Corruption Essay

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What is Corruption?
Corruption is difficult to define and to measure it cannot be defined but examples of particular activities, such as bribery can be listed rather than trying to define ‘corruption’ itself. Transparency International, the international anti-corruption NGO, influentially defined it as ‘the use of public office for private gain’’. The World Bank adopted this definition. TI later expanded its definition to include to the ‘use of entrusted power for private gain’, thereby including government functions that had been privatized. Both definitions emphasize individual acts, and economic crimes. Often a distinction is made between ‘petty’ corruption – small payments openly made to junior officials in exchange for services citizen is entitled to in any case - and the ‘grand’ corruption of senior officials and ministers accepting secret bribes from contractors. The former is often open and tolerated both are typically illegal. A third Category of ‘policy’ corruption, or state capture, refers to situations where private interests succeed in having the law changed in their favor. There is also link between corruption, incompetence and mismanagement. Arbitrary regulations and long queues for services create opportunities for corruption. So anti-corruption is often linked to wider processes of administrative reform. It is now also often linked to other kinds of crime.

What works against Corruption?
There is often cynicism and fatalism about corruption. There is some recent systematic evidence of what works but also of unintended consequences of anticorruption campaigns. In situations where corruption was endemic, people were often well aware of it and so awareness campa...

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...corrupt officials from investigation. Lawyers may leap to their defence. Defamation laws may prevent newspapers exposing corruption. Employment protections (and powerful unions) may restrict action against corrupt officials. Policy corruption and state capture are forms of corruption that may be entirely legal. These basic limitations to the use of law to punish corrupt individuals suggest more attention to ways corruption might be prevented before it happens rather than investigated and prosecuted after it happens. Preventive measures may be less likely to be abused. They include exemplary leadership, training, education, the development of codes of conduct, improved accountability, and the systematic reform of regulations that provide opportunities for corruption. Most long-serving leaders have something embarrassing – personal, financial or political - to hide.

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