Message-ID: <Pine.A41.3.95b.970220213731.84956C-100000@dante19.u.washington.edu> Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 21:49:32 -0800 From: Thor Skov <mailto:raijin@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: Mexican vacation To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
On Thu, 20 Feb 1997, David Johnson wrote:> Anton Ljutic wrote:
> >
> > David,
> >
> > Have you considered the possibility that graft is just another way of
> > allocating the resources? These petty bribes are a supplement to the
> > lowly income which these officials earn. It's "user pay", but with a
> > twist: the poor pay LESS, as a rule. So, it's an "ability to pay" tax.
> > It keeps the official taxes low :-)
> >
> > I also think that graft is not a "cultural" problem or anything to do with
> > lack of integrity. Rather, it seems to me to be a structural problem:
> > Graft is hard to stifle unless one is prepared to compensate the recipient
> > in some other way.
> >
> > Anton Ljutic
> > Canada
Anton -
You raise a good economic point. But the effect on graft on the morale and morals of civil society depends, in part, on what the official 'norm' is. Is corruption against the law in Mexico? If so, then I can't see how this inconsistency between practice and ideal could but weaken public confidence in the government and bureaucracy.
I'm not expert on Mexico, but from what I read it appears that corruption is widespread throughout the political system, and that many people are disillusioned with the political process. This doesn't bode well for democracy there.
I imagine that if it is a structural problem, then it goes beyond economics. It has become an institutionalized behavior that can only be changed by sustained courageous political leadership backed by strong public support. Some people on this list might know of sociological studies concerning graft and corruption that might shed light on these questions.
Thor Skov
>
>
> You make some good points but, it seems as if it is very
> difficult for some people to criticize anything in the third world. Maybe
> its guilt on our part, I don't know but, I do know that people are much
> more willing to tolerate and rationalize behaviors in these countries
> than they are in their own.
> When all else fails, you can always fall back on the fact that
> these behaviors exist in all cultures. Its true they do, but, not to the
> extent that I saw in Mexico.
> You say that poor people pay less of these bribes but, you don't
> know that and neither do I.It may well be that, as a percantage of
> income, they actually pay more.
> It seems condescending to excuse behaviors in other cultures we
> wouldn't tolerate in our own. Are there no behaviors which are inherently
> wrong and thus intolerable in all societies?
> I think there are and, official corruption is one of them.
> Dave Johnson
>