Anti-corruption Agencies and Independence: from Augurs to Haruspices. A Roadmap for Latin America

Anti-corruption agencies are born as essential instruments in the strategy towards transparency and integrity led by several Latin American countries in the framework of their public policies. Nevertheless, the reality of the independence principle and its contextualization in an efficient public administration usually collides with political, social and economic structures. The consolidation of the independence principle in a framework of holistic reform allows for classification of anti-corruption agencies, following the classic distinction, as "augurs" or "haruspices", depending on their auxiliary character vis-a-vis the political power in place at any given time. Equilibrium between independence and accountability becomes, this way, in a fundamental requisite for institutional consolidation and for an adequate performance of anti-corruption agencies in Latin America.