Resumen

MORICONI BEZERRA, Marcelo. Justified Ilegality?: Controlled clientelism by the Chilean administration. Perf. latinoam. [online]. 2011, vol.19, n.38, pp.227-247. ISSN 0188-7653.

The Chilean civil service is considered one of the most efficient in Latin America. However, different studies describe the informal institutions that operate between the Legislative Power and the bureaucracy to fill positions in the public administration. Although some of these clientelistic practices are against the law, they have been accepted and defended in both the political and scientific spheres. Legality is not considered an important value if certain indexes have a positive development. In this context, it is important to study how corruption and clientelism have been ignored, or hidden, through political discourses and technical reports about the situation of bureaucracy. All of this allows a better understanding of why after 20 years of administrative reforms there are damaging practices which negatively affect democracy that have not been eradicated.

Palabras llave : administration; bureaucracy; Chile; clientelism; democracy; aristocracy.