2025/02/25 by Gabriel Rojas-Salazar · 1 voice
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Corruption and Economic Development #Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance #Management and Organizational Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/10999922.2025.2470496
openalex publication_date 2025/02/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
In the context of systemic corruption, anti-corruption policy often falls prey to political maneuvers, prioritizing symbolic gestures over substantive action. Despite efforts to demonstrate concern, these policies fail to grasp the complexity of the problem or the actions necessary to address it effectively. Anti-corruption initiatives require a multi-faceted approach that safeguards autonomy and values from entrenched political interests to navigate this politically charged landscape. Organizations and actors employ different strategies to adapt to environmental pressures and threats. However, the institutional logics of corruption are so influential that anti-corruption organizations fall into two paradoxes: the original contradiction and the Icarus paradox. The former arises from actors benefiting from corruption while combating it, whereas the latter sees successful efforts being challenged or dismantled by those implicated in corruption. Through two illustrative case studies of the National Anti-Corruption System in Mexico and the International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Guatemala, this study describes how these paradoxes shape the anti-corruption organizations’ outcomes, often leading to diminished autonomy, relevance, or outright dismantling.