Corruption traditionally involves the spiriting away of public
funds for private gain, here the ultimate gains were arguably
public. Poverty levels in the country fell more than 51% between
2002 and 2010. Western commentators and anti-corruption
campaigners have hailed Brazil’s mensalão trials as an
indication that the country is finally willing to combat
corruption at the highest levels. While true, this is a one
dimensional portrayal of a complex issue – away from the hype,
the mensalão turns the traditional concept of corruption on its
head and calls for a more critical examination of the role
corruption plays in the governing of countries like Brazil which
face massive social inequality and fragmented institutions. To
be clear, the mensalão were corrupt payments. It was a high-
level vote buying scheme perpetrated by members of the Workers’
Party that ran between 2003 and 2005 – the first term of
President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, although Lula himself has
not been implicated in the scandal. It used mone