The analysis of corruption in Spain done as a part of our
first course assignment introduced me to the many ways by which corruption is
interwoven with the daily activities of a society. The three cases that were
looked at were the Noos case where Princess Cristina and her husband were found
guilty of misappropriation of funds, the Gurtel corruption case which laid bare
the syndicate between businesses and political parties and finally, the Malaya
case which once again emphasized the persistent nature of this nexus. While the
initial analysis looked at the corruption cases from a sociological lens and
therefore identified sociocultural reasons as well as ‘revolving door’
strategies as the cause for this corruption. Spain exhibited a classic case of
corruption as seen in Elite Cartels.
An exposure to the many theoretical aspects of corruption
have since, contributed greatly to being able to make a more nuanced analysis
of the situation of corruption. Applying such an analysis to Spain reveals some
interesting results. Although arguments have been proposed which believe that
corruption can in fact have beneficial impact on the economy, using the
frameworks provided in the text “When is Corruption Harmful” by Susan
Rose-Ackerman we see that in the case of Spain corruption has not resulted in
any potential benefits. This is the first important feature of the cases of
corruption in Spain. The form of crony
capitalism in Spain only created a system where there was concentration of
wealth in the hands of a few, money laundering, tax evasion and related
activities which were harmful to the economy. Thus, the short-term and
long-term impacts of corruption in the case of Spain’s economy were negative.
One of the most key aspects of the corruption cases
identified is the factor of economic
corruption. Using the ‘principle-agent’ theory we see that there is a
dissonance in what the principal’s goals are and in what the public’s interests
are. According to the economic definition of corruption, corruption occurs when
an agent betrays the principal’s interests in pursuit of his own. In the case of
the Spain, there was a clear demarcation between the interests of the people
and the interests of those in power. The only people benefitting from the
actions of the Princess, or of those political leaders who sold their votes for
cash were the leaders themselves and the businesses indulging in the corrupt
practices and this nexus is what makes the cases of corruption a clear case of
crony capitalism.
Secondly, the first assignment also made note of the fact
that a research showed that 60 percent of those polled in a survey by
Sociological Research Centre believed that corruption is just a “part of human
nature” and more than one-third believe that it is “part of Spanish culture”.
Such an attitude seems to directly fit into the Aristotle’s and Machiavelli’s conception of political corruption as
a systemic decay, necessarily infecting all aspects of individual and community
life. Additionally such an attitude also reflects the breakdown of social trust in a society. A majority of the society
believes that the natural behaviour to exhibit is corruption; social trust
cannot operate in such an environment.
Having seen the state of moral decay in Spain, it becomes
imperative to arrive at solutions to the problem. Here, we can draw on the work of Zephyr
Teachout. Although Teachout’s work focuses on corruption in America, her
conception of ‘anticorruption principle’
is applicable across the board. She places the onus on citizens to revive their
expectations of public officials. According to her, this is the only real way
to revive democracy that is faltering under corruption. This is applicable
perfectly in the case of Spain. We see a start towards this demand for
accountability in the “indignant” protest movement, which camped out in
Madrid’s central square which changed the nation’s viewpoint on corruption. The
indignation of the people also saw the rise of two new anti-corruption parties
in Spanish politics which had previously been dominated by only two major
parties[1]. Thus, the way forward for
Spain is to increase demands for accountability from those in power in order to
ensure that political and economic processes take place in a more transparent
manner.
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