Abstract

SANDOVAL BALLESTEROS, Irma Eréndira. Structural corruption approach: power, impunity and citizen voice. Rev. Mex. Sociol [online]. 2016, vol.78, n.1, pp.119-152. ISSN 2594-0651.

This article argues that both the public-sector bias and the technocratic approach to the study of corruption miss the mark. Neither of them tackles the root of the problem: domination and impunity. As heuristic alternatives, it proposes a new structural approach to corruption and the theory of a structural "double fraud". Both elements would contribute to rethink the concept of accountability. The article sustains that corruption is in the end a matter of political domination, structural impunity (especially for the private sector) and social disempowerment. Therefore its frontal combat lies in significant doses of civic, political and economic democracy.

Keywords : corruption; accountability; democracy; impunity; institutions.