The culture of corruption.

I am astonished that there are those who would argue there is no culture of corruption in New Mexico State Government. So I have gone looking for definition. It is surprisingly hard to find. Perhaps like pornography, it is hard to define, but you know it when you see it.

I would ask those who disagree about the culture of corruption in Santa Fe, to undertake two tasks;

1. define the term, listing its important elements, and then
2. point to any essential element that is missing from the culture of state government in New Mexico.
   

For the purposes of defining terms, I offer the following which is copied nearly verbatim, edited for brevity, from "Culture of Corruption: The Corruption of Culture" link.

Let us first define "culture of corruption" by its popular conception, which is: corruption persists and is so prevalent because most in the bureaucracy and the general public condones and/or tolerates it

Corruption dis-empowers the people. Ordinary citizens are discouraged to file complaints or officially register their dissent because one needs financial and temporal resources to do this. (In more serious cases, one needs a private army.) The inability to contest or the regular fruitlessness of actions against those in power lead to apathy and passivity.

With the elite government officials, corruption is in a more sophisticated style. These involve grandiose schemes and happen in luxurious venues. It takes the form of influence peddling, rent seeking, and/or lobbying. The transactions are then legalized as these are translated into MoAs, executive orders, administrative orders or republic acts. As the deals are legalized, charges of corruption take the defensive position.

The culture of corruption exists and is nurtured by the political and economic elites of society. Their political and/or economic status is their passport and visa to power. Personal gains earned through the abuse of their political and economic status is their commonality. This is the reason why, even if they hate each other, they have to protect each other. (emphasis added)

I would reiterate; one cannot solve a problem, while at the same time, denying its very existence.

The widespread public perception of a culture of corruption in Santa Fe does damage, whether is is justified or not. It needs to be disputed if it is not real.

If it cannot be disputed, then we must stop pretending it doesn't exist. If we don't end the pretense, we cannot end the problem.

So is there a culture of corruption in state government, or is there not?

It is an important question and should not be ignored in the discourse surrounding the election of our next governor.