Nations Trapped by the Guilty Accuser Syndrome
Numerous factors are acutely responsible for the persistence and worsening of the phenomenon of corruption in many democracies. These factors include regulatory capture, lack of transparency, inappropriate political systems, vertical policy transplantations, the weak rule of law, harsh economic conditions, the absence of political legitimacy, etc. All these factors are invisible to the public and require scandal to be known. Another critical factor in the growth of corruption is the much less discussed, the “guilty accuser syndrome”.
The guilty accuser syndrome is a sophisticated political selection strategy that ensures that only politicians with “dirty hands” can get into positions of power that are both strategic and lucrative. Such a syndrome is more associated with new and transition democracies than the mature liberal version. The guilty accuser syndrome is a significant weapon of corrupt political patrons since it can ruin strong institutions and render institutional reform useless.
The selectorate responsible for the corrupt selection of political candidates for election (through primaries) and appointment are mainly of two kinds, though with variations depending on the society in question.
There is the “patron selectorate” which is a tiny elite core of families, dynasties, godfathers and patrons with much amassed political leverage that decide which specific candidates will win the party primaries and later the general elections. It would be wrong to assume the patron selectorate is monolithic; competition and in-fighting often exist in their circles in many nations. The patron selectorate will usually have full control over the nation’s electoral commission and electoral colleges. Since the patron selectorate, foreign or local, can place people in political office with certainty, only those that will comply with their patron’s narrow interests while in office will win selection; elections and appointments become the stuff forgone conclusions.
In corrupt countries, the patron selectorate ensures that anyone who comes into office will not turn against them [the patrons], their contemporaries in office, nor their predecessors. Neither do they want anyone to question or challenge the repertoire and tradition of externalities developed by corrupt officeholders over years or decades that facilitate corrupt practices and provide the impunity that is provided? Here is where the “guilty accuser tactic” becomes indispensable.
Any candidate who the patron selectorate knows has a spotless record, unquestionable integrity, proof incorruptible and high moral standing is out. They will neither get through the election primaries nor get selection for a political appointment. Exceptions occur if (a) they identify a new face with great potential. Deception or cooption will evidentially corrupt often such a fresh political candidate before he or takes office or immediately after. (b) Clean candidates with international banking impeccable experience (private or public sector) [especially] to improve the investment image of the nation. Those candidates that get into office and seek to defy the wishes of the patron selectorate suffer assassination or are humiliated out of office.
Therefore, the guilty accuser syndrome is the design and entrenchment by the patron selectorate that ensures the control of officials. Most elected or appointed government officials are beforehand guilty of some significant form of corruption. Such an approach acts as a deterrent to them. Either out of their scrupulousness or the fundamental responsibility of their office invariably demands they challenge, expose or investigate the corruption or misgovernance of other culpable officials (s).
If his office compels the chairperson of a legislative committee to investigate the corruption of the President, that will promptly expose his or her corruption. If the chairperson of the electoral commission recalls the election of a corrupt legislator, read the newspapers the next day. Under these conditions, the only time you can impeach or sack a government is when the patron(s) decides so.
In mature liberal democracies and similar the funder selectorates ascend. Those groups and individuals have enough money to buy the influence an office confers on an elected or appointed official. “Influence peddling”. It is common knowledge that presidents, parliamentarians, deputies, senators, representatives and others need generous and increasing funds. A small fraction of the general population provides the funds for elections or re-elections into office in ways that end up seriously compromising or co-opting politicians to act in ways that deviate from the expected norms.
The provisions by funders for the political campaigns of candidates can vary. From several thousand to several million-pound sterling or US dollars. The fundraising process reduces the elected politicians in some sense to a “commodity” for sale or rent. Such is an undeniable legacy of the neoliberal political economy that commodifies everything. It has made this form of fundraising selection of political candidates particularly possible.
Selectorates, foreign or local, are inimical to democracy, even in mature liberal democracies. Because they undermine the proposed sanctity of democratic practice; one person, one vote. When a few out of the many voters determine who the few representative elected officials will be in the primaries and the elections, we have an inverted minarchy [big government determined by small numbers of selectors] mimicking a democracy [government determined by most voters]. It is no surprise that the apathy towards voting in mature democracies is endemic.
The optimism associated with influence-peddling style selection, whether theoretical or realistic, is that we can check them. Well, through political funding reforms, if the elite political sanctions the possibility for whatever reason. For example, reaction to persistent public protest. Also, elections have shown that political parties and candidates who far outspend their opponents may still lose the election. Money spent does not guarantee the certainty of election victory; it only underwrites it. Furthermore, without much naivety, the impeachment of an elected official. Or the sacking of an appointed is possible regardless of funds available and the interests of funders.
The pessimism borne of the supremacy of the guilty accuser syndrome in any society is intractable. Corruption becomes an entrenched and dominant form of social organisation in the affairs of the nation. Dependable, conscientious, moral and able politicians never or rarely get elected or appointed to office. Who will then do the work of nation-building and advancement? Conversely, the more corrupt a politician is, the more likely they are to get into a political office. Over time, the uninterrupted phenomenon of guilty accuser syndrome produces a kakistocracy, i.e. government by the worst [most corrupt] citizens.
Do you know any potential kakistocracy? Please share the knowledge if you can. The guilty accuser syndrome might be responsible.
Grimot Nane
