Do Populists really “clean the house”? Examining Corruption and Governance in Contemporary Latin America.
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between populism and corruption in Latin America within a global comparative framework of 135 countries, including 26 in the Americas. Populist leaders often rise to power through rhetoric promising to fight corruption while denouncing the corrupt elites, yet their governments frequently undermine accountability and participation. Using a long-run panel dataset (1946–2022) and within-country comparisons across populist and non-populist periods, the analysis finds no significant reduction in perceived political corruption during populist episodes. This paradox—between anti-corruption promises and unchanged outcomes—suggests that populism’s impact lies more in eroding governance mechanisms than in strengthening integrity. Institutional resilience, rather than populist mobilization, remains the key determinant of corruption control.
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