Building Local Integrity Systems in Southern Europe: the case of urban local corruption in Spain

Abstract

From 1997 to 2007, Spain suffered from major cases of political corruption associated with local urban development. To analyse their causes, this article examines the institutional mechanisms designed to monitor and control the performance of local policy-makers and to ensure they operated independently from private influence. It also analyses their actual effectiveness with reference to particular cases of local corruption unveiled during that decade. The Spanish case shows that local representatives had a large amount of power in distributing financial gains within the municipality, but faced little pressure to account for their actions. It argues that insufficient control mechanisms on the activities of local representatives from 1997 to 2007 can adequately explain the intensity and spread of local corruption in Spain. Points for practitioners The article contributes to a better understanding of the factors and the causes that explain local corruption, particularly in countries where local governments fit with the ‘strong-mayor’ type. Following the Local Integrity System framework, it provides a strategy to analyse the role and impact of control mechanisms, distinguishing between internal and external controls, and administrative and judicial controls. The article also helps to understand, and presents evidence of, the mismatch between ‘formal’ institutional mechanisms on the one hand, and their actual implementation and effects on the other.

Local interest groups and the perception of power in Spanish cities

“…Today, there is a broad debate on political corruption and fiscal transparency (García-Quesada et al, 2013;Jiménez et al, 2014). Bellver and Kaufmann (2005) point to the dissemination of public information as the basis for groups and individuals to participate in decision making since formal competition would not be sufficient to deliver political responsiveness.…”

The (in)completeness of local integrity systems, A cross-sectional study on municipal integrity systems for civil servants in the Netherlands

“…In the past decades, the scientific attention for (local) integrity systems has increased (Six & Lawton, 2010;Berndsen & Van Montfort, 2012;De Graaf, 2012;Huberts, 2012Huberts, , 2015Slingerland, Six, & Huberts, 2012;Quesada, Jimenez-Sanchez, & Villoria, 2013;De Graaf & Macaulay, 2014;Macaulay, Newman, & Hickey, 2014). A limitation of many existing studies, however, is that they are mainly descriptive or prescriptive in nature.…”

“…In recent years, the scientific literature has focused not only on integrity policy, but on the entire integrity system of an organization (Warburton & Baker, 2005;Huberts, Anechiarico, & Six, 2008;Six & Lawton, 2010;Six, Van der Veen, & Kruithof, 2012;Slingerland, Six, & Huberts, 2012;Quesada, Jimenez-Sanchez, & Villoria, 2013;De Graaf & Macaulay, 2014;Macaulay, Newman, & Hickey, 2014). An integrity system is more extensive than just an integrity policy (Six & Lawton, 2010).…”

L'analyse des risques éthiques : une recherche exploratoire dans le domaine de la gouvernance municipale

“…En Autriche, les chercheurs se sont aussi intéressés à la problématique de l'institutionnalisation de l’éthique dans la gouvernance municipale (Hoekstra et Kaptein, 2013) de même qu’à l'impact que pouvaient avoir les scandales qui frappaient certaines municipalités sur le développement des dispositifs éthiques (Grimmelikhuijsen et Snijders, 2016). Des chercheurs espagnols ont également travaillé sur l'impact qu'ont eu les scandales sur le développement des infrastructures éthiques des gouvernements locaux (Benito et coll., 2015; Quesada et coll., 2015; Jiménez-Sanchez et coll., 2014; Garcia-Quesada et coll., 2013).…”