Essay on Political Corruption in Brazil

Introduction

Fogel, (2019) depicts that Tracing the roots of political corruption in Brazil from Vargas to Bolsonaro exposes corruption as a political tactic that has long been woven into the structure of Brazilian politics. As the largest nation in South America with a population of over 200 million, Brazil`s importance on the global stage is clear; however, corruption charges and convictions have riddled the country`s reputation (Jenkins, 2019). Corruption is defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain; Corruption destroys trust, diminishes democracy, hinders economic development, and worsens inequality, poverty, social division, and the environmental crisis (Transparency International, 2022).

According to Labrador, (2018), Corruption probes in Brazil began in 2014 and have touched the highest levels of the Brazilian government and corporate elite, incriminating President Michel Temer, other former presidents, and several cabinet officials and senators. Corruption has been said to complicate the efforts to revitalize the country`s economy during its largest downturn in more than a century. (Labrador, 2018) depicts that if corruption is being examined from a state perspective the result will be in its roots and will be fundamentally political. State corruption usually refers to the abuse of public office. The word Corruption is generally considered a critical issue, and as a result, politicians bestow with public power are not willing to accept the brand name of being corrupt, as this will call their legitimacy into question.

To understand the effects of corruption and how it is handled, an article by (United Nations Office on drugs and crime, 2019) will be used to indicate the many theories that have guided and influenced anti-corruption efforts within the last 20 years. One specific theory that the article highlights is the principal-agent theory, said to probably be one of the more influential theories in understanding corruption. According to this theory, corruption arises within the public sector due to the transfer of responsibility and imperfect monitoring. This generates a principal-agent relationship between the government. and its bureaucracy or between the taxpayers and therefore the political elite. An agent to blame for certain tasks (such as assembling or policy design) may make the most of his position with the knowledge that he can't be perfectly monitored by the principal. Hence the agent may abuse his position for private gain. Typically, agents arrange to engage in corruption by comparing the expected income of being corrupt against the income of being honest. On the other hand, the game theory explains the prevalence of public sector corruption. This theory uses economic literature and seeks to offer justifications for corrupt decisions by public officials. The analysis from this theory highlights the fears that exist within an individual who refuses to engage in corrupt practices and the repercussions for abstaining, while other individuals do it without hesitation.

For decades the economic literature referred to the principal-agent model to explain corruption, however, more recently the collective action theory emerged as an alternative explanation for why systemic corruption continues in spite of laws making it illegal, and why corruption battles several other anti-corruption efforts in some countries. The collective action theory goes beyond traditional principal-agent relationships and emphasizes the importance of factors such as trust and how individuals perceive the behavior of others. This theory according to (United Nations Office on drugs and crime, 2019) depicts systemic corruption as a collective problem because people rationalize their own behavior based on their perceptions of what others will do in the same situation. The writer explains that, when corruption becomes a social norm, everyone starts seeing it simply as the way to get things done.

The use of the institutional theory to finally understand corruption indicates that corruption is influenced by the character, design, and transparency of the political system and its institutions. (United Nations Office on drugs and crime, 2019) depicts how the institutional theory uses country and government institutional characteristics, such as pre-existing rule of law, well-defined anti-corruption norms, and independent anti-corruption institutions with enforcement powers, to explain corruption in the public sector. To further explain the author established that, In the USA, candidates that run for elections are allowed to receive financial support from private sources such as ordinary citizens, private corporations, and either cultural or religious groups. once elected, a politician who has received financial support from a private company will drive some regulation that intends at reducing the financial burden in the area where this company operates. Despite the various collective explanation for corruption, it remains an unsolved and prevalent issue in many states. (Transparency International, 2019) depicts that Corruption remains one of the biggest impediments to economic development in Brazil in agreeing with this statement, this literature will highlight how bribery, nepotism, and clientelism have robbed Brazil of its potential to develop.

Bribery

Firstly, bribery refers to the offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of any item of value as a means of influencing the actions of an individual holding a public or legal duty. This form of action results in issues that should be managed objectively being handled in a way best befitting the private interests of the decision-maker. Bribery constitutes a crime and both the offeror and the recipient can be criminally charged (The Legal Information Institute (LII)).

In the case of Brazil, bribery has put the country on the global map in what is classified as one of the biggest corruption cases of all time. The Federal Public Ministry, (2019) indicates that On March 17, 2014, the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) launched an operation known as Car Wash (CW). The Case of Operation car wash (The Lava Jato), the largest anti-corruption and money laundering initiative in Brazilian history. This operation has uncovered highly irregular collusion and corruption in Petrobras, the state's largest company, which exceeded billions of dollars. In this scheme, which lasted at least ten years, large contractors organized into cartels paid bribes to senior state executives and other public agents. The amount of the bribe varied from 1% to 5% of the total amount of overpriced billion-dollar contracts (Federal Public Ministry, 2019). The effects of bribery usually result in several developmental issues for states and particularly the most vulnerable citizens.

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According to The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, delays in the delivery of public services to citizens, misallocation of resources, pointless additional costs, inadequate roads and bad roads, substandard bridges, and buildings are just a few of the damaging consequences of bribery and corruption. (Rossi, 2018) highlights that the quality of Brazilian infrastructure is precarious. The author further indicates that, according to the World Economic Forum (2015), Brazil ranks 123 out of 140 countries in terms of quality of overall infrastructure, well below the average of countries with a similar level of socio-economic development; Brazil ranks 121 out 140 countries in terms of quality of the roads, 98 in railway infrastructure, 120 in port infrastructure, and 95 in air transportation infrastructure. The effects of bribery have obviously had a serious impact on the infrastructural development of Brazil and need to be immediately addressed.

Nepotism

Secondly, nepotism is a form of favoritism shown to acquaintances and family members. Nepotism is the act of abusing one`s power or official position to offer a job or a favor to a family member while disregarding their merit and qualification (GAN Integrity Inc, 2022). It is depicted that in the public sector, nepotism is considered a specifically toxic phenomenon as it goes against the public interest: citizens generally expect that public employees should deserve their jobs and should be hired according to merit-based criteria. Some of the effects of nepotism on the economy of a state include personnel demotivation; permanent fear and negative anticipatory thinking (fear of demoting from the position being occupied); manpower policy inefficient solutions e.g. assignment to a position those employees who do not deserve it at all by their moral and professional criteria; restriction or lack of competition in regard to promising projects or senior positions among the co-workers; and irresponsible behavior on the part of favorites and reports in view of their certitude «I won`t be punished because I`m a pet or relative (Safina, 2015).

According to Brazil`s President Jair Bolsonaro, the nomination of his son Eduardo to be ambassador to the United States was not an act of nepotism (Reuters Staff, 2019). This however was far from what many Brazilians thought, for them, it was a clear case of nepotism. To conclude the case, an initial finding from a legal study was carried out by the president`s office which revealed that top-ranking appointments, like those of ambassadors, do not constitute nepotism. The Supreme Court barred nepotism in 2008, depicting that this rule does not apply to political appointments (Reuters Staff, 2019). Traditionally, Appointments to ambassadorial positions are usually a mix of either career diplomats or political appointees. For example, various donors to the Trump presidential campaign have been appointed as ambassadors; on the other hand, Krishna R. Urs, the US ambassador to Peru, is a veteran of foreign service with over three decades of experience (Sanchez, 2019). The author depicts that the president selecting his son, no matter how qualified he is, to a critically important ambassadorial position is a problematic sign of nepotism.

Nepotism as a corruption factor is not sufficiently researched and as such there are a limited number of cases highlighting the issue. Nevertheless, it still exists as a major corruption issue undermining the development of Brazil`s economy in those citizens with the level of expertise to aid development is often left unemployed and underemployed.

Clientelism

Finally, clientelism as a corruption factor is defined by (Goldsmith, 2002) as a complicated sequence of personal relationships between political supporters or bosses and their individual clients or followers. These bonds are established on mutual material advantage: the patron delivers excludable resources (money, jobs) to dependents and accomplices in return for their support and cooperation (votes, attendance at rallies).

(Nichter) depicts that Politicians often buy votes with impunity. Brazil prohibited vote buying for several years, but prosecutions were unusual. However, popular pressure mounted against the practice in the late 1990s, and over one million Brazilians signed a petition against vote-buying, resulting in the country`s first law by a popular initiative passed by the national legislature. The law not only surmounted key obstacles to the popular initiative process but also dramatically increased prosecutions for clientelism during elections. Campaign handouts became the top reason that politicians were ousted in Brazil, with over a thousand removals from office. (Nichter) depicts that whereas Brazilian politicians previously bought votes with impunity, Law 9840 increased the risk of prosecution associated with this common practice. By classifying vote-buying as an electoral infraction, its designers circumvented many complexities that stymie criminal prosecution. Since its enactment, over a thousand politicians have been removed from office for clientelism during campaigns. Many Brazilians console corruption because of the benefits they receive from these politicians. It is therefore evident that the practice of corruption in governance includes both citizens and government officials.

To conclude it is evident that the factors of corruption including bribery, nepotism, and clientelism have robbed Brazil of its potential to develop. Bribery has resulted in Several developmental issues currently affecting Brazil including infrastructural development and lack of social and educational amenities; nepotism has resulted in mal-practices and low efficiency in state organizations further resulting in the breakdown of Brazil`s ability to form economic relationships with other states; and final the act of clientelism as created mistrust amongst citizen and government, thus resulting in constant protest due to inequality in the distribution of government resources.