State-Building, Corruption, and Accountability in Post-War Societies with Political Scientist Rachel Schwartz

In this episode of Global Stage, political scientist Rachel Schwartz discusses state-building, corruption, and accountability in post-war societies, focusing on Central America. In conversation with Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate and political scientist Isabel Güiza-Gómez, Schwartz presents the main argument and findings from her book entitled "Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America" (Cambridge University Press, 2023), which examines how counterinsurgent states in Guatemala and Nicaragua did not just disappear with the end of civil war, but instead left behind enduring institutional legacies that have undermined the state’s ability to function – especially in areas like tax collection, public security, and property administration. Schwartz also reflects on her current book project on international anti-corruption commissions in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.