Corruption in small municipalities

I.    CAUSES OF MUNICIPAL CORRUPTION.

From the establishment of the democratic period to the present day, the role of municipal life within the State has undergone an abysmal advance. Before pointing out the specific causes of corruption, it should be pointed out that they are not applicable to each and every municipality, but depend mainly on the size of the municipality, which is related to population and budget. Four reasons why municipal corruption develops beyond the lack of legislative control, easy access without requirements and the entrepreneurialisation of political parties are described below.

1.    LACK OF PUBLIC ETHICS. 

This is one of the first causes of corruption in the municipal sector. It is true that ethics is "the way of being" and is something very personal and difficult to change. It is difficult to defend morality and integrity in the public and political sphere when it is lacking, and this is where this cause is born. This lack is something intrinsic to each person and it is not possible to carry out a study on each person to check whether he or she is suitable for public office. The real work lies in the possibility of educating the new generations in ethics and morality ¹.

At present, and following the mandate of the Constitution, the civil service must be at the service of the general interest according to Article 13 of the Spanish Constitution, complemented by the values of impartiality, neutrality, honesty and probity, complemented by the new efficiency and transparency² .

The generalised lack of public ethics in municipalities is one of the main reasons for the squandering of public spending, favouritism in the selection of personnel, in the contracting of works and services, arbitrariness in urban planning, etc. It is this absence of morality in the performance of public office (which does not necessarily apply to the private sphere) that represents the disregard for the general interest in order to convert it into private profit, either one's own or that of one's close associates.

2.    TRANSFUGUISM.

This practice is understood as when a person from a given political group voluntarily switches to another group during the legislature with the aim of altering the political composition of the municipal corporation or modifying the identity in acronyms of the municipal government³ . There is a link with the ethics of the first of the sections, since he does not change parties without consequences, but does so at a strategic moment in order to achieve something specific, modifying the primary ambitions of the person who not only fails his electorate, but also his party. Normally this is done in exchange for a political future, the management of municipal areas, the management of urban planning, among others, which usually leads to corruption. Despite all this and the numerous criticisms that can be levelled at them, there is no reproach other than an ethical one.⁴

3.    PARTITOCRACY. 

Our 1978 Constitution includes the political pluralism expressed by the political parties themselves, as a fundamental instrument for political participation.

Political parties, always in accordance with the law, are created and exercise their activity freely, their internal structure and functioning being democratic without any distinction whatsoever.

However, where the problem arises is in their true form, as the Constitutional Court has stated in certain rulings, since they are private entities with an associative base.  This existing problem was not solved with the reform of Organic Law 6/2002 of 27 June 2002, whose intention to democratise the parties remained a brief and brief regulation of them.

Nor did the General Electoral Regime Law improve the system of closed and blocked electoral lists, which also promoted the well-known partitocracy or party government, which brings the municipal corporation close to the concept of caciquismo5 , in the sense that local councils are in the hands of a specific party, which governs the local institution through people it appoints for this purpose for long periods of time. Whoever governs is the one who holds the power in the party and thus in the municipal public sector, as well as the part of the private sector on which it depends. 

In this way, public administrators with militancy are subject to double obedience, on the one hand, to material obedience, that of the party, and, on the other hand, to legal obedience, that of the government of the institution in question⁶ .

It is clear that this is not seen in all municipalities, and in those where it does occur, it does not do so in the same way, as there are an infinite number of factors that intervene, in spite of everything, nowadays, parties are the only means for electoral participation, as the law that regulates it is designed for them, and although there is no prohibition on the presentation of candidacies outside parties, it is known how difficult it is for an isolated candidate in the current system⁷.

On occasions, people who are not prepared for politics enter politics, since in the drawing up of lists, loyalty takes precedence over personal and professional excellence, and the most visible consequence of this is the ease with which the parties are given control of the local councils in all senses of the word.

Thus, if political parties control local councils in particular and public institutions in general, adding to this the well-known dependence on economic power and their lack of resources, there is a real potential danger that certain pressure groups will impose their interests above the general interest, with a step towards corruption, which occurs with a higher frequency than desired⁸ .

For all these reasons, partitocracy conditions the function of government and is one of the main causes of the corrupting phenomenon.

4.    THE PROFESSIONALISATION OF POLITICS9

With the process of democratisation and the passing of the years, a sphere of need for people has been created, which makes politics an attractive professional outlet for those who, apart from vocation, the spirit of service to society and citizens, and also far from ideologies, seek a job with the added bonus of social prestige, influence, important relations and good remuneration.

These "jobs" do not require continuous or previous training, which means that once a person is installed in politics, he or she is valid for any position for which his or her party requires him or her.

This leads citizens to perceive that politicians are always "the same" and that, far from professional freedom, they become servant-politicians¹⁰ , who reject freedom of thought and action, becoming a negative problem in terms of society's perception, causing damage both to the political class and to the citizens themselves. 

II.    CONCLUSIONS

Corruption as a definable term is ambiguous and complex, as there is no common definition, but rather it adapts to the circumstances and the field of work. What is certain is that there are some basic characteristics, but this is not enough, so we have opted for a definition in line with the subject of politics. There are many causes of corruption that are the same in large cities as in small municipalities, but there are other causes that only occur in municipalities mainly with a small number of inhabitants. It has been found that the characteristics are unique and are due to factors related to less influence of political parties and less control of institutions.

References

1.   VIILLORIA MENDIETA, M., Ética pública y corrupción: curso de ética administrativa. Tecnos, Madrid (2000), pp. 19.
2.   CASTILLO RAMOS- BOSSINIL, S., «La lucha por la ética pública: experiencias comparadas y medidas adoptadas en el caso español», Revista andaluza de Administración Pública, núm 98 (2017), p.p.115-155.
3.   ESTEBAN, J., «El fenómeno español del trasfuguismo político y la jurisprudencia constitucional», Revista  de Estudios Políticos, núm 70 (1990). Recuperado de: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/27081.pdf 
4.   CATALÁ I BAS, A., «Trasfuguismo y régimen jurídico de los concejales no adscritos. ¿Puede, y debe, el derecho sancionar la deslealtad política?», Revista española de Derecho Constitucional, núm 101 (2014), p.p. 43-77.
5. URQUIZA, JM., Corrupción Municipal. Por qué se produce y cómo evitarla, Almuzara, Córdoba (2005), p.p.  58.
6.   NIETO, A., La corrupción en la España democrática, Ariel, Barcelona (1997), p.p. 55.
7.   SORIANO DÍAZ, RL., «La corrupción política: tipos, causas y remedios», en SORIANO DÍAS, RL., y GLORIA TROCELLO, M (Coord.), Calidad democrática e instituciones Públicas, Aconcagua Libros, Sevilla (2011), p.p, 39-65.
8.   URQUIZA, JM., Corrupción Municipal. Por qué se produce y cómo evitarla, Almuzara, Córdoba (2005), p.p. 25.
9.    WEBER, M., La política como profesión. Austral (2001).
10.    SORIANO DÍAZ, RL., «La iniciativa legislativa popular, una institución herida de muerte», Revista de Ciencias Sociales, núm 167 (2002), p.p. 111-118.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES

CASTILLO RAMOS- BOSSINIL, S., «La lucha por la ética pública: experiencias comparadas y medidas adoptadas en el caso español», Revista andaluza de Administración Pública, núm 98 (2017), p.p.115-155.
CATALÁ I BAS, A., «Trasfuguismo y régimen jurídico de los concejales no adscritos. ¿Puede, y debe, el derecho sancionar la deslealtad política?», Revista española de Derecho Constitucional, núm 101 (2014), p.p. 43-77.
ESTEBAN, J., «El fenómeno español del trasfuguismo político y la jurisprudencia constitucional», Revista  de Estudios Políticos, núm 70 (1990). 
NIETO, A., La corrupción en la España democrática, Ariel, Barcelona (1997), p.p. 55.
SORIANO DÍAZ, RL., «La corrupción política: tipos, causas y remedios», en SORIANO DÍAS, RL., y GLORIA TROCELLO, M (Coord.), Calidad democrática e instituciones Públicas, Aconcagua Libros, Sevilla (2011), p.p, 39-65.
SORIANO DÍAZ, RL., «La iniciativa legislativa popular, una institución herida de muerte», Revista de Ciencias Sociales, núm 167 (2002), p.p. 111-118.
URQUIZA, JM., Corrupción Municipal. Por qué se produce y cómo evitarla, Almuzara, Córdoba (2005), p.p.  58.
URQUIZA, JM., Corrupción Municipal. Por qué se produce y cómo evitarla, Almuzara, Córdoba (2005), p.p. 25.
VIILLORIA MENDIETA, M., Ética pública y corrupción: curso de ética administrativa. Tecnos, Madrid (2000), pp. 19.
WEBER, M., La política como profesión. Austral (2001).

Alicia Rodríguez Sánchez
Criminologist and 
coordinator of the Economic Crime Area of Sec2Crime.