are associated with 25 less corruption in government. Yet this was roundly dismissed as a “myth” by Lower House/Unicameral gender and politics scholars (Goetz 2007), 20 Legislature (Weighted Average) and it did not explain why the relationship Upper House exists in some countries but not others.1 More recent scholarship has suggested 15 that women have had less opportunity to engage in corruption because they are often 10 excluded from power and patronage (Tripp 2001; Goetz 2007; Branisa and Ziegler 2011); however, one recent study found that the Average Percentage Women Percentage Average 5 link between women’s representation and corruption holds true even after accounting 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 for levels of political opportunity (Torgler and Valev 2010). Esarey and Schwindt-Bayer Year (2016) argued that the relationship results from women’s greater risk aversion and NOTE Data on women in legislatures are from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), various years. concern that gendered views of women in SOURCE See http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm. government can disproportionately hurt women more than men. Third, it is possible that the relationship First, there is no indication that between women’s presence in government governments led by women are any and corruption runs in both directions. In less corrupt than governments led by other words, it is possible that having men. Corruption scandals have plagued more women in government leads to the governments of female presidents less corruption, and less corruption may recently elected in the region. In Costa encourage more women to enter politics. Rica, corruption scandals marred the Women may be less likely to engage administration of Laura Chinchilla in corruption than men (for any of the (2010–2014). Several of her ministers There is no indication reasons just mentioned), thereby making were accused of involvement in a range that governments public sector corruption less pervasive. of corrupt activities, including tax evasion, led by women are inappropriately awarding government At the same time, women may be less any less corrupt than likely to enter corrupt political systems contracts, and influence peddling, which because political recruitment of women contributed to her record-low presidential governments led is more difficult in clientelistic or corrupt approval ratings (around 10 percent). In by men. Corruption societies, where women are more likely to Brazil, Dilma Rousseff’s Worker’s Party (PT) scandals have plagued be excluded from male-dominated election has been hurt by widespread accusations the governments of networks (Bjarnegård 2013; Stockemer 2011; of corruption. Rousseff herself has been Sundström and Wängnerud 2016). temporarily removed from office amid female presidents impeachment proceedings related to recently elected in allegedly unauthorized budget maneuvers the region. IS WOMEN’S PRESENCE IN during her presidency.