Meaning of Governmental Crime and Its Various Forms - Research Paper Example

 Governmental Crimes Introduction Cornell University Law School defines crime as “any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it” (Barrett, 2012). Everyone is affected with crime, either directly or indirectly. In general, there are various forms of crimes that possess variable effects upon the US society. Everyone in the society had to face certain difficulties due to the occurrence of crimes. However, in order to limit the activities that lead to crime, government has enforced certain effective laws and rules. It has been apparently observed that certain forms of crime are less tangible while other crimes possess massive impact and widely visible. There has been considerable reduction in rate of murders and other severe brutal crimes in the US in recent times (Coker, 2003). At the same time, there has been considerable increase in the white collar crime in the US. In relation to this, white collar crime as regarded as a crime that is been committed by a person belonging to high social status such as a political person or a bureaucrat (Braithwaite, 1985). Meaning of Governmental Crime and Its Various Forms Often it has been assumed that government bodies that are responsible for maintaining law and regulations in a state are actually responsible for causing more crimes rather than prevention. An example of riots can be regarded as a form of governmental crime and further it can be stated that government only attempts to establish its monopoly by merely controlling over the law. Contextually, governmental crime in its simple meaning can be stated as crimes committed by the government. In other words, any person that may be political or bureaucratic involved in any form of act that leads towards the violation of national laws is termed as government crime. Governmental crime can also be stated as a component of white collar crime (Coker, 2003). Governmental crimes can take place in various forms and its intensity may also vary greatly. The various forms of crimes prevailing in the society can be generally categorized as violent and non-violent. In the US and other developed countries, it has been noted that generally governmental crimes are of non-violent in nature while in other countries of the world especially in African countries, the governmental crimes are observed to be violent. Contextually, the non-violent governmental crime includes the white collar crimes like crony capitalism as well as political and bureaucratic corruption. On the other hand, the violent crimes may include governmental extortion, severe torture to innocent civilians and other international human rights abuse. Accordingly, the term crony capitalism is viewed to be a new term that has been evolved after the Asian economic collapsed in the year 1997. Crony capitalism in its general meaning is often regarded as a system in which the political authorities who are responsible for enforcing policies avail significant personal benefits relating to economic value rather than the benefits to wholesome population. On the other hand, political corruption are closely connected with political decision-makers and usually occurs at high level of political system, while bureaucratic corruption involves conduct of corruptions in the public administration who are associated with implementing political decisions (Amundsen, 1999). Governmental Crime in the US and Other Nations of the World Governmental crimes have threatened the multiple facets of the US concerning its social community, economy and national security. The emergence of governmental crimes in the US has immensely weakened the economy that resulted in huge tax loss for both state and federal government of the nation. Fake behaviors in domains such as government strategies and policies related with investment and other activities have considerably weakened the public trust on government bodies (Finklea, 2010). Currently, the US economy is triggered with the two major forms of governmental crimes namely crony capitalism and political as well as bureaucratic corruption. It has been advocated that the act leading towards crony capitalism weakens the businesses as well as the economy and most significantly discourages the entire political system. It was further estimated that crony capitalism has threatened the economic foundation of the US by a significant level (Aidt, 2003). The government influence through crony capitalism immensely remaking the American business to be more like government and are imposing serious threat to the democracy of the country. Moreover, it has been recognized that crony capitalism has hampered particularly the open market competition of the US. Consequently, small business enterprises are unable to sustain their businesses in the marketplace (Aidt, 2003). The crime relating to crony capitalism led towards a kind of monopoly situation where the business organizations avails the significant benefit of enjoying the sovereignty as well as freedom over conducting different operations. In the absence of any risk of being displaced by new business entrants, incumbent company is simply benefited with significant financial gain at the costs of other firms. Moreover, the crime linked with crony capitalism often lead towards increasing unemployment and only limited firms would be able to survive in the situation artificially created by politicians and the organization engaged in crony capitalism. Precisely, it can be stated that crony capitalism as a part of governmental crime has led the US economy to be in a stagnant position (Aidt, 2003). On the other hand, there exist an unclear association between corruption and financial enlargement. The act of political and bureaucratic corruption corroded the profitability of business and development of entrepreneurship in the US. The both forms of corruption have further increased the operating costs of the US government, contributed towards low revenue generation and the resources available for public service have been diminished. Moreover, the political corruption has led towards distorted governmental decision making and has also failed in delivering much-needed public services. The increasing governmental corruption has deterred the government investment as well as the national economy of the US. Both political and bureaucratic corruption has resulted in low tax revenue due to discretionary tax exemptions (Strader, 2002). However, governmental crimes in developing countries of Africa are comparatively more visible and violent in comparison with the US. According to the report issued by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, it has been noted that the highest level of government, security forces as well as armed forces have ruthlessly being involved in violation of global human rights including unlawful killings, acts of sexual violence and attacking on civilians (UN News Centre, 2012). Another instance related with governmental crime can be associated with another nation of Africa namely, the Republic of Rwanda. Contextually, it has been identified that during 1993-1994, the Rwandan government has been considerably involved in crimes against humanity such as mass rape of adolescent girls, brutal killing of innocents and other human rights abuses (Lalla, 2003). Thus, on the basis of the above discussion, it can be stated that governmental crime in the form of political corruption has been one of the serious problems faced by the USA in the recent time. Government Initiatives and Success towards Curtailing Governmental Crime In recent times, it has been observed that there exists considerable increment in the number as well as scope of generating governmental crimes or white collar crimes in the US. Government authorities who commit these illegitimate acts have been more sophisticated and their actions have also been more calculated than before. The governmental crime has a profound adverse socio-economic impact. This is owing to the reason that it is quite difficult to detect an individual engaged in committing such crimes (Strader, 2002). In addition to this, governmental crime causes huge financial losses to state and federal governments of the US Unlike ordinary and street crimes, governmental crimes such as in the form of crony capitalism and political as well as bureaucratic corruption are committed with utmost secrecy and in privacy. Moreover, such crimes are committed by the high status and trusted bodies who are assigned with different governmental tasks. Consequently, as there does not lay any eye witness, the convict can easily get escaped from legal jurisdictions. In fact the Supreme Court of the US in the year 1988 acknowledged governmental crime or white collar crime as one of the most serious problems confronting laws and enforcement authorities (Strader, 2002). The US government has been constantly been involved in curtailing governmental crimes, primarily the act of crony capitalism and political as well as bureaucratic corruptions. In this regard, the government has enacted several laws among which the American Anti-Corruption Act can be considered as quite vital in response to curtailing the act of corruptions particularly in the US. The government authorities who reside on powerful committees often invite lobbyist for contributing to their campaigns as a source of their fundraising initiative for their own benefits or the benefits of their respective political party but not necessarily the benefits of general public. Usually, such act of fundraising is conducted in order to raise substantial money for the purpose of elections. Consequently, the American Anti-Corruption Act prohibits the members of Congress from raising such funds and ensures legal actions against the convicts (Chang, 2004). In relation to governmental initiative in curtailing crimes, The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 closely monitors the functioning of those companies listed in the US stock exchange. Further, the Act seeks that any disbursement to a government entity or a person associated with government entity should be able to clearly disclose the reasons behind the disbursement of payments and receive of any monetary value or gift in kind. In general, the Act prohibits the existence of crony capitalism within the nation as well as in the international context (Chang, 2004). However, the government initiatives do not seems to curtail the governmental crime so far. Evidently in the recent times, the case of Solyndra has disappointed the efforts made by the government in curtailing the crimes relating to crony capitalism. Contextually, the company has received federal loan guarantee amounting to US$535 million during the year 2009. In relation to this, the company during the year 2011 declared bankruptcy owing taxpayers in excess of US $500 million. It was ascertained that the US government officials were in advance aware of the risk associated with the federal loan guarantee to Solyndra, but the officials did not paid heed to the issue that ultimately resulted in heavy federal monetary loss. It is further been proclaimed that few government officials and key players of the company were involved in the Solyndra scandal (The New York Times, 2012). In addition to this, the case of the previous New York Police Commissioner named Bernard Kerik who has been accused against committing several federal corruptions such as charges of bribery and tax fraud is another example that provides an evidence of the US government’s inability to curtail governmental crime (Auken, 2006). Thus, it can be stated that the US government has to enforce more stringent laws for preventing government crimes in future. Conclusion Crimes impose severe impact on everyone either directly as a victim or indirectly as a citizen of a country. The intensity of crimes varies with its forms. Accordingly some crimes are tangible while some crimes are intangible. Contextually, governmental crimes are less tangible however their impacts are often dramatic to influence the socioeconomic context of a country. Governmental crimes are often stated as another form of white collar crime that occurs at high government levels which are difficult to detect and prosecute. In the US, governmental crimes are usually committed in the forms of corruption including both political and bureaucratic levels and are non-violent. However, in other parts of the world, particularly in African nations like Syria and the Republic of Rwanda, the governmental crimes are more tangible and violent in nature. In the present context, the governmental crime in the US has threatened the sovereignty of its community, economy and has served as a concern to national security. Moreover, the involvement of the government officials in various scandals has also resulted in the loss of tax and revenue of the state as well as the federal government. In this course, the US government has been constantly striving towards curtailing the influence as well as the act of government crimes through the enforcement of different significant laws such as the American Anti-Corruption Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. However, the recent cases related with Soyndra and Bernard Kerik postulates that such initiatives of the US government have largely been failed in curtailing governmental crimes. Thus, it is essential for the US government to take more rigid steps towards deterring the governmental crimes in future. References Amundsen, I. (1999). Political corruption: an introduction to the issues. Chr. Michelsen Institute, pp. 1-31. Aidt, T. S. (2003). Economic analysis of corruption: A survey report. University of Cambridge, pp. 1-32. Auken, B. V. (2006). Bernard Kerik’s guilty plea: corruption case underscores fraud of homeland security. Retrieved from www.wsws.org › Home › World News › North America Barrett, J. C. (2012). Overview: criminal law. Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law (1), pp. 108-110. Braithwaite, J. (1985). White collar crime. Annual Reviews Inc. (11), pp. 1-25. Chang, E. C. C. (2004). Electoral incentives for political corruption under open-list proportional representation. The Journal of Politics, pp. 1-21. Coker, D. (2003). Foreword: addressing the real world of racial injustice in the criminal system. Journal of criminal law and criminology 93 (4), pp. 827-880. Finklea, K. M. (2010). Organized Crime in the United States: Trends and issues for congress. Congressional Research Service, pp. 1-28. Lalla, N. (2003). Rwanda: crimes against humanity. Retrieved from http://www.womenaid.org/press/info/humanrights/rwanda%20hr.html Strader, J. K. (2002). Understanding white collar crime. Southwestern University School of Law, pp. 1-13. The New York Times. (2012). Solyndra. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/solyndra/index.html UN News Centre. (2012). Syrian government and opposition forces responsible for war crimes – UN panel. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42687#.UNLZf-RfGNZ Read More