Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 6-28-2000 Political corruption in the Caribbean basin : a comparative analysis of Jamaica and Costa Rica Michael W. Collier Florida International University DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14060878 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Comparative Politics Commons, Latin American History Commons, Political History Commons, and the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation Collier, Michael W., "Political corruption in the Caribbean basin : a comparative analysis of Jamaica and Costa Rica" (2000). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2408. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2408 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF JAMAICA AND COSTA RICA A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Michael Wayne Collier To: Dean Arthur W. Herriott College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Michael Wayne Collier, and entitled Political Corruption in the Caribbean Basin: A Comparative Analysis of Jamaica and Costa Rica, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. Anthony P. Maingot Eduardo A. Gamarra Ivelaw L. Griffith Emily A. Copeland Nicholas G. Onuf, Major Professor Date of Defense: June 28, 2000 The dissertation of Michael Wayne Collier is approved. Dean Arthur W. Herriott College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard L. Campbell Division of Graduate Studies Florida International University, 2000 © Copyright 2000 by Michael Wayne Collier All rights reserved. DEDICATION To Gloria. ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF JAMAICA AND COSTA RICA by Michael Wayne Collier Florida International University, 2000 Miami, Florida Professor Nicholas G. Onuf, Major Professor Political corruption in the Caribbean Basin retards state economic growth and development, undermines government legitimacy, and threatens state security. In spite of recent anti-corruption efforts of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations (IGO/NGOs), Caribbean political corruption problems appear to be worsening in the post-Cold War period. This dissertation discovers why IGO/NGO efforts to arrest corruption are failing by investigating the domestic and international causes of political corruption in the Caribbean. The dissertation’s theoretical framework centers on an interdisciplinary model of the causes of political corruption built within the rule-oriented constructivist approach to social science. The model first employs a rational choice analysis that broadly explains the varying levels of political corruption found across the region. The constructivist theory of social rules is then used to develop the structural mechanisms that further explain the region’s levels of political corruption. The dissertation advances its theory of the causes of political corruption through qualitative disciplined-configurative case studies of political corruption in Jamaica and Costa Rica. The dissertation finds that IGO/NGO sponsored anti-corruption programs are failing because they employ only technical measures (issuing anti-corruption laws and regulations, providing transparency in accounting procedures, improving freedom of the press, establishing electoral reforms, etc.). While these IGO/NGO technical measures are necessary, they are not sufficient to arrest the Caribbean’s political corruption problems. This dissertation concludes that to be successful, IGO/NGO anti-corruption programs must also include social measures, e.g., building civil societies and modernizing political cultures, for there to be any hope of lowering political corruption levels and improving Caribbean social conditions. The dissertation also highlights the key role of Caribbean governing elite in constructing the political and economic structures that cause their states’ political corruption problems. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE.............................................................................................................................................. 1 I. IN TRO DU CTIO N .....................................................................................................................8 Caribbean Political Corruption Issues.................................................................................. 9 Key Definitions.........................................................................................................................14 Explanations for Political Corruption................................................................................. 21 Research Design....................................................................................................................... 30 Limitations, Delimitations, Contributions.........................................................................35 Endnotes.....................................................................................................................................38 II. A THEORY OF POLITICAL CO RRU PTION................................................................39 The Constructivist Analytic Frame......................................................................................40 A Political Corruption Agency Analysis........................................................................... 47 A Political Corruption Structural Analysis........................................................................68 Specifying the Theory.............................................................................................................93 Endnotes..................................................................................................................................... 96 III. A HISTORY OF CARIBBEAN POLITICAL CORRUPTION: 1492-1950............99 Corruption Across the Spanish Main.................................................................................. 99 Corruption in the Colonies of Spain’s European Rivals...............................................106 US Caribbean Interventions.................................................................................................118 Changing the Caribbean Political Corruption Rules......................................................124 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................127 Endnotes................................................................................................................................... 129 IV. CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN POLITICAL CORRUPTION .......................... 131 Post-World War II Caribbean Structural Development................................................ 132 Contemporary Caribbean Institutions................................................................................144 Caribbean Political Corruption Behaviors........................................................................161 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................182 Endnotes....................................................................................................................................183 V. JAMAICA: WESTMINSTER CORRUPTED ................................................................184 Historical Setting....................................................................................................................185 Assessing Contemporary Jamaican Political Corruption..............................................196 Explaining Jamaican Political Corruption....................................................................... 200 Findings................................................................................................................................... 234 Endnotes................................................................................................................................... 237 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) VI. COSTA RICA: DEMOCRACY MANIPULATED .................................................... 239 Historical Setting.................................................................................................................. 240 Assessing Contemporary Costa Rican Political Corruption........................................255 Explaining Costa Rican Political Corruption..................................................................260 F indings.................................................................................................................................. 293 Endnotes.................................................................................................................................. 296 VII. CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................298 Assessing the Theory............................................................................................................299