Definition of Corruption - Literature review Example

? (Lectures 13th February CORRUPTION (insert section) Corruption is an abuse of office by a public official for private gains. It is a deep rooted vice that involves embezzlement, bribery and nepotism. In the world, corruption is widely spread in developing countries due to social and economic problems. However, the governments struggle to combat it in order to improve their economies. Corruption varies in magnitude of its occurrence as follows: Petty corruption This occurs where there is an exchange of small favors for personal gains. It is common in developing countries due to low income earned by majority of the citizens in government employment. Such public servants take bribes before offering services to the large population that need attention from them. The practice is high in government offices that deal with processing of documents and public hospitals. Grand corruption This form of corruption is rampant in the highest ranks of the government. It is mostly perpetuated by high-ranking officials and is highly visible in authoritarian and dictatorial government settings. However, emerging democracies have embraced division of labor in the government thus trying to combat the vice. The executive, judiciary and the legislature are therefore allowed to operate independently from each other. Systemic corruption This occurs where there is a widespread of corruption activities in the society mainly caused by weaknesses of an organization or governance process. It is encouraged by low pay in organizations, lack of honesty, impunity, monopolistic governance, discretional powers and conflicting incentives. It includes extortion, embezzlement and bribery of public officials. In this occurrence, corruption becomes a necessity for survival. Spread of corruption Corruption is widespread in the society. It has corroded every aspect of our society ranging from government institutions to private institutions. Joseph in the book political corruption describes all institutions as being corrupt from the core (42). Right from childhood, children become corrupt because of the examples they see from the older generations. Hence, corruption can be said to be a deep-rooted problem in the society Philosophical issues related to corruption Corruption is a social problem in the world today. Due to corruption, innocent people suffer at the expense of corrupt leaders. Corruption has led to the following: Increase in poverty in the society Corruption is a game of survival for the fittest. The corrupt individuals are able to increase their income and safeguard their wealth as compared to the middle class individuals. This has led to increase in the gap between the rich and the poor. In countries where corruption is widespread, the level of economic development is very slow because funds that could have been used in the developments are lost. Hence, such countries remain poor. Lack of good health care and education In most of the developing countries, corruption has led to under-utilization of government funds. Such funds could have assisted in the provision of health care. Most public hospitals are therefore left without medicines and qualified doctors. The lack of good health care has led to an increase in child mortality rates. Moreover, corruption has led to loss of funds, which could have been used in the education sector. Public schools are therefore left without books while in some cases teachers are underpaid hence are not well motivated to provide their services. Destroys love for patriotism. Patriotism is the love and passion for ones country. Through patriotism, the citizens are able to actively involve themselves in nation building and hence the economy of a country develops. Acts of patriotism have been the driving force for the youth to join the military and defend their own country in times of war. However, corruption kills the love and appreciation for your country. A person from a corrupt country will not be proud to be associated with his/her own people. This results to economic stagnation and defenselessness in times of war. Lack of law and order in the society The judiciary is an important arm of the government mandated to providing justice through the court system. Through the judiciary, sanity is restored in the society as the rule of law is upheld. With corruption, such justice is not realized because the law is not keenly followed. This phenomenon is common in most developing nations because the credibility of the judicial system is always compromised. Joseph (1989) says in his book on political corruption that, “in Burma, payments occur to get the case registered, to get the case lodged in court, to get a fare hearing and also to escape conviction” (pp. 86). Hence, there is no law and order in most part of that nation due to impunity and corruption. Anti-government revolutions Corruption has led to uprisings of revolution movements in some countries especially the Arab nations. The people in such nations have had to witness corrupt leaders misusing public funds and hence they decide to fight for change. Such demonstrations and protests take a long period ranging from weeks to months. In the period of revolutions, nearly all economic activities come to a standstill and therefore the government loses a lot of revenue from its economic activities. This leads to slow economic growth caused by revolutions against corrupt leaders. Waste of public funds In the fight against corruption, the government loses many funds. The government forms many commissions’ to investigate the corruption charges against accused individuals. Such commissions use many public funds during their investigations. In some instances, the commissions of enquiries end up taking bribes from the accused hence no credible findings are presented to the public. Therefore, the public would have lost money, which could have been of more importance to other sectors of the economy Loss of taxes Corrupt businesses and people are able to collude with tax collecting agencies hence are spared from giving revenues to the government. Such evasions are more common in the customs authorities where goods and services enter and leave a country. The government therefore looses the funds that could have been collected because of corrupt personnel in such agencies. The government in developing the nation could have used such funds. Unemployment Corruption has led to unemployment of academically qualified people. Because of corruption, deserving persons are not awarded the jobs because of their inability to provide bribes. This scenario is commonly found in developing world where the number of available jobs is too few to accommodate the whole work force. In such cases, corruption has led to decline in economic growth because able people are not given the chance to relay their ideas. Even though corruption has negative effects, it has some merits on some individuals. Acts as a uniting factor to people in need Due the need to benefit themselves, corrupt people come together to agree on their corrupt ideas. Such agreements usually involve negotiations and compromise. Hence, they become united by a common need. Transfer of wealth in the society Corruption leads to distribution of wealth in the society. For example, the rich are forced to bribe the under paid workers in order to get some services done in time. Such bribing is beneficial because it acts as an extra source of income from the lower class members of the society. Quicken processes With the bureaucracy in some institutions, the workers need some form of motivation in order to worker faster. Corruption therefore assists in quickening the processes; such quickening may be beneficial if the required information is urgent as in the case of medical care or during an urgent traveling arrangement. Provision of additional security Under crises, bribing has been used as a tool for provision of security. According to international crisis groups, bribing was used to acquire additional security from insurgents in Kabul. The insurgents guaranteed security for development projects in the region. Effective ways of combating corruption Corruption is a deep-rooted problem in the society that would take decades or even centuries to eradicate. It is very widespread in some areas that people have learned to accept it as a part of their lives. For the society to fight corruption, the following have to be considered: Education and public awareness Education is a key tool in the fight against corruption. Through education, the younger generations would be taught on the negative effects of corruption and hence they would be able to avoid it. For such education to be effective, topics on negative impacts of corruption must be incorporated in the school curriculum. In addition, the public needs education on the negative effects of corruptions. The government and other organizations should educate the public through advertisements, public lectures, seminars, posters and through mass media. With knowledge on negative effects of corruption, such a vice would be effectively combated. Legislation and fast court processes The governments can formulate strict laws in parliaments in order to ensure that corruption is not tolerated in the society. Such laws should bar convicts from holding any public office for life. With such laws, the public would be shielded from such a vice. In addition, the courts should act speedily in corruption cases. Delaying cases causes a sense of impunity, which hinders the fight against corruption. Reducing bureaucracy Due to bureaucracy, one has to go through a lengthy process in order to acquire goods and services. Bureaucracy prompts people to use corrupt means in order to get a faster service. Therefore, the government should ensure that short and fast processes are involved in service delivery to the public. This can be achieved by use of a computerized system, which relates data from different government offices. Witness protection and rewards to people who expose corruption The government should put good witness protection policies and ensure confidentiality of information relayed to them about corruption dealings. They should reward people who expose corruption in government institutions fairly. Through rewarding, more people would be motivated to expose corruption hence saving the government a lot of money. External audit All government departments should be subject to external audits of its reports. Such regular audits would ensure that the workers in those departments do not get involved in corruption dealings. Embracing of democracy Democracy creates a division of power where elected leaders are answerable to the public. With democracy, autocratic and dictatorial governorship is avoided. Democracy has been a strong tool against corruption because leaders are replaced after a regular period hence is not able to be too corrupt for fear of losing a re-election. Creation of a specific police unit that deals with corruption The police play a vital part in ensuring that the law is obeyed. However, the police are always over-whelmed by the number of crimes they have to follow up and investigate each day. Therefore, a creation of a specific sub division of the police, which deals specifically with corruption, would be important in the fight against corruption. Such a unit should be well funded to ensure effectiveness. The creation of such a unit would be beneficial to the fight against corruption. Good salary for workers Most civil servants are involved in corrupt dealing due to insufficient funds that they earn. Frequently, the public servants work in urban areas and they have to endure high costs of living. Such workers need a supplement to their income hence they are tempted to get involved in corruption. If the governments can increase the minimum wages and salaries, the rate of corruption would be reduced. In conclusion, corruption is a costly vice to our economy. It leads to poverty, lack of developments, anti-government revolutions, lack of patriotism and unemployment. Even though corruption has some few advantages, such merits only serve a few people in the society and have no benefit to the public. As stated by Rose-Ackerman in her book on corruption, “to combat this vice, the government should; increase salary to its workers, educate the public on corruption matters, reduce bureaucracy, create strict laws and also create a special police unit to deal with this social crime” (57). Even though corruption is still rampant in the society, studies have shown a gradual decrease in the rate of corruption. The fight against corruption is a fight that needs dedication, focus and passion for a better world. In conclusion, we should join hands together in ensuring a better future, which is corruption free. We should therefore not lose hope in the fight against corruption. Works cited Joseph, M. Political corruption. New Jersey: Transaction publishers, 1989. Print. Rose-Ackerman, Susan. Corruption; a study of political economy. Waltham, Academic Press, 1978. Print. Read More