The Corruption in Portugal: The Reform of “the Reform”

Type Journal Article - Journal of US-China Public Administration
Title The Corruption in Portugal: The Reform of “the Reform”
Author(s)
Volume 10
Issue 2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2013
Page numbers 146-156
URL http://www.davidpublishing.com/davidpublishing/Upfile/4/1/2013/2013040107427022.pdf
Abstract
This paper is about the corruption in Portuguese political economy. In recent years, it has been remarked that the State (the Portuguese Government) has not always respected the rule of law, and has a sui generis idea of what is the rule of law. About this failure of the State, and when corruption exists in the public sector (in the private sector too, but this is not the research field of this project), it can be stated two comments: There is a lack of perception of reality to distinguish between “public service” and “self-service” and also a promiscuous relationship between political class and elites. It leads to a conclusion: Law is not for anyone. The penetration of a clientelistic mode of managing power can reduce drastically the societal and bureaucratic protections and controls against the growth of corruption. The concept of rule of law is confused, and it depends on the interests involved at that time. In that way a maximum of variability is allowed from a political viewpoint and an adaptation to the circumstances is guaranteed. Consequently, this influences the results of the interpretations and the applications of the law. This uncertainty about the true value of the meaning of the “rule of law” is an opportunity field for corrupt acts and gaps in the law appearance. This is the reason why in Portugal, there are so many high impact cases of corruption and so few convictions after the trial.

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