While Chile maintains relatively low corruption levels compared to neighboring countries in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, growing public concern highlights critical warning signs for institutional transparency and trust.
Knowledge of the organizational and relational structures within corruption cases remains limited. Because corruption is categorized analytically rather than criminally, researchers face significant challenges in systematically studying cases and understanding how actors interact.
Through a Fondecyt Initiation Grant 2026, Dr. Martín Ordóñez is examining how corruption networks form, evolve, and organize in Chile. To answer these questions, the study analyzes a preliminary sample of nearly 1,500 court rulings. By tracking cases via their Unique Case Number (RUC), the project reconstructs key connections between the various actors involved.
The proposal involves two levels of analysis. “On the one hand, an approach that seeks to identify the roles within these networks—who carries out direct actions and who performs support functions. On the other hand, a formal network analysis that allows us to map the links between individuals. Each person is a node in a network, and each line represents a link,” the scholar explained.
The three-year initiative will roll out in distinct stages. The team is currently defining target crimes and building the initial database using a preliminary selection that will be refined over time. Subsequent phases will shift toward in-depth case studies, aiming to map organizational structures and establish clear typologies for corruption networks.
In later phases, the research will delve deeper into emblematic cases and incorporate interviews. “We want to analyze more complex aspects such as trust among the actors and the mechanisms that facilitate the formation and operation of these relational structures,” Ordóñez noted.
The initiative also incorporates data analysis tools and artificial intelligence. “The goal is to expand the study to large volumes of information. The idea is, hopefully, to map these networks and then use that foundation to develop tools that support the identification and study of networks associated with corruption,” explained the researcher.
Furthermore, the project is being carried out in collaboration with students and scholars from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the University of the Andes, promoting an interdisciplinary approach that combines network science, data analysis, and political studies.
By generating strategic insights into corruption, this project aims to support public policies that enhance institutional transparency, protecting democracy and restoring public trust against a persistent societal challenge.
“We hope to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms that enable these networks to operate and remain hidden, generating tools and useful knowledge for both academic analysis and future prevention and control strategies,” concluded Ordóñez.