latin_democracies/2007/in focus/news room

11 November 2007

Latin American democracies: progress and drawbacks

Contents:

Transparency in the electoral process
Corruption risks in political finance
Monitoring political financing
Civil Society initiatives
Further reading

How civil society brings transparency to the electoral process. Examples from recent elections in Argentina, Colombia and Guatemala.

Elections held in Latin America during 2007 – most recently in Guatemala, Argentina and Colombia - saw rays of light, but also dark clouds over the evolvement of democracy in the region. As a starting point, we can celebrate that subjecting the government to regular approval through elections today is a given in Latin America. There is also a breakthrough on the gender front, with Cristina Kirchner’s successful election in Argentina making her the region’s second female president (after Chile’s Michelle Bachelet).

But there are also drawbacks. A major flaw in the democracy of all three countries is the fact that they lack a system of political parties able to structure and therefore give meaning to political competition. In Guatemala, since the 1996 peace agreement that laid the ground for the return from the battlefield to politics, parties won elections only to see their strength crumble to insignificance in subsequent polls.

Newly elected President Alvaro Colom cannot count on a stable majority backing his government in the Legislative.

The same happened in Argentina, where once Peronists and Radicals used to dominate the political landscape, but this is no longer the case. President Fernández de Kirchner won the national elections on 28 October in the first round and can expect a broad majority to support her in the new congress. Nevertheless, the party system in Argentina has dissolved into a myriad of splinter groups varying from province to province and groupings around political leaders.

Similarly, Colombia has seen its bi-party system completely dissolve in less than a decade. For half a century, liberals and conservatives shared 80 per cent of all votes. Today their influence has dropped to 20 per cent and dozens of candidates and popular movements run for elections.

Another important challenge for the many young Latin American democracies is the undue influence of powerful private interest groups, in particular organised crime, in politics. Once these groups gain access through non-transparent financial campaign contributions, a fatal relation of dependency is established for future political representatives.

Corruption risks in political finance

The links between organised crime and politics through campaign financing or violence not only distorts the electoral process, but deeply influences future politics. For instance local mayors in Colombia are expected to hand over a share of the public budget to criminal organisations. The absence of strong political parties translates into a legislative where representatives are subject to be co-opted by government rather than present a coherent opposition and oversee the executive critically.

Elections in Guatemala and Colombia in October 1997 were marred by violence. Ten years later, Colombian regional and local elections ended with close to 50 deaths. In the run-up to Guatemala’s national and local elections, held on 9 September, more than 50 candidates and political activists were killed, making this election the most violent since 1985.

In both countries, politics is interwoven with organised crime – death squads and drug dealing. Colombian paramilitary groups and the leftist guerrilla group FARC have actively engaged in the electoral process by sponsoring local candidates with money sourced from drugs and intimidating any challengers. Public budgets at regional and local levels have become an alternative source of income for those who formally withdrew from the armed conflict. The question of political finances is directly related to the abuse of political power by elected officeholders.

Citizens play a key role in monitoring political financing

Democracies minimise risks by the regulation of political party and election campaign funding. But often controlling bodies do not have the capacity or the will to enforce these rules properly. This is why civil society organisations have a complementary role in overseeing political financing.

One activity carried out by civil society is to focus on the campaign period. Depending on local circumstances, civil society organisations focus on raising awareness among voters, candidates, political parties and media on the importance of money in politics or on how candidates and parties should disclose their income and expenditure. Monitoring the media and the purchase of advertising space are key activities in exercising this role.

Here are a few examples of different initiatives undertaken by civil society organisations in Latin America to track these aspects of the political process:

Civil Society initiatives on elections in Argentina, Colombia and Guatemala

Poder Ciudadano – Argentina

Poder Ciudadano (PC), Transparency International’s national chapter in Argentina, was closely engaged throughout the presidential elections process. PC carried out several monitoring activities prior to the 28 October elections.

These included:

Media Monitoring: PC measured how often the media (press, TV and radio) reported on the different candidates. Their study showed that media coverage of candidates was unbalanced (the winner Cristina Fernández was mentioned far more frequently than other candidates) and stressed how unbalanced coverage limited the information available to voters. At the same time it was noted that public television stations interrupted programmes without warning in order to broadcast live any speeches by Cristina Fernández, the candidate of the party in power and wife of President Ernesto Kirchner.

Voter’s Guide: To inform voters of their rights and responsibilities on election day, Poder Ciudadano published a guide containing vital information on which rules and procedures voters should take into account, in three major newspapers. The guide also addressed the responsibilities of voting coordinators in polling stations.

Complaint Hotline: On election day PC set up telephone lines through which more than 500 complaints were received. The chapter not only served voters with the hotline but is now using information gathered through this project to advocate for reforms in the electoral system.

Report: PC also published a report on political financing that included a list of recommendations to guarantee transparency in the presidential elections. The most important of these addressed the regulation of state resources by the executive.

For more information visit: www.poderciudadano.org

Transparencia por Colombia

TI´s national chapter, Transparencia por Colombia (TC), was very active in the run-up to and during the 28 October regional elections in Colombia with the aim of contributing to a more transparent and upright electoral process. Some activities carried out by the organisation were:Voter’s website: TC launched, in coalition with important media and other civil society organisations, the fourth edition of the website votebien.com.

With this website, TC aimed to contribute to increasing transparency in the electoral process and help citizens to be better informed. The website included updated information on candidates for 15 major cities and 11 provinces and information on campaign finances to help citizens make an informed vote. The website received more than 40,200 visitors in the month prior to the elections.

Workshops & Pacts: TC organised twelve workshops in Colombia’s main cities, with candidates and party accountants. The goal was to strengthen political parties’ accountability. As a result, a Transparency Pact was signed by 16 parties. The Pact requires candidates to publicise the identity of their donors and to disclose the amounts donated on their party website and in the media at least one week before the elections. In the end, only one candidate fulfilled his commitment to the agreement.

Transparency Software: TC signed an agreement with the electoral council to join forces and work towards strengthening transparency and accountability in party and campaign finances. The chapter donated software (“cuentas claras” or clear accounts) to the electoral council. This software makes it easier for the parties and candidates to report on income and expenditure to the electoral council.

More information on Transparencia por Colombia’s work for the elections can be found at: www.transparenciacolombia.org.co

Acción Ciudadana – Guatemala

To enhance transparency in the country’s electoral processes Accion Ciudadana (AC), TI’s national chapter in Guatemala, launched a project for the presidential elections in Guatemala.

Anti-Corruption Strategy: Acción Ciudadana helped political parties to develop strategic anti-corruption actions. They also challenged parties to sign public commitments with civil society to ensure that anti-corruption promises become concrete actions rather than remain merely as political discourse. Two of the registered 16 political parties committed themselves.

Website: In conjunction with this, the chapter launched an electronic platform (www.informateyvota.com), publishing information about political parties to increase public access to information and to hold political parties to their commitments. The new website also includes qualitative indicators to help assess the performance of political parties, including compliance with national rules and regulations for accountability in political finance.

Measuring compliance: As a result of the CRINIS project, a TI tool for assessing transparency in political finance systems and practices, the Guatemalan chapter developed indicators to measure the extent to which parties comply with the new law on Parties and Elections (2004) and with regulations issued by the electoral regulating authorities for upcoming elections. During the electoral campaign four reports/rankings were issued comparing each party’s transparency and their performance in abiding with the law.

For more information visit www.informateyvota.com

Crinis: money in politics is everyone’s concern

Crinis (ray of light in Latin) was jointly developed by Transparency International and the Carter Center to promote increased transparency and accountability in political financing. In 2006, it was firstly implemented in eight Latin American countries. Crinis assesses to what extent political financing is transparent, properly accounted for, with publicly available data and subject to effective governmental and social oversight mechanisms.

Crinis evaluates the levels of transparency built into current legislation and implemented in practice. The project covers political financing practices of parties and candidates during election campaigns, as well as the financial activities of parties in non-election years. Crinis findings indicate that several countries studied already have proper legislation in place. Others are in the process of developing legislation and practices on political financing. Some of the key findings are:

Citizens lack sufficient access to information
Candidates fail to disclose information
Casting an informed vote is difficult
Private donations remain hidden
Reports submitted are not reliable
Government oversight is ineffective

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