|
Abstract:
|
Corruption is an issue all around the world, and Brazil is no exception. Even though Brazil is not the worst offender, many Brazilians are still concerned about corruption’s effects on their country, especially in their government. This corruption costs the country about $45 billion a year and limits Brazil’s economic and political development. Unfortunately, the past government approaches have not been very successful with getting rid of corruption, and the institutions set up to deal with it do not work efficiently. They focus too much on investigation after the fact without punishment and are lacking when it comes to oversight and prevention. The current president of Brazil, Dilma Rouseff, seems to be making progress in reducing corruption, but she has had to face corruption distractions within her own cabinet as well. Two solutions that could better deal with the problem of corruption are 1) reformist, to emphasize the importance of oversight within established institutions and 2) transformative, to change the way people get into positions of power in the government. This paper discusses how each of these proposed solutions could be implemented in Brazil. Finally, it explains that the reformist solution would ultimately work best in Brazil because it is more culturally appropriate, given Brazil’s historic preference for evolutionary or incremental change. |
