Political corruption
This article is about political corruption. For other uses, see CorruptionIn broad terms,
political corruption is the misuse of public (governmental) power for illegitimate, usually secret, private advantage.
All forms of
government are susceptible to political corruption. Forms of corruption vary, but the most common are
patronage,
bribery,
extortion,
influence peddling,
fraud,
embezzlement,
cronyism,and
nepotism. While corruption often facilitates criminal enterprise such as
drug trafficking,
money laundering, and criminal
prostitution, it is not restricted to these
organized crime activities, and it does not always support or shield other crimes.
What constitutes illegal corruption differs depending on the country or jurisdiction. Certain political funding practices that are legal in one place may be illegal in another. In some countries,
police and
prosecutors have broad discretion over who to arrest and charge, and the line between discretion and corruption can be difficult to draw, as in
racial profiling. In countries with strong interest group politics, practices that could easily constitute corruption elsewhere are sometimes sanctified as official group preferences.
Effects on politics, administration, and institutions
Corruption poses a serious development challenge. In the political realm, it undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in
elections and in legislative bodies reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the
rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the unfair provision of services. More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance. See also:
Good governanceEconomic effects
Corruption also undermines economic development by generating considerable distortions and inefficiency. In the
private sector, corruption increases the cost of business through the price of illicit payments themselves, the management cost of negotiating with officials, and the risk of breached agreements or detection. Although some claim corruption reduces costs by cutting red tape, the availability of bribes can also induce officials to contrive new rules and delays. Where corruption inflates the cost of business, it also distorts the playing field, shielding firms with connections from competition and thereby sustaining inefficient firms.
Corruption also generates economic distortions in the
public sector by diverting public investment into capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal or pave way for such dealings, thus further distorting investment. Corruption also lowers compliance with construction, environmental, or other regulations, reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure, and increases budgetary pressures on government.
Economists argue that one of the factors behind the differing
economic development in
Africa and
Asia is that in the former, corruption has primarily taken the form of
rent extraction with the resulting
financial capital moved overseas rather invested at home (hence the stereotypical, but sadly often accurate, image of African dictators having
Swiss bank accounts). Corrupt administrations in Asia like
Suharto's have often taken a cut on everything (requiring bribes), but otherwise provided more of the conditions for development, through infrastructure investment, law and order, etc.
University of Massachusetts researchers estimated that from 1970 to 1996,
capital flight from 30
sub-Saharan countries totalled $187bn, exceeding those nations' external debts.[
1] (The results, expressed in retarded or suppressed development, have been modelled in theory by economist
Mancur Olson.) In the case of Africa, one of the factors for this behaviour was political instability, and the fact that new governments often confiscated previous government's corruptly-obtained assets. This encouraged officials to stash their wealth abroad, out of reach of any future
expropriation.
Bribery: Bribe-takers and bribe-givers
It takes two to create corruption: giving and taking bribes. In some countries the culture of corruption extends to every aspect of public life, making it extremely difficult to stay in business without resorting to bribes.
Graft
Graft is the act of a politician personally benefitting from public funds in a way other than prescribed by law. New York's Senator
George Washington Plunkitt once famously claimed that there was a difference between "honest" and "dishonest" graft. The classical example of graft is a politician using his knowledge of zoning and decision making to purchase land which he knows his political organization is interested in developing on, and then selling it at a significant profit to that organization. Large gifts from parties within the government also qualify as graft, and most countries have laws against it. (For example, any gift over $200 value made to the President of the United States is considered to be a gift to the Office of the Presidency and not to the President himself. The outgoing President must buy it if he wants to take it with him.)
In the political arena, it is difficult to prove corruption, but impossible to prove its absence. For this reason, there are often rumors about many politicians.
Politicians are placed in apparently compromising positions because of their need to solicit financial contributions for their campaigns. Often, they then appear to be acting in the interests of those parties that fund them, giving rise to talk of political corruption.
Supporters of politicians assert that it is entirely coincidental that many politicians appear to be acting in the interests of those who fund them. Cynics wonder why these organizations fund politicians at all, if they get nothing for their money. In the
United States many companies, especially larger ones, fund both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Because of the implications of corporations funding politicians, such as the perceived threat that these corporations are simply buying the votes of elected officials, certain countries, such as
France, ban altogether the corporate funding of political parties. Because of the possible circumvention of this ban with respect to the funding of political campaigns, France also imposes maximum spending caps on campaigning; candidates that have exceeded those limits, or that have handed misleading accounting reports, risk having their candidacy ruled invalid, or even be prevented from running in future elections. In addition, the government funds political parties according to their successes in elections. In some countries, political parties are run solely off
subscriptions (membership fees).
Even legal measures such as these have been argued to be legalised corruption, in that they often favor the political status quo. Minor parties and independents often argue that efforts to rein in the influence of contributions do little more than protect the major parties with guaranteed public funding while constraining the possibility of private funding by outsiders. In these instances, officials are legally taking money from the public coffers for their election campaigns to guarantee that they will continue to hold their influenctial and often well-paid positions.
Some argue that the following conditions are favorable for corruption:
*Adverse government structures
** Concentration of power in decision makers who are not practically accountable to the people, and especially who controls the military.
** Democracy absent or dysfunctional. See
illiberal democracy.
** Lack of
accountability.
*Information deficits
** Lack of government
transparency. See
Freedom of information.
** Contempt for or negligence of exercising
freedom of speech or
freedom of the press.
** Weak
accounting practices, including lack of timely financial management.
*Opportunities and incentives
** Large investments of public capital.
** Poorly-paid government officials.
*Social conditions
** Self-interested closed cliques and "
old boy networks".
** Illiterate, apathetic or ignorant populace, with inadequate public discernment of political choices. See
bounded rationality and
rational ignorance.
** In societies where personal integrity is rated as less important than other characteristics (by contrast, in societies such as 18th and 19th Century
England, 20th Century
Japan and post-war western
Germany, where society showed almost obsessive regard for "honour" and personal integrity, corruption was less frequently seen)
*Deficits of law
** Weak
rule of law.
** Weak
legal profession.
*Imperfect electoral processes
** Costly
political campaigns, with expenses exceeding normal sources of political funding.
** Absence of adequate controls to prevent bribery or "campaign donations".
Research
Research shows that democracy, parliamentary systems, political stability, and freedom of the press are all associated with lower corruption.[
2]
Measuring corruption - in the
statistical sense - is naturally not a straight-forward matter, since the participants are generally not forthcoming about it.
Transparency International, the leading anti-corruption
NGO, provides three measures, updated annually: a
Corruption Perceptions Index (based on experts' opinions of how corrupt different countries are); a Global Corruption Barometer (based on a survey of general public attitudes toward and experience of corruption); and a Bribe Payers Survey, looking at the willingness of foreign firms to pay bribes. Transparency International also publishes the
Global Corruption Report. The World Bank collects
a range of data on corruption, including a set of
Governance Indicators.
Transparency International has performed perception surveys from time to time. The 10 least corrupt countries, according to one conducted in 2005, are (in alphabetical order):
Australia,
Austria,
Denmark,
Finland,
Iceland,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Singapore,
Sweden, and
SwitzerlandAccording to the same survey, the 9 most corrupt countries are (in alphabetical order):
Angola,
Bangladesh,
Chad,
Côte d'Ivoire,
Equatorial Guinea,
Haiti,
Myanmar,
Nigeria, and
TurkmenistanHowever, the value of that survey is disputed, as it is based on subjective perceptions. Sophisticated technology may be available to those countries considered by the public as "least corrupt" to conceal corruption from public view or disguise it as legitimate dealings.
According to the perception survey
Mississippi,
North Dakota and
Louisiana are the three most corrupt states within the USA.
New Hampshire,
Oregon and
Nebraska have the least amount of corruption. The largest states,
California and
Texas, are ranked in the middle, California ranking 25th and Texas in 29th.
* Kimberly Ann Elliott, ed,
Corruption and the Global Economy (1997)
* Edward L. Glaeser and Claudia Goldin, editors,
Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America's Economic History University of Chicago Press, 2006. 386 pp. ISBN: 0-226-29957-0.
* Arnold J. Heidenheimer, Michael Johnston and Victor T. LeVine (eds),
Political Corruption: A Hanbook (1989) 1017 pages...
* Michael Johnston.
Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy (2005)
Forms or aspects of corruption
*
Cronyism and
crony capitalism*
Bribery*
Nepotism*
Political Sleaze (UK Politics)*
Rent seeking*
Lobbying without public scrutiny
*
Kleptocracy - a government so corrupt that no pretense of honesty remains
Good governance
*
Good governance*
Rule of law*
Transparency (humanities)*
Accountability*
ComitologyTheoretical aspects
*
Principal-agent problem*
Rent seeking*
Conflict of interestAnti-corruption authorities and measures
*
Independent Commission Against Corruption*
United Nations Convention against CorruptionExamples of corruption
*
Political scandals of the United States*
Hired Truck Program scandal
*
Corruption scandals in the Paris region*
Illegal Logging*
Tangentopoli *
Corruption in Latin America*
Corruption in Mumbai*
Sponsorship scandal*
PMU 18 scandal (
Vietnam)
*
Oil for FoodCorruption in fiction
*
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (
1939)
*
Henry Adams's novel
Democracy (
1880)
*
Carl Hiaasen's novel
Sick Puppy (
1999)
* Christopher Largen's novel
JUNK (2005)
* Much of the
Batman comic book series
*Axel Dreher, Christos Kotsogiannis, Steve McCorriston (2004),
Corruption Around the World: Evidence from a Structural Model.
*
COPSHOTS.org: Documenting Police Brutality; Documenting the Police*
Copwatch - a national organization that fights for victims of political corruption.
*
Police Crimes*
The News Speaks - a website with information on political corruption
*
HUD Misbehaving - a documented example of corrupt behavior by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Official sites
*
United Nations Convention against Corruption at Law-Ref.org - fully indexed and crosslinked with other documents
*
OECD: Corruption*
World Bank anti-corruption page*
UN Office on Drugs and Crime - Has sub-section dealing with corruption worldwide.
*
The Development Gateway's virtual library and online community on anti-corruption and good governance*
Transparency InternationalResearch
*
Corruption surveys by
Transparency International*
Latin Business Chronicle: Latin American Corruption Reports & Links*
UNICORN: A Global Trade Union Anti-corruption Network, based at
Cardiff University*
Internet Center For Corruption Research*
A collection of links to reports of alleged political corruption*
Global Integrity Report - Extensive analysis of openness and accountability of governments by the
Center for Public Integrity.
*
Rainforest Destruction in Indonesia, 2002*
A typology of corrupt practices*
Corner House: UK and anti-corruption*
Tool to analyze anti-corruption and institutional reform*
States ranked as most corrupt - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics*
Corruption : a destabilizing factor for arab societies - CERGES*
Corruption as a System of Interlocking Vicious Cycles: Lessons from NationLabGeneral
*
Regular Country Updates from Institute for War and Peace Reporting*
Forum to Free India from CorruptionMaps
*
Corruption Perceptions Index from WorldPolicy.org
