Could Corruption Be Eliminated Completely - Essay Example

Corruption Name: Institution: Course: Tutor: Date: Corruption Corruption is a major obstacle facing countries globally in the economic, political and social spheres of everyday life. This leaves many people riddled in between which acts are corrupt and the ones that are not. Corruption definitions vary based on the different sources. In addition, the variation on its definition is attributed to its broad nature. In simpler term, it is defined as the abuse or misuse of public entrusted power and resources for private gain either personal, family or friends amongst others. Corruption includes theft, fraud, power abuse, nepotism, law breaking, bribery, embezzlement, and blackmail among others. This easy is going to explore the vice of corruption. In regards to the causes, corruption emanate from widely varied and complex causes (Rose-Ackerman,1999). One of the main causes of corruption is based on selfishness and greediness for resources and power (Rose-Ackerman,1999). The majority of public servants especially the political class is driven by their own self-interests rather that the national interests. Tolerance towards corruption is another main cause of corruption globally (Rose-Ackerman,1999). This is attributed to lack of intense public outcry and strong forums against corruption. People give as well as take based on their own private motives and gain. On the other hand, people sit back and watch others as they perpetuate corruption. As a result, this makes control of corruption very difficult and challenging. Furthermore, the high illiteracy levels in the majority of the populations coupled with high poverty levels lead to intensified corruption in developing nations. The existence of complex laws alienates the illiterate people from participating in the government activities. Not to forget, the high inflation in the economy coupled with low or poor salaries for public servants compel them to opt for corruption. Additionally, malicious people also wreck the economy as well as change the value system and thus creating artificial scarcity. In turn, this opens loopholes to corruption (Rose-Ackerman,1999). Relative to occurrence, corruption usually occurs secretly and thus difficult to observe it systematically. In addition to this, it occurs on different scales. This includes petty, grand and systematic corruption (Campos, & Pradhan, 2007). Petty corruption refers to small scale corruption mostly pertaining to small favors between few individuals. This is commonly present in countries that are developing and where there is a significant underpayment of workers. Most people usually accept this form of corruption in real life. On the contrary, grand corruption is corruption on the large scale and mostly common in government based on the authoritarian / dictatorial rule and where anti-corruption agencies are inadequate. It pertains to high corruption levels of the existing executive, legislative and judicial systems. This is attributed to the independence of these systems. Likewise grand corruption, systematic corruption occurs on a large scale and forms part of the societal structure. This is attributed to weak processes or organizations creation corruption loopholes. This includes discretionary powers, conflicting incentives, culture of impunity and many more (Campos, & Pradhan, 2007). Aside from scales, corruption is evident in different sectors whether public or private. However, corruption is more prevalent in the public/government sector. According to World Bank (2012), policy makers play a critical role in determining corruption levels due to their different incentives in policy making. This pertains to the three arms of government; legislature. executive and judiciary. Corruption in the legislative arm is related to the political class hence termed as political corruption. It involves the misuse of the public resources, office and power for self-interests by the elected public official. It includes enacting exploitative laws, extortion, soliciting, and offering bribes. Political corruption is at its peak during election time. Here, the politicians employ bribery by buying influence and votes from the poor and illiterate people. In addition, big business people fund politicians who more likely to win for their personal gain thereafter. With respect to the executive system, corruption involves flouting of the law and code of conduct. It is commonly associated with the police and hence referred as police corruption. Police misconduct is aimed at obtaining financial gains, personal benefits and career advancement. One common form of misconduct is accepting or soliciting bribes in exchange of silence for crimes or illegal activities taking place. Others include falsified evidences and selective pursuing of arrests or investigations. Further to the judicial system, corruption also involves misconducts of the judges through biased hearing, judgment and improper sentencing due to bribery or blackmail. In many developing and transnational countries judiciary is under the manipulation of the executive arm which controls almost the entire government budget. Corruption in the judiciary is considered a serious hindrance to successive anti-corruption strategies. In the private sector, corruption is also present but not more emphasized like in the government sector. Furthermore, corruption has more serious consequences. Corruption reduces the overall wealth of a country and the larger world. According to World Bank (2012), an estimate of about $ 1trillion to $ 1.6 trillion get lost each year globally due to corruption. This renders government unable to improve the standard of living of the citizens and the economy. This is because the governments spend most of their national income to fight corruption. In the long run, governments reduce and distort their expenditures for other necessities like buying necessary supplies. In return, the quality of services provided to the public decreases (Rose-Ackerman,1999). Additionally, corruption drives away or discourages investors from conducting business in a country. Businesses grow at a slower rate in a corrupt environment. Most notably, corruption diminishes peoples trust in the government. Further, corruption leads to breaking or bending of government laws and rules by those with connections or money. This intensifies corruption and making it difficult to control (Rose-Ackerman,1999). To sum up, corruption cannot be eliminated completely but can be controlled to tolerable limits. However, controlling it is also difficult due to its deep roots. It has many complex causes and different scales as mentioned above. Additionally, it has more severe damages to countries globally. Honesty and integrity can be the most significant values to overcome corruption. Embracing these values has become a big challenge to individuals in the wake of global financial crisis. Therefore, corruption will still remain as an obstacle all countries globally have to face. References Campos, J. E., & Pradhan, S. (2007). The many faces of corruption: Tracking vulnerabilities at the sector level. Washington, D.C: World Bank. Rose-Ackerman, S. (1999). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press. World Bank. (2012). Fighting corruption in public services: Chronicling Georgia's reforms. Washington D.C: World Bank. Read More