Towards a Corruption-free Society: The Application of Blockchain Technology in the Mexican Public Administration and Services

Comparing corruption with an infectious disease, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption refers to corruption as “an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies” (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2004, iii). With this in view, corruption is considered to be systemic to Mexico. Corrupt behaviour on highest political and economic levels is passed down across society and excludes the poorest from access to social and public services, economic participation and support. Given the stagnating poverty level, with an estimated 47,3% of people living in poverty in 2016, corruption is seen as a major impediment to economic and social development in Mexico (CONEVAL 2016; Castro and Nevárez 2015, 220-1). Although the Mexican government has, time and again, made efforts to introduce binding anti-corruption laws, these legislative changes have proved inefficient due to weak rule of law and the lack of transparency in the political administration ...Show moreComparing corruption with an infectious disease, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption refers to corruption as “an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies” (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2004, iii). With this in view, corruption is considered to be systemic to Mexico. Corrupt behaviour on highest political and economic levels is passed down across society and excludes the poorest from access to social and public services, economic participation and support. Given the stagnating poverty level, with an estimated 47,3% of people living in poverty in 2016, corruption is seen as a major impediment to economic and social development in Mexico (CONEVAL 2016; Castro and Nevárez 2015, 220-1). Although the Mexican government has, time and again, made efforts to introduce binding anti-corruption laws, these legislative changes have proved inefficient due to weak rule of law and the lack of transparency in the political administration (Davis 2008, 55-6, Tromme and Otaola 2014, 573). The structural digitisation of bureaucratic processes in the public sector is seen as a possible means to curb corruption by establishing transparency, efficiency and the rule of law (Boucher 2017 12; Kshetri and Voas 2018, 12; Hughes 2017, 661-3). Yet, in the Mexican case, although a collective political will to implement such strategies for structural digitisation is visible, there is adverse evidence to the effectiveness of such efforts as systemic corruption seems to be perpetuated at individual level, undermining collective efforts. Given these circumstances, Blockchain technology has recently emerged as a technological solution to many of these issues related to corruption. In fact, the technology has been ascribed the potential “to fundamentally shift the way in which society operates” (Wright and De Filipi 2016, 2). As such, the proposed paper hypothesises that a government-led application of Blockchain technology in public administration and services could indeed facilitate a structural eradication of the prevalent systemic corruption in Mexico. Based on this assumption, a practical framework is suggested for the structural implementation of Blockchain technology in Mexico’s public administration and services.Show less

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Towards a Corruption-free Society: The Application of Blockchain Technology in the Mexican Public Administration and Services