Revolving door phenomenon
The revolving door is a primary example of how corporations capture the State. Essentially, it is the entry, transit, and exit of businesspeople through the State as public officials, and vice versa.
The Corporate Accountability Working Group (CAWG), an integral part of the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net), defines the revolving door practice as “The movement of employees from the corporate sector to public regulators and other agencies, and vice versa, in the process undermining the impartiality of State agencies, facilitating corporate-friendly regulation and policy, lessening the application of existing regulations, and securing favorable corporate contracts with state agencies.”
The revolving door necessarily impliesconflicts of interest,which are rarely declared as such. This has become normalized and the risks associated with a public official having previously worked for a company and potentially managing private interests from their position are rarely mentioned.
In Mexico two men personify the revolving door phenomenon, both connected to the multinational mining and transportation conglomerate Grupo México. Carlos Ruiz Sacristán, a public official for 25 years, including as Minister of Communications and Transportation, in one of his final acts in office, privatized Mexico’s railroads, granting the most strategic routes to a consortium led by Grupo México. Upon leaving his post, he joined the board of directors of Southern Copper Corporation, Grupo’s U.S. subsidiary. Similarly, Luiz Téllez Kuenzler was the chief of staff to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, where he prepared the railroad privatization together with Ruiz Sacristán, only to join Grupo’s board a few years later.
Somewhat differently, inSouth Africathe revolving door can also occur between an influential political party, such as theAfrican National Congress,its members, such as trade unionists, and the State. In this regard, the dynamic is less about public officials currying favor with companies in order to obtain jobs in the private sector and more about the revolving door between union leadership and the State, which ensures that these party adherents will not tackle State capture once in office.