10 Keys to Promoting Public Policy Integrity and Preventing Corruption in Latin America

Integrity in public policies is essential to maximizing collective well-being in Latin America. The challenges in this area are pressing, as some data reveal that corruption is a priority problem in the region.

Corruption undermines the ability of the state to provide high-quality public goods and services, compromises productivity and economic growth, discourages investment and innovation, shatters confidence in institutions, affects the quality of infrastructure works, and breeds inequality by severely affecting the most vulnerable groups.

Faced with this reality, governments have implemented measures to fight against corruption on various fronts. First, relevant legal instruments have been fine-tuned and updated, while authorities have strived to build capacities of investigation and law-enforcement agencies. These regulatory efforts have been complemented by information access and open government initiatives that leverage new technologies, and have improved government control processes and accountability.

CAF Economy and Development Report (EDR 2019), entitled “Integrity in Public Policies: Keys to Preventing Corruption” aims to serve as input to this reform agenda, reviewing progress and outstanding tasks in four areas of action: functioning of official monitoring and oversight bodies; entry mechanisms of bureaucracy and politics, and their role in attracting and recruiting suitable and independent individuals; external control through transparency and citizen participation initiatives; regulations to control the influence of private company and individuals’ interests in government decisions.

“The analysis suggests that the effort made thus far has been significant, but there is still a long road ahead to fill legal or regulatory gaps and to ensure effective implementation of the measures proposed. In particular, it is necessary to invest in capacities of agencies in the integrity policy architecture such as comptrollers, electoral authorities, prosecutors, courts, civil service administration agencies, among others,” said Pablo Sanguinetti, Vice President of Knowledge at CAF.

The EDR 2019 puts forward a series of proposals to promote a comprehensive integrity agenda around a set of key issues that include:

1. Adopting decision protocols and formulas based on objective criteria.
2. Revamping audit systems and building investigation and law-enforcement capacities.
3. Promoting competitive and transparent electoral systems.
4. Professionalizing civil service and ensuring access to civil service is based on merit.
5. Improving information and dissemination systems on the actions of government and officials.
6. Empowering citizens and encouraging more vigilant attitudes.
7. Ensuring the operation of complaint and whistleblowing channels, and leveraging technology to create new spaces.
8. Strengthening institutions to prevent payment and offering of bribes by individuals and to encourage the adoption of compliance programs within companies.
9. Investing in better lobbying regulation, in the identification and management of conflicts of interest.
10. Improving decision-making processes in particularly vulnerable activities, such as the provision of
    public infrastructure.

”Certain conditions are required for effective progress of reforms: a contestable political system; citizen coordination around the agenda; and a leader with credibility to propose and implement changes. Some factors can facilitate and catalyze changes, including international cooperation, market integration, and technology,” added Sanguinetti.

Lastly, noteworthy is the potentially disruptive role of technology. Data generation, openness and processing tools provide plenty of opportunities. Technological applications enable improvements in resource management, communication and intra-government monitoring, while enabling new channels for dissemination of information within the state and towards society.

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