Conclusion: Scholarly Avenues and Policy Directions for the Twenty-first Century

Corruption and impunity remain prevalent in Latin America despite democratization and recent anticorruption reforms. In turn, the resilience of corruption is buoyed by the perception (and the reality) of enduring impunity: relatively few government officials face serious sanctions. This combination of robust corruption and continuing impunity has corrosive implications for those striving to extend the scope of democratic rule and to build a more just society. The resilience of corruption highlights the desire to devise better solutions to the corruption problem, which, in turn, points to the need for better analytical tools to enhance our understanding of this thorny issue.