Difference between revisions of "Mordida (Mexico)"

Mordida (Mexico) (view source)

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 '''''Original Text: Claudia Baez Camargo, Basel Institute on Governance'''''
-In Mexico, ''mordida'' is a term widely used to refer to a bribe<ref>Morris, S. D. 2003. ‘Corruption and Mexican Political Culture’, Journal of the Southwest, 45(4): 671–708.</ref>. The word literally translates as ‘bite’ from Spanish. While the origins of this secondary use of the word are contested, probably the most recurrent explanation given by Mexicans is that it alludes to police officers and other public officials being seen as dogs, on the lookout for an innocent citizen to take a bite out of. It is significant that several studies<ref>Del Castillo, A., and Guerrero, M. A. 2003. ‘Percepciones de La Corrupción En La Cuidad de México¿ Predisposición Al Acto Corrupto?.’ Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, http://presupuestoygastopublico.org/documentos/transparencia/DT_134.pdf</ref><ref>Bailey, J. and P. Paras. 2006. ‘Perceptions and Attitudes about Corruption and Democracy in Mexico’. Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, 22 (1): 57–82, doi:10.1525/msem.2006.22.issue-1.</ref> have found that ''mordida'' is the one practice consistently identified by Mexicans as an unambiguous expression of corruption, whereas, in spite of an increasing awareness of the impact of corruption, average citizens appear to struggle to come up with a more abstract definition of the concept<ref>Del Castillo, A., and Guerrero, M. A. 2003. ‘Percepciones de La Corrupción En La Cuidad de México¿ Predisposición Al Acto Corrupto?.’ Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, http://presupuestoygastopublico.org/documentos/transparencia/DT_134.pdf</ref>.
+‎[[File:mordida.gif|400px|thumb|right|Police officers have a literal bite in Mexico City]] In Mexico, ''mordida'' is a term widely used to refer to a bribe<ref>Morris, S. D. 2003. ‘Corruption and Mexican Political Culture’, Journal of the Southwest, 45(4): 671–708.</ref>. The word literally translates as ‘bite’ from Spanish. While the origins of this secondary use of the word are contested, probably the most recurrent explanation given by Mexicans is that it alludes to police officers and other public officials being seen as dogs, on the lookout for an innocent citizen to take a bite out of. It is significant that several studies<ref>Del Castillo, A., and Guerrero, M. A. 2003. ‘Percepciones de La Corrupción En La Cuidad de México¿ Predisposición Al Acto Corrupto?.’ Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, http://presupuestoygastopublico.org/documentos/transparencia/DT_134.pdf</ref><ref>Bailey, J. and P. Paras. 2006. ‘Perceptions and Attitudes about Corruption and Democracy in Mexico’. Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, 22 (1): 57–82, doi:10.1525/msem.2006.22.issue-1.</ref> have found that ''mordida'' is the one practice consistently identified by Mexicans as an unambiguous expression of corruption, whereas, in spite of an increasing awareness of the impact of corruption, average citizens appear to struggle to come up with a more abstract definition of the concept<ref>Del Castillo, A., and Guerrero, M. A. 2003. ‘Percepciones de La Corrupción En La Cuidad de México¿ Predisposición Al Acto Corrupto?.’ Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, http://presupuestoygastopublico.org/documentos/transparencia/DT_134.pdf</ref>.
 As well as ''mordida'', the term ''soborno'' also translates as ‘bribe’ in English. However, some authors (for example Coronado 2008<ref>Coronado, G. 2008. ‘Discourses of Anti-Corruption in Mexico. Culture of Corruption or Corruption of Culture?’, PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, 5(1), http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/portal/article/view/479</ref>) have suggested a subtle difference in meaning between the two terms. Thus, while ''soborno'' is presumed to be a serious crime (involving large amounts of money), ''mordida'' refers to commonly occurring petty corruption transactions, and is associated with what Covarrubias González <ref>Covarrubias González, I. 2003. ‘El Impacto de La Corrupción En El Proceso de Democratización de México’, Revista Probidad, 24 (9): 1–14.</ref> refers to as the ‘folklore of corruption’ pervading Mexican popular culture. In this latter connotation, ''mordida'' may be understood as one of many practices from the toolkit of informal strategies that Mexicans often employ in order to deal with a state that is perceived as undemocratic and abusive. Other examples of such informal strategies used in Mexico include the use of ''palancas'' (levers, which refer to the use of personal connections to insiders or influential actors in order to obtain preferential treatment), ''coyotes'' (persons who are paid to do others’ administrative transactions, frequently through use of personal contacts inside the organization), and giving ''regalos'' (gifts)<ref>Coronado, G. 2008. ‘Discourses of Anti-Corruption in Mexico. Culture of Corruption or Corruption of Culture?’, PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, 5(1), http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/portal/article/view/479</ref>.