Political Careers, Corruption, and Impunity

Carlos Guevara Mann

Description

In Political Careers, Corruption, and Impunity: Panama's Assembly, 1984–2009, Carlos Guevara Mann systematically examines the behavior of the members of Panama’s Legislative Assembly between 1984 and 2009, an arena previously unexplored in studies of Panamanian politics. He challenges fundamental aspects of scholarly literature on democratic legislatures, with important consequences for understanding democratic politics in Latin America and other parts of the world. The current literature on legislatures assumes that legislators single-mindedly seek reelection or the advancement of their political careers, and that they pursue these goals through acceptable democratic means. Guevara Mann shows, however, that in Panama many legislators also pursue less laudable goals such as personal enrichment and freedom from prosecution, often reaching their goals through means—widespread clientelism, party switching, and electoral manipulation—that undermine the quality of democracy.

On one level, Political Careers, Corruption, and Impunity contrasts the political behavior of individual legislators; on another, it compares the actions of legislators under various regimes—military and constitutional. Lastly, it engages in cross-national comparisons that contrast the behavior of Panamanian legislators with actions of representatives elsewhere. Guevara Mann's sophisticated analysis of the military period and the transition to democracy, with an emphasis on the history and functioning of legislative bodies, contains a wealth of new information about a neglected but intrinsically fascinating case.

Sujets

• Comparative Politics
• Political Science
• Latin American
• HISTORY
• América del Sur
• South America
• Panama
• Latin America
• World
• Caribbean

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 28 novembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268080679
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

P ol i t i ca l ca re e rs ,

corruP t i on, a nd

i mP uni t y

RECENT TITLES FROM THE HELEN KELLOGG INSTITUTE FOR I NTERNATI ONAL STUDI ES

Scott Mainwaring, series editor

The University of Notre Dame Press gratefully thanks the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies for its support in the publication of titles in this series.

Christopher Welna and Gustavo Gallón, eds. Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights in Colombia(2007)

Guillermo O’Donnell Dissonances: Democratic Critiques of Democracy(2007)

Marifeli Pérez-Stable, ed. Looking Forward: Comparative Perspectives on Cuba’s Transition(2007)

Jodi S. Finkel Judicial Reform as Political Insurance: Argentina, Peru, and Mexico in the 1990s(2008)

Robert H. Wilson, Peter M. Ward, Peter K. Spink, and Victoria E. Rodríguez Governance in the Americas: Decentralization, Democracy, and Subnational Government in Brazil, Mexico, and the USA(2008)

Brian S. McBeth Dictatorship and Politics: Intrigue, Betrayal, and Survival in Venezuela, 1908 –1935(2008)

Pablo Policzer The Rise and Fall of Repression in Chile(2009)

Frances Hagopian, ed. Religious Pluralism, Democracy, and the Catholic Church in Latin America(2009)

Marcelo Bergman and Laurence Whitehead, eds. Criminality, Public Security, and the Challenge to Democracy in Latin America(2009)

Matthew R. Cleary The Sources of Democratic Responsiveness in Mexico(2010)

Leah Anne Carroll Violent Democratization: Social Movements, Elites, and Politics in Colombia’s Rural War Zones, 1984 – 2008(2011)

Timothy J. Power and Matthew M. Taylor, eds. Corruption and Democracy in Brazil: The Strug gle for Accountability(2011)

Ana María Bejarano

Precarious Democracies: Understanding Regime Stability and Change in Colombia

and Venezuela(2011)

For a complete list of titles from the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, see http://www.undpress.nd.edu

Political careers, corruPtion, and imPunity

Pa n a m a’ s a s s e m b ly,

1 9 8 4 – 2 0 0 9

càRLOS GUEvàRà màNN

University of Notre Dame Press

Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2011 by University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Guevara Mann, Carlos. Political careers, corruption, and impunity : Panama's assembly, 1984 – 2009 / Carlos Guevara Mann. p. cm. — (From the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-268-02983-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-268-02983-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Panama. Asamblea Legislativa. 2. Legislative bodies — Panama — History. 3. Legislators — Panama — History. 4. Political corruption — Panama. 5. Representative government and representation — Panama. 6. Panama — Politics and government —1981– I. Title. JL1653.G84 2011 328.728709'049 — dc23

2011036540

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

List of Tables Acknowledgments

Introduction

Contents

Pa r t i . i n s t i t u t i o n s

Chapter 1. Political Representation and Representative Assemblies

Chapter 2. The Party System: Parties and Actors in Panama’s Assembly

Chapter 3. Formal Institutional Incentives to Behavior

Chapter 4.Institutions and Assembly Members’ Informal Behavior

ix xiii

1

17

36

65

91

v

i

| Contents

Pa r t i i . a s s e m b ly m e m b e r s ’ G o a l s , b e h av i o r s , a n d a c t i v i t i e s

Chapter 5. Political Advancement through Reelection: Prospects and Possibilities in Panama Chapter 6.Advancement through Reelection: Political The Legal and Illegal Uses of Patronage Chapter 7.Advancement through Reelection: Political Party Switching and Electoral Manipulation

Chapter 8. Personal Enrichment through Legal Means: Assembly Members’ Wages in Comparative Perspective Chapter 9. Personal Enrichment through Legal Means: Expanding Emoluments and Privileges Chapter 10. Personal Enrichment through Illegal Means Chapter 11. Preserving Immunity through Reelection

 Conclusion

a P P e n d i c e s

Appendix A.Freedom House (FH) Scores, Corruption Average Perceptions Index (CPI) Scores, and Population of Countries Classified as “Free” by Freedom House, 2008 –10 Appendix B.Members in the Representative Number of Assemblies of All Countries Classified as “Free” by Freedom House, 2008 –10 Appendix C. Number of Members in the Representative Assemblies of Latin America’s Electoral Democracies, 2008 –10

117

131

153

177

192 214 236

254

268

271

277

Contents |vii

Appendix D.Panama’s Assembly Parties, 1984 – 2009 Appendix E. Individuals Proclaimed by the Electoral Tribunal as Elected Members of Panama’s Assembly, 1984 – 2009 Appendix F. Panama’s Effective Number of Parties Appendix G.Electoral Volatility in Panama, 1984 – 2009 Appendix H.Difference in Votes for President and Assembly Members in Panama (Parties and Electoral Coalitions), 1984 – 2009 Appendix I. Consecutive Reelection and Party Switching in Panama, 1984 – 2009 Appendix J.Assembly Members, 2004 of Panama’s  Age – 9 and 2009 –14 Terms Appendix K.Individuals Gender and Social Origins of Proclaimed by the Electoral Tribunal as Elected Members of Panama’s Assembly, 1984 – 2009 Appendix L. Geodemographic Segmentation of Panama’s Electoral Constituencies, 1984 – 2009 Appendix M.Deviation from Proportionality (D) in Panama’s Elections to the Assembly, 1984 – 2009 Appendix N.Panamanian Assembly Members’ Monthly Wages, 1960 – 2008 Appendix O.Panamanian Assembly Members’ Expected Salaries, 1999 Appendix P.to Attend Plenary and Committee Obligation Meetings in Fifty-Three Liberal Democracies, 2008 Appendix Q.Passports Used by Assembly Members in Fifty-Three Liberal Democracies, 2010

278

283 295 298

300

303

323

329

344

348

354

356

358

360

viii

| Contents

Appendix R. Constituency Funding Allocations and Assembly Members’ Reelection in Panama, 1995 – 99 Appendix S. Non-Liability among Assembly Members in Fifty-Two Liberal Democracies, 2008

Appendix T. Persons Consulted

 Notes

 Works Cited

 Other Works Consulted

 Index

362

365 367

374 400 437 440

I.1.

1.1.

1.2. 1.3.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

2.4.

Tables

Goals, Activities, and Behaviors of Panama’s Assembly Members

Terms and Number of Members in Panama’s National Assembly, 1904 – 68

Number of Seats in Panama’s Assembly, 1984 – 2009

Some Comparative Statistics of the Membership of Representative Assemblies in Liberal Democracies and Latin American Electoral Democracies, 2008 –10

Total Number of Seats Obtained by Panama’s Assembly Parties, 1984 – 2009

Classification of Party Systems Based on Effective Number of Parties

Selected Party System Institutionalization Statistics in Panama and Latin America, 1984 – 2009

Average Starting Age of Members of Panama’s Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives, 1999 – 2009

ix

4

28 32

34

45

45

49

52