ABSTRACT
Corruption has been a major hurdle to good governance and has yielded devastating impacts on democracy and, in particular, the rule of law within the Caribbean. It has also trickled down to other facets in society, contributing to distrust in state agencies such as the police service and the judiciary. In spite of the gravity of the problem in the Caribbean, it is surprising that there is a paucity of data on the matter. In view of this dearth, this chapter seeks to examine the debilitating effects of corruption on governance with particular emphasis on the rule of law. Nations such as the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, and Haiti have governance indicators that are typically negative. Preliminary assessments of data sources suggest that poor governance and partial enforcement of the rule of law fuel corruption, which, in turn, reduces governance capacity to stem corruption. This study will utilize multiple sources of secondary data from global and regional indicators such as World Governance Indicator (WGI), Latin American Public Opinion Poll (LAPOP), and locally based empirical research. Such a plethora of data sources was necessary to mitigate the low-context validity of corruption and governance measurement approaches utilized by worldwide indicators.
