ABSTRACT
Throughout virtually most of the developing world, corruption remains one of the most important constraints to economic and human development. In addition, corruption contributes significantly to a lot of the multifarious problems (e.g., exploitation of children, drug trafficking, government impunity, ethnic cleansing, and the senseless massacre of vulnerable groupschildren, women, religious minorities, and the poor) that these societies currently suffer from and to the failure of many governments to perform their constitutionally mandated functions and provide citizens with certain public goods and services. In many developing societies, corruption is a major constraint, not only to economic growth and development but also to the maintenance of peace. For example, corruption in Mexico, specifically among the Mexican national police, has been blamed for the failure of the government to maintain law and order and provide adequate and full protection to the person and property of citizens (Davis 2006; Uildriks 2009, 2010; Ionescu 2011; Ochoa and Jiménez 2012). The police, an institution whose constitutional function is to protect citizens, maintain law and order,
Elements of the Rule of Law ................................................................................ 35 Confronting Police Corruption: A Role for the Rule of Law .......................... 37
Supremacy of Law ............................................................................................ 38 Voluntary Acceptance of and Respect for the Law...................................... 39 Judicial Independence ..................................................................................... 41 Openness and Transparency .......................................................................... 42 Predictability .................................................................................................... 44 Protection of Human Rights .......................................................................... 44
Rule of Law and Reform Strategies for Reducing Police Corruption ............ 45 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 46 References .............................................................................................................. 47
and enhance democratic living, has in Mexico and, indeed in many other developing and transition societies, become instead an agent of a significant level of the violence directed at citizens.
