Legal systems are the source of Judicial Corruption in third-world countries. It originates from the judges and lawyers who are at the center of the legal systems in Africa. There are numerous causes associated with this form of corruption in Africa.
There is a lingering culture of impunity in African leadership that is the primary cause of corruption. This makes it trickle down to the grassroots, with the most affected being the people (Homans, 20).
Corruption also originates from the loose and easily-tricked legal systems. These legal systems, made by people who want to maneuver their way through big scandals, lay bare big corruption. The other cause is the low wages that the civil servants receive. These low wages make them want to have more and hence engage in unlawful means towards that goal (Mauro, 690).
There are also institutional loopholes that form the basis from which corruption in these countries is propagated. Government agencies are the most corrupt. This is because of the fact that most people who require certain documentation are always visiting them. The system is such that it is too complicated and long making some people to opt for short cuts: corruption and bribery (Buscaglia, 280).
The societies in those countries are such that they have developed a culture engulfed in corrupt ways. To beat the ever tedious ways of following the required routes, they have created a web of corruption. It is also a society where there is so much jostling for space and materialism (Shleifer, 600). The true definition of success is with the material possession one has.
This has fueled both corruption and war in third world countries. Opportunities are also quite limited in third world countries. This has developed a desperation that is widely spreading throughout society making people, especially the youth, to be unorthodox in their ways (Blunt, 3).
Economic Consequences
The average persons perception concerning equitability in society is quickly deteriorating. This psychological disorientation has affected many people who have opted for unorthodox means killing creativity and hard work (Klitgaard, 20). These two ingredients have killed the drivers of economy such as job creation, employment and well trained professionals.
Corruption ahs also created social divisions with only very few rich people and a majority of poor people (Becker, 235). This social imbalance has continued to plague the governments ability to tackle important aspects of society like security. This has sacred investors in some parts of the countries which ahs greatly slowed economic progress.
The overall cycle is that poverty has continued to plague third world countries that only depend on developed countries to even feed their own people. Governments have also lost so much in revenue due to corruption which has curtailed its desired progress in certain fields like infrastructure which has worsened economic progress (Becker, 13).
Recommendations
The most important thing to do is to engage in long-term culture changes. Once that has changed, each individual will know the consequences of corruption and its effects and therefore desist from engaging in it (Rose-Ackerman, 34). The autocratic government machinery ought to change to simple procedures.
This will curtail corruption from people who want fast services and unorthodox means. Job creation should be enhanced and people who engage in corruption should face strict penalties in court to forestall prospective offenders (Andvig, 4).
Works Cited
Andvig, Jens Christopher. Corruption in developing countries. Northern journal in political economy, 23(1999): 51-70.
Becker, Gary. Law Enforcement, Malfeasance, and Compensation of Employees. Journal of Legal Studies, 3(1980): 1-18.
Becker, Gary. Nobel Lecture: The Economic Way of Thinking about Behavior. Journal of Political Economy, 1.108 (2002): 234-67.
Culture is an important aspect of life and usually develops because a certain need exists. In developing countries, most aspects of life are governed by a specific culture that aims to help where poor government policies and inadequate infrastructure have failed. In China, Guanxi has been in use for a very long time and has been socially accepted as a way of life, both in the day-to-day activities and also in business practices. The concept of Guanxi has been applied in many cultures, especially in developing countries. In Russia, it is referred to as Blat; the Middle Eastern Culture has a similar concept named Wasta, while the Cubans have socialism.
While most people in developing countries have derived many advantages from Guanxi relationships, the morality of Guanxi has been questioned. While the Chinese community views Guanxi as an important part of their life, most foreigners trying to infiltrate this society view Guanxi as a form of corruption.
Guanxi and its application
The term Guanxi has been described as the process of setting up interpersonal connections with the aim of acquiring favors. Luo (2000) states that Guanxi encompasses interpersonal linkages that are meant to ensure the continuous exchange of favors. The main idea revolving around this concept involves the creation of relationships among different groups of people with the aim of forming certain obligations amongst themselves that ensures a continuous exchange of favors.
According to Tsang (1998) Guanxi starts from a base either through blood relationships or connections formed by social interactions. Social connections arise by having the same background, i.e., shared the same school, resided in the same neighborhood, or worked in the same company.
Although having a base is of importance, strong Guanxi needs interactions, favor exchange, trust, and time together. In order to develop a system of Guanxi that is strong, participants usually interact with each others family, hold entertainment parties, exchange gifts, and support each others friends or family (Dunfee & Warren, 2001). As such, Guanxi has, through time, infiltrated many aspects of the lives of the people in the relationships.
It can be traced to social, business, and political activities. In social life, Guanxi offers a means through which families can help each other face day-to-day obstacles in life. Guanxi can be used to aid members in getting employment by using connections from those already employed. Guanxi can also be applied in other ways, such as securing medical treatment that may be at times too expensive for one person, obtaining information, and acquiring goods that may otherwise be too difficult to get (common in communistic societies).
At the business level, Guanxi has been extensively applied in China, resulting in mixed feelings about its use. Guanxi was integrated into business activities in China due to the poor political and economic environment that existed at the time. China, for a long time, was characterized by weak government policies and poor infrastructure that could not effectively support business practices. Due to this, Guanxi was extensively used by businessmen to solve the existing difficulties and has been in use until now.
First, Guanxi in business activities acts as a means of ensuring trust in a system composed of unstable institutions (Luo, 2000). Due to the inadequate rule of law, unscrupulous businesses had a chance to develop, but through Guanxi, which insists on trust as a basis of relationships, the development of these businesses could be curbed. The inadequacy of communistic practices in the country also necessitated the use of Guanxi, where groups of people interact and form a system that could effectively overcome these inadequacies (Xin & Pearce, 1996).
Guanxi can also be used as a strategic tool, especially by private companies without ties to the government (Walls, 1990). Guanxi may offer a certain business options that may otherwise be unavailable, e.g., If a business needs a quick loan, using Guanxi networks could bypass bureaucratic loaning procedures required by banks. Guanxi can be used to acquire favors that can be difficult to get without the help of the government. In certain situations, it may be difficult to enter a particular business field without strong government ties, but through the use of Guanxi, one can maneuver easily into almost any field in the Chinese market (Tsui & Jiing-Li, 1997). By utilizing Guanxi, those already in the field maneuver the newcomer into the business by offering advice and connecting the businessman to suppliers, manufacturers, and middlemen.
Guanxi is also used as a means of creating and maintaining business contacts with politicians and other state personnel (Kwong, 1997). When setting up a Guanxi network, it is always common for the members to integrate a person of authority. This thus ensures that whenever a certain situation requiring government intervention arises, the network can easily manage. Through the use of Guanxi, one can receive favors from the government by using contacts within the governments belonging to the same Guanxi system. Private companies use Guanxi to get contract jobs from the governments that would be otherwise difficult to acquire (Xiucheng & Ambler).
Guanxi is also used to ensure that the business keeps its customers, acquire new customers, and to facilitate normal day-to-day business activities (Tsang, 1998). Through the various interconnections formed a business can be able to acquire and keep new customers. Managers can also use these interconnection to iron out obstacles that may hinder business operations, e.g., using the system to ensure new products are approved faster by the government or the entire approval process can be sidestepped by using connections in the government (Kaltenheuser, 1998).
Finally, Guanxi is usually applied as a screening tool through which organizations select and choose candidates with strong interconnections (business and personal) hence able to expand the Guanxi system of the business (Yeung & Rosalie, 1996). In this respect, Guanxi can also be used to find and acquire jobs by relying on the various personal connections on has.
Guanxi is a subset of the Chinese culture
In order to understand the concept of Guanxi, it is important to look at Chinese culture. The Chinese view relationships as the basis of life. Each action one does in relation to others. The Chinese culture, drawing from Confucius, considers a person of virtue (Jen) to be one whose actions are motivated by duty to others and who can restrain his own desires for personal gains (Bell, 2000). Each and every individual in the Chinese society has been taught since childhood on the importance of setting up relationships founded on responsibility and respect and treating others in such a way as to not use them for personal gains.
Chinese society also tends to set up different groups where people are categorized. People with a common interest, background, or goals tend to stick together, and the categories so formed are usually bonded very strongly (Donaldson. 1996). The Chinese also have trust issues with strangers. In order to penetrate a new area, one needs someone who is familiar with the people in that society. Once one is accepted in a given community, the need for future interactions creates the necessary foundation to foster trust.
The final aspect of the Chinese culture to note is that everyone is expressed in terms of their responsibility in the mutually connected social roles forming part of the hierarchical social order (fen). The Chinese believe everything has its place, and thus all things in nature belong to a specific fixed social status.
Analyzing Guanxi; is it Corruption?
The term corruption has very many definitions and has been generally described by Banfield (1975, 587) as an act that occurs when a person in power is compelled to take actions that favor another, due to the provision of gifts usually to the detriment of public interests. Yadong Luo (2000, 196) has described corruption as individual behavior contradictory to existing norms or that which violates rules that have been set out by a particular political framework with the aim of personal gains possible due to ones position in society.
The first difference between Guanxi and corruption is that whereas Guanxi is heavily engrave in the social culture and norms of the people, corruption deviates from what is perceived as appropriate social behavior. Exchange of gifts in order to form strong interpersonal connections has been present in the Chinese culture for a long time, thus becoming a social norm. Corruption, on the other hand, deviates from standards that are communally acceptable. The public usually shuns those who are found to be corrupt but have no problem with those who develop Guanxi systems.
The second difference is that Guanxi involves a continuous flow of gift exchange, whereas corruption involves a one-time exchange of gifts. This thus implies that while Guanxi creates a system of mutual obligation between many parties ready to assist in any situation, corruption is only between the two parties with the term of payment and service required explicitly specified.
Thirdly, the Guanxi system is not against any laws of the country, and one does not face any legal action if the system fails. When dealing with corruption, however, one risks going to jail in case of failure e.g., when the deal between the parties is revealed to the public. In case one does not comply with the principles that define a Guanxi system, they lose that system and usually have to use higher amounts to enter or start a new Guanxi system. When a corruption deal breaks up, many risks arise, such as being arrested or even being killed to conceal the act.
Guanxi involves interactions formed over a very long period of time, some having survived many generations (Vanhonacker, 1997). Corruption, on the other hand, is a short term deal that ends as soon as a deal is complete and does not require any relationships between the parties only a need for personal gains. Parties engaging in corruption usually break their ties to ensure that they are not caught, but Guanxi relationships are usually highly nurtured.
The fourth difference is that while corruption heavily relies on the timeliness of the partners, Guanxi is not limited by time. There is no specified time period with which parties in a Guanxi system have to provide gifts, but when help is needed, one can usually receive it. Corruption, on the other hand, has an expiry date with which one person has to provide gifts to receive favors.
Another difference between the two is that Guanxi heavily relies on trust, but corruption is only driven by the potential gains. Parties engaging in corruption usually require immediate transactions where gifts and favors are exchanged simultaneously, and trust is usually not a necessity. The Guanxi system is founded on the principles of trust, honesty, and integrity; on the other hand, corruption is founded on the basis of power and personal gains. It is power that guides corrupt activities, and trust plays little or no part in the whole process.
The final difference between corruption and Guanxi is that Guanxi can be transferred from person to person and from one generation to another. Corruption is a onetime act that aims to benefit the participants in that particular time from that particular opportunity and thus cannot be transferred to other parties. For the corruption process to be successful, it requires the participation of very few parties, usually only two, but Guanxi is a system characterized by many interpersonal interactions and thus can be transferred from one person to another.
It is nonetheless evident that some areas of the Guanxi system border on corruption. The most notable similarity is that in both Guanxi and corruption, gifts are exchanged for favors. Guanxi sets up a system whereby continuous favors are granted through periodic gift-giving, which is essentially the main drive behind corruption.
Another reason why Guanxi may be viewed as corruption is that it may violate hypernorms. Hypernyms have been described as those principles so important and deep-seated that they consist of norms through which other existing norms are judged (Donaldson & Dunfee, 1999). They include those rules opposing murder, torture tyranny, and oppression. A basic hypernym is that of equality whereby, by virtue of being human, each and every person deserves equal and fair treatment.
The Guanxi system does not uphold this law and grants various privileges to its members who are not available to those people outside the system. People within a given Guanxi system can receive faster and better medical care, better jobs in companies within the network, resource unavailable to others, easy access to virtually any field of the China market, and can also receive endorsements for sub-standard products. The above privileges received by Guanxi members give them a competitive edge against other entities, thus amounting to unfair competition and treatment.
The last point to note is that Guanxi, as a practice, has the potential to undermine and destroy existing public institutions (Lovett et al.,1999). Due to the fact that people are granted favors according to their involvement with a particular Guanxi system, public institutions cannot then be fair and impartial. Institutions such as schools, law courts, hospitals, etc. may be affected by Guanxi relationships oppressing others so that members may benefit..
The differences noted above mainly deal with the definition of corruption in the legal sense and according to the social understanding of corruption. The differences also exist in how the two activities are carried out and propagated. Even though many differences are provided, certain similarities can be noted between Guanxi and corruption. To effectively analyze these factors, the history of China plays a very big role.
Guanxi came into use when poverty, poor government policies, poor infrastructure, and poor business systems existed (Vanhonacker, 1997). The system was formed to allow people to overcome these difficulties as a group. The Guanxi system has been effective as it is applied in virtually all areas of life, at the personal level and in business activities. Through time the practice has become a social norm, acceptable and recognized by all. It is for this reason that the system cannot be labeled as corruption since it has offered more good than bad and is also socially acceptable. The reasons are given as to why Guanxi is corruption can all be attributed to the negative use of the system and poor moral conduct that goes against the Chinese culture. It is true that Guanxi can form a very conducive environment for corruption, but the practice itself is not corruption; rather, it is a way for people to overcome common problems.
Conclusion
The application of Guanxi has yielded a lot of benefits to developing countries by providing benefits to members that would otherwise be difficult to acquire. Individuals can apply Guanxi relationships to better themselves while businesses can overcome difficulties arising from inadequate policies and the lack of infrastructures by utilizing Guanxi relationships. Although the system arising from these relationships can be a conducive environment for corrupt activities, such as using Guanxi to receive favor without regards to the community, oppressing those not in the Guanxi system and undermining public institutions, the concept of Guanxi is a product of Chinese culture which heavily relies on trustworthy and respectful relationships and as such Guanxi in itself cannot be termed as corruption.
References
Banfield, E. C., 1975. Corruption as a feature of Government Organization. Law Economics, 18, pp.587-605.
Bell, D., 2000. Guanxi: A Nesting of Groups. Current Anthropology, 41(1), pp. 133-138.
Donaldson, T., 1996. Values in Tension: Ethics away from Home. Havard Business Review, September-October, pp.48-62.
Donaldson, T. & Dunfee, T., 1999. Ties That Bind: A Social Contracts Approach to Business Ethics. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press.
Dunfee, T. & Warren, Danielle E., 2001. Is Guanxi Ethical: A Normative Analysis of Doing Business in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 32(3), pp.191-204.
Garten, Jeffrey E., 1998. Opening the Doors for Business in China. Havard Business Review, 76(3) , pp.167-175.
Lovett, S., Simmons, L. C. & Kali, R., 1999. Guanxi Versus the Market: Ethics and Efficiency. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(2), p. 231.
Luo, Y., 2000. Guanxi and Business. London: World Scientific Publishing Company.
Kaltenheuser, S., 1998. Corruption by the Numbers. Across the Board, 35(10), p.40.
Kwong, J., 1997. The political economy of corruption in China, Armonk (N.Y).: M.E. Sharpe.
Tsui, Anne S. & Jiing-Lih, Larry F., 1997. Where Guanxi Matters: Relational demography and Guanxi in the Chinese Context. Works and Occupations, 24(1), pp.56-79.
Vanhonacker, W., 1997. Entering China: an Unconventional Approach. Harvard Business Review, 66(4), pp.130-140.
Walls, James A., (1990). Managers in the Peoples Republic of China. Academy of Management Executive, 4(2), pp.19-32.
Xin, Katherine R. & Pearce, Jones L., 1996. Guanxi: Connections as Substitutes for Formal Institutional Support. Academy for Management Journal, 39(6), pp.1641-1658.
Xiucheng, F & Ambler, T., 1998. Relationship Marketing: Guanxi and its Role in Marketing in China, Working Paper, Nankai Universiry.
Yeung, Irene M. & Rosalie, Tung L., 1996. Achieving Business Success in Confucian Societies: The iImportance of Guanxi. Organization Dynamics, 25(2), pp.54-66.
An efficient public policy in Sub-Saharan Africa stands as an elusive solution to mismanagement of resources amid chronic poverty. In an age when the rise of Africa to the middle-income status looks imminent, authorities must invest efforts to provide solutions in public policy.
Corruption that stifles development and the culture of impunity thriving across Sub-Saharan Africa must subside if the gains of imminent rise will suffice. Authorities must make efforts in curbing corruption and supporting reforms in social norms by providing necessary facilitation. In this regard, prominent anticorruption steps suitable for prescription, strengthening institutions, civil service, and economic reforms must appear in the public sector.
Strengthening Public Institutions
Public institutions suffer the blunt of corruption and impunity from an inefficient public service system. Therefore, weaker regulations must pave the way to vibrant systems that add value to the economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Political processes enshrined in democratic values of integrity and accountability must continue to shape the institutional framework in the region. Instability in political transition across many jurisdictions in the region poses inherent weakness in public institutions due to the vacuum in political goodwill (Okogbule 92). The author proposes effective civilian administration with strong democratic systems such as legislation for laws curbing corruption.
Civil Service Reform
Corruption thrives in the absence of checks and balances occasioned by a vibrant civil society, making civil services a necessity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Democratic space witnessed in the west supports the civil service activities that facilitate constant checks in the public sector. Cases of corruption subside in an environment with a vibrant civil service, which must guide reforms needed in Sub-Saharan Africa (Fearon 114).
Unionism and activism for various reform issues, especially with regard to integrity and accountability will prove influential in introducing reforms. Gains achieved among emerging democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Kenya and Ghana rest in the hands of civilian watch. Therefore, involvement of civilians in transformation of the society will continue to provide desired social changes devoid of corrupt tendencies (Otusanya 176).
Economic Reforms
Economic processes in Sub-Saharan Africa require transformations to correspond with the rest of the global economy. In view of the needed economic reforms, bottlenecks in economies must not stand in the way of elimination of corruption opportunities. Bureaucracies provide bottlenecks in the smooth running of economic policies, which creates leakages of national resources into pockets of a few individuals.
Trade tariffs, on the other hand, restrict free trade among Sub-Saharan Africa nations, opening routes for lucrative contraband dealings among corrupt officials. Unified markets and fewer restrictions in the region continue to evade realization of open business opportunities for African nations. Corrupt trade officials taking charge of inefficient systems pose an enormous challenge in the introduction of credible practices to benefit the entire region.
In the case of Sierra Leone, one of the strongest challenge facing social change and accountability perhaps, relates to the lack of strong institutions. The lack of strong anti-corruption institutions conspicuously manifests in the lack of support from enforcement environment in different corruption loopholes. As studies conducted by Rodgers (268) indicate, illegal mining and dealing in gold occasioned the gruesome rebel war in Sierra Leone.
In view of the inefficiencies witnessed in the illegal diamonds trade, prescription for sufficient remedy comes from the presence of institutional oversight. Political and civil institutions in Sierra Leone could stop the escalation of illegal trade to a full-blown rebel war. The choice of this prescription supports the premise that strong institutional background will stop illegal trade processes at some stage and eliminate corruption.
Works Cited
Fearon, D. James. International Financial Institutions and Economic Policy Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Modern African Studies 26. 1(1988): 113-137. Print
Okogbule, S. Nlerum. An Appraisal of the Legal and Institutional Framework for Combating Corruption in Nigeria. Journal of Financial Crime 13.1(2006): 92-106. Print
Otusanya, J. Olatunde. An Investigation of the Financial Criminal Practices of the Elite in Developing Countries: Evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Financial Crime 19.2(2012): 175-206. Print
Rodgers, J. Elizabeth. Conflict Diamonds: Certification and Corruption: A Case Study of Sierra Leone. Journal of Financial Crime 13.3(2006): 267-276. Print
Corruption, in its broadest context, refers to prejudice of integrity or moral principles which define what is acceptable in a given society. Corruption is always associated with lack of integrity (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Ferrel, 2008). In the political context, corruption can be viewed as abuse of office for personal interests.
In some cases, it entails the abuse of power. Corruption is greatly determined by factors such as levels of personal integrity and the moral perceptions of a given society or country. Both corporate and personal integrity plays an important role in determining the global economy in the present world (Wilson, 2009).
Corruption is a major issue that most of countries are facing including both national and multinational companies. This essay attempts to draw a comparison between the most corrupt and least corrupt countries in the world.
In addition, the essay will also analyze the trends of corruption among the selected countries which are most and least corrupt. The essay will also investigate the significance of culture in determining the business ethics of the selected countries.
The paper will also provide an overview of the ethical problems within countries which are least corrupt and the actions that favor the most ethical nations. Finally the paper will report on the ways that can be applied in attempt to reduce corruption levels.
Corruption is usually measured using the Corruption perception Index, which is usually rated out of 10, with the rates of corruption decreases as one inclines the CPI scale.
The international organization in charge of helping countries combat corruption is the Transparency international. The Transparency International ratings reveal that the two top least corrupt countries are Denmark and New Zealand, each having a corruption Perception Index of 9.3.
The most corrupt countries according to recent surveys indicate that Somalia and Afghanistan each having a Corruption Perception Index of 1.1 and 1.4 respectively (Transparency International, 2009).
The Transparency International uses parameters such as drawbacks that are evident in the public procurement, the levels of bribery that are observed in public offices, misuse of public funds and the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts that a country deploys (Transparency International, 2009).
Comparison between the most corrupt and the least corrupt countries
One of the approaches in comparing the most and least corrupt is evaluating the economic positions of the countries. Corruption typically affects the financial positions of a country, since most corruption cases are related to the misuse of funds. It is evident that the most corrupt countries perform poorly in terms of economics.
An analysis of the most and least corrupt countries revealed that most corrupt countries have a less Gross Domestic Product in terms of per capita compared to the least corrupt; with Somalia having a per capita of approximately $ 600, Afghanistan having a per capita of about $ 1000.
The least corrupt countries, in this case are New Zealand having a per capita of 31,067 and Den Mark having a per capita of $ 56,790 (Wilson, 2009). This implies that the least corrupt countries are performing well economically compared to the most corrupt countries.
In addition, differences between the most and least corrupt countries can be viewed from the perspective of economic stability. It is evident that countries which are least corrupt are politically stable compared to countries which are most corrupt.
It is arguably evident that Denmark and New Zealand are politically stable compared to Afghanistan and Somalia (Transparency International, 2009). This can be attributed to the fact that corruption occurs mostly in government agencies, which in turn plays an imperative role in determining the political stability of a nation.
Abuse of public office for personal interest impairs effective political decisions due to the violation of ethical principles. Somalia and Afghanistan are constantly being engaged in internal wars and regional conflicts, contrary to the stability demonstrated by Denmark and Switzerland.
Another significant difference between the most and least corrupt countries is in terms of the effectiveness of the execution of government processes and operations. Many of the governments in most corrupt countries are ineffective in the carrying out of government processes and operations (Ferrel et al, 2008).
This is hindered due to the fact that most of the public funds are embezzled and also due to the fact that people in public offices tend to serve their personal interests at the expense of the countrys interests. People in public offices usually do not up uphold the moral principles of governance.
Contrary to the least corrupt countries, government processes are usually streamlined due to the fact that people in government offices and the private sectors which serve the public uphold integrity and keep national interest rather than personal interests.
This implies that governance in the least corrupt countries is more effective compared to the most corrupt countries. Most of the governance systems in the most corrupt countries are ineffective, and in most cases, there is no stable government but a transitional government which has ineffective service delivery systems.
Differences between the most and least corrupt countries can be viewed from a social perspective. The social setting of most corrupt countries can viewed to be poor, due to the fact there are increased poverty levels, high crime rates and unemployment rates and lack of proper internal relationships. This is contrary to the least corrupt countries.
Additionally, a differentiation factor between the most and least corrupt countries is in terms of literacy rates; the fraction of the population that are eligible to read and write according to a specified age. Less corrupt countries have high literacy rates of approximately 99 per cent (Transparency International, 2009).
On the contrary, most corrupt countries have less literacy rates with Somalia being reported to have al literacy rate of about 3.9 percent. Studies have revealed that human capital is determined by the average years of education that a country has, and it varies inversely with the levels of corruption.
This implies that countries which support education have little levels of corruption compared to countries that have little commitment to education (Wilson, 2009).
A significant differentiation factor between the most and least corrupt countries is in terms of Failed State Index, which provides country ratings in terms of peace and stability, economic, governance and social indicators. Countries which have a high Failed State Index have high levels of instability.
Failed State index varies positively with corruption levels. This implies that most corrupt countries have high Failed State index compared to least corrupt countries. Cultural differentiation is also significant in the evaluation of differences between the most and least corrupt countries.
Cultural differences are primarily divided into two basic categories; rule based and relationship based cultures. Most corrupt countries report to have relationship based cultures while least corrupt countries are reported to have rule based cultures.
Examples of countries that have the rule based cultures are the New Zealand and Denmark, which are remarkably, the least corrupt countries in the world.
Countries, such as Burma and Somalia, have a relationship based culture which due to the fact that it is tribalism oriented and reveals high levels of individualism rather than collective strategies.
Significance of culture in determining business ethics
As depicted above, culture plays a significant role in differentiation between the most and least corrupt countries. On a similar account, culture plays an important role in determining the business ethics of a given country.
In the context of Somalia and Afghanistan, their cultures are relationship based, which implies that business decisions are made on the basis of personal trusts rather than the rules of the system (Wilson, 2009). This in turn has significant effects on the business ethics.
Cultures that are rule based adhere to the standards of the system during the execution of business operations and decision making processes. It can be inferred that various ethical norms are derived from the various perceptions of the human culture; which are classified as noted above.
In general, rule based cultures favor the existence of business ethics contrary to the relationship based culture (Wilson, 2009).
Upholding integrity by a country does not come easy; a nation has to deploy appropriate culture so as to favor the existence of ethical business ethics.
This means that a country has to adopt a rule based culture which ensures that different key players adhere to the requirements of the system during the execution of ethical business decisions.
Current initiatives taken by the US to curb corruption
The US has a number of initiatives which are directed towards keeping corruption in check. One of the anticorruption strategies employed by the US is that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 has been significantly enforced in the recent times (Transnational Law Associates, 2006).
This Act restricts companies in the US from offering payments to foreign governments for the sole purpose of attempting to conduct business abroad. Secondly, the United States approved the UN Convention Against Corruption; which is a global anticorruption treaty deployed by the UN.
Thirdly, the US passed the Sarbarnes-Oxley Act; which serves to control organizations and provide accountability standards which can be used to keep in check legal and ethical risks (Fletcher & Plette, 2008).
Conclusion
Corruption, both at the international and domestic level is a significant threat to the security of any nation. Casual factors that differentiate the most and least countries can be generally classified into: Gross Domestic Product per capita of a country, political stability, differentiation in terms of culture and the rates of literacy.
In order for a nation to establish effective anticorruption initiatives, it must appropriately tailor its cultures and use the available power to enact laws that are aimed to eliminate corruption.
References
Ferrel, O., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrel, L. (2008). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Fletcher, W. H., & Plette, T. N. (2008). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Implementation, significance, and impact. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Transparency International. (2009). Global corruption 2009: Corruption and the private sector. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
The human race has always been accredited with being the most bright and ambitious of living things. One of the defining characteristics of the human civilization is our ambition and drive to excel in all of our endeavors.
As a result of this, human beings often do whatever they can to achieve their goals and objectives using the resources that are at their disposal. This need to further their success is of great importance to their social, economic and political welfare. However, there are obstacles that tend to threaten the process through which these ambitions can be realized.
They include competition, bureaucracies, and in some cases, cultural differences. Consequently, people are sometimes inclined engage in morally unacceptable behaviors or going against the set rules and laws in order to gain an upper hand over other people who are aiming for the same resources. Corruption is one of the concepts that man has adapted to and it has taken its toll in the human society as his desire and greed for material wealth and power increase.
By definition, corruption refers to the use of available resources or designated power for purposes other than the intended ones or for personal gains. It is a very relative concept because it comes in different forms depending on the situation or action taken.
In the current society, this vice has rapidly penetrated the social, political and economic realms and is causing pain and suffering to everyone whom it affects. Corruption comes in various forms and is exhibited at various levels of the society, as such, political analysts and other experts have divided corruption into the various forms that it comes in.
Perhaps the most rampant and damaging form of corruption is political corruption which refers to a dysfunction in a political system whereby government or political officials and employees use their ranks or the resources allocated to them for personal gains. While all manners of corruption are inherently damaging to the society, this particular form of corruption poses the most significant threat since it is the political bodies in our country that are charged with guiding the nation to prosperity and success.
Currently, every nation has some evidence of corruption within its various sectors and institutions. The various forms of corruption have in the recent past manifested themselves at a very alarming rate. Some of these forms of corruption include bribery which refers to a situation where someone is given money or other material things to do something that he is already getting paid to do or a situation where incentives are offered so that a person can go against the set laws or regulations.
Another form of corruption is nepotism which involves the favoring of friends or relatives in regards to getting jobs, promotions or salary increment irrespective of their qualifications. This type of corruption is predominant in almost every country in the world and occurs mostly in family owned businesses or where a particular group of people wants to maintain leadership or control regulations of a particular business or policies.
Another form of corruption that is carried out by people in positions of relative power is the embezzlement of funds. This involves the theft of institutional funds allocated to serve a particular purpose. Embezzlement also includes misappropriation of money and property given to a particular department or sector mainly for personal gains.
A more violent form of corruption which may be exercised by people of relative power is extortion which refers to the use of threats in order to get something from other people. This kind of corruption it also described as the illegal use of state force directed at inflicting harm to others. It is most common with the police force and military agencies.
In order to understand corruption we must look into the possible causes, its effect on the society and at least some of the ways that can be used to curb or prevent it from happening. The most common cause of corruption is presence of low salaries in the economy. As needs increase, the amount of salary may not fully suffice and the people result to using their official capacity to try and get more money or resources to up their social status or even satisfy their greed for material wealth.
In addition to this, there are a lot of loop holes in the regulatory systems which allow people to indulge themselves with this vice. On the same note, the presence of cliques (friendship) and cultural ties have created room for nepotism in all sectors. Poor management and allocation of funds have led to an increase in embezzlement especially in developing countries.
It is a well know fact that corruption leads to the damaging of the very fabric of society. Corruption undermines the value of democracy and the effectiveness of rules, regulation, laws and policies that govern an institution or nation.
As a result, it leads to unequal distribution of political and economical power within the affected society. In addition to this it also causes social and political instabilities leading to war and tribal/cultural clashes. Economically, corruption inhibits development through unfair distribution of resources and funds.
Additionally, it leads to an increase in prices levels brought about by poor price legislation. In social and environmental basis, corruption causes the destruction of natural resources which is brought about by over exploitation of resources, over industrialization which increases pollution. This comes about as a result of bribery which contributes highly to the breaking of protocols and policies put to prevent this from happening.
Whereas corruption seems to be an indestructible vice that is here to stay, this is not the case and there are measures that can be taken to control it from increasing and even reduce its presence in the society. Such measures include the establishment of anticorruption agencies which fight against these vices.
In addition to this, the government should dwell on formulating new and stricter laws that govern the various forms of corruption and pose heavy penalties to those who are guilty of such crimes. There should also be a select committee in every organization that demand at least quarterly accountability of funds accrued towards a particular purpose.
The best preventive measure however should be mans desire to change the current situation. Everyone has the potential to make a change and as such, people should say no to corruption on a personal level and assist the authorities in fighting this vice if there is hope to make a difference and eventually curb this menace.
It can be irrefutably stated that corruption is by far the worse problem that nations and societies are facing in our contemporary world. It should be noted that the social, economic, political and environmental benefits that may arise from the abolishment of corruption are far much greater than the greed and desire for power and wealth expressed by selected individual. It is therefore prudent that the global community come together in the fight to eradicate corruption for a healthy and prosperous future for all.
Disparity can be compared to the essence of corruption where in a system does not function according to what is originally intended and balances the natural forms. It can be termed as an improper way of acting the original purpose of a certain thing. It is very blatant in most governments to have a corrupted form of administration due to the political powers of its leaders.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is seen as one of the countries that prevail to have a politically corrupt system of government. Nigeria consists of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and appears to be the eight among the countries all over the world. The economy of the Republic is described as an up-and-coming market that quickly comes within reach of the middle income status of the people. This is depicted through the copious supply of resources, legal, communications, transport sectors and the Nigerian Stock Exchange and a well-developed financial system which is said to be the second largest in Africa. As of 2007, Nigeria is placed 37th all over the world when it comes to the Gross Domestic Product rate. Nigeria supplies fifth of United States oil and appears to be their primary trading partner. Thus, United States is Nigerias largest investor for their products and services which make them emerge in the international market (Tignor, 1993).
The economic development of the country had been under the military rule, corruption and discrepancies. The restoration of democracy is also impacted as well as the consequent economic changes have made Nigeria to slowdown in its development to be the Africas most progressive economy. The oil boom of the country in 1970s has made vital foreign debt in order to finance the main infrastructural investments of the country. Considering the decline of the oil prices in the following year, the country struggled for the debts they acquired from loans and apparently defaulted on its major repayments for debt. Penalty is also acquired by Nigeria for the unpaid major debts which made it grow bigger. But after the negotiations of the authorities in Nigeria recently, it repurchased its debt with a discount of about sixty percent. The country used a part of its oil profits in order to pay the outstanding forty percent and became the very first African country to fully pay off all its debt in 2006 with the help of Paris club (Tignor, 1993).
The law in the federal Republic of Nigeria comes in four different systems. The first one is the English law which is influenced by its colonial retrospect with Britain. Another is the common law that serves as the development of its independence, customary law which is from the indigenous old framework and practice that includes the argument declaration meetings of the pre-colonial hidden organizations. The last law is the Sharia law which is only practiced in the north Muslim part of the country.
This paper aims at describing the corruption in Nigeria and presenting the related details which will be apparent for its resolution. This paper will discuss the causes of corruption and the reasons why a strong corruption is viewed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Discussion
Corruption is an extensive dilemma as it is known for many countries throughout the world. It slows down the countrys economic growth and development. The practice of corruption like favors, bribery, nepotism and other are affects the system and lessens the chances for the corrupt states to get important amounts of foreign capital (La Franiere, 2005). This may result to rigorous consequences for the production and employment of the affected society. Thus, having a corrupt government makes the biggest hindrance for the development of the economy. It lessens the efficiency of foreign aid which fosters growth for the developing countries (Abed and Gupta, 2002). It appears to be a unusual that the economic assistance of allocating the bilateral foreign aid is not limited to the developing countries which are seen to be corrupt. Considering the fact that all involved countries are exposed to the criterion of being a corrupt country, still the reputation is dismissed as the countries show improper use of resources (Warren, 2004).
Forms of Corruption
Generally, corruption comes in different senses as it is characterized by the economists. Political corruption, bureaucratic corruption and electoral corruption are three various divisions of corruption that economists regard as. Political corruption falls into the political authorities. It exists through the politicians and rulers who have the power and authority to establish and implement laws in the name of the people. It basically distinguishes a corruption when a politician creates a law which is for his benefit (Mbaku, 2000). It is more often regarded as greed as to the decision making policy of the politicians prevails to benefit a small number of people related to him or her.
A bureaucratic corruption is a form of corruption which is primarily seen in the public administration. It is more often encountered by the people in public offices where in it is termed as a bureaucratic pretty corruption in comparison with the corruption of need. This is where a business can be obtained though a wrong action (Mbaku, 2000).
On the other hand, electoral corruption is the vote-buying of the officials in order to reserve a position in the government. Special favors, buying of votes, crimes are committed just to win in the election process. The corruption in offices includes the governmental appointment and other. Bribery is often considered as a form of corruption where in payment is accepted in exchange of a favor (Mbaku, 2000).
Other forms of corruption include fraud, embezzlement, extortion, favoritism, and nepotism. Fraud is described as a kind of swindle and deceit which corrupts a person. Stealing from the public institutions where in a person is employed is embezzlement depicts. The extortion form of corruption is money which is from a crime committed by the corruptor. Being biased for a certain side is the corruption described as the favoritism (Abed and Gupta, 2002). Favoring for friends or other colleagues may result to disparity and apparently relates to the distribution of wealth among family members as to the interest of the official. On the other hand, nepotism is a different kind of favoritism that favors for a family member such as being excluded in a law and the like.
Political Corruption in Nigeria
The political corruption in Nigeria depicts the excess use of official power and the resources of the government for the benefit of the person in position and authority. The corruption in politics is indeed regarded as a natural act that saturates the republic of Nigeria. This is seen since the formation of the contemporary public administration in Nigeria. A lot of cases for the improper use of the countrys resources have been tagged for the officials of Nigeria and this is consequent to the private gain of the officials. The discovery of oil and the development of public administration are seen to be two of the most significant events that have encouraged the dirty corrupt practices in Nigeria. For many years, it is viewed that that the living conditions of man in Nigeria are not raised though the country has been depicted to be wealthy enough to support its people. As such, Awolowo, a political leader opened up a vital issue upon saying that people in authority are the only ones who benefit from the possessions of the government. It falls under the scenario of benefiting from the effort of other people (Erero and Oladoyin, 2000).
However, colonialism is blamed for the consequent corruption in African governments and for the failures that it gets from the misuse of resources. With that in mind, the colonial history of Nigeria may limit any influence through the ethical revolution. The colonial period of Nigeria is almost in full poverty. Thus, it impacted the views of people where in the colonists are imitated as they prevail to be wealthy during the time of colonialism and apparently applied by the people in the modern era. Though corruption is not blatantly exercised, it affects the whole government in a large sense. The integration of colonial agenda also depicts the idealism of the area which it had colonized for its development.
Why corruption exists?
There are various reasons why corruption exists in every government in the world. Corruption does not only pertain to one country but also to all the systems of government in the world. It is seen that greed and luxurious lifestyle are the probable cause of corruption. Political leaders or those who are in authority are easily attracted by the whims that are present. Societies who are exposed to the luxurious lifestyle are into the dirty works and lacks etiquette. Also, the behavior of the society is seen to be an important factor for the corruption to exist. Ethnicity and peer pressure are also considered as the reasons why corruption exists (Ali and Isse, 2003). More often than not, political leaders are pressured by their camaraderie to do such things in order to go with the flow of their lifestyles. It is more usual that the politicians are abused by their friends through the use of the resources which should only be intended for the government and hence used by personal interests of the politicians. But, in reality, the start of the contemporary rules on the political relationships is a modern colonial and western proposal. Normally, decisions are viewed in a suspicious manner where in familiar scenarios are apparent for a corruption. A perspective for modern leadership in politics and its links has been an issue in the whole system of political process.
The causes of corruption in a wealthy country such as Nigeria is generally recognized to be associated by the peoples obsession with material things, pressure for a shortcut to material comfort, power and consent for the ill-gotten wealth. These are the primary reasons why corruption persists in Nigeria (Erero and Oladoyin, 2000). It has been put on a highlight that one of the known, but less fortunate key of good life in Nigeria is ostentatious wealth and prominent expenditure. Through this, people are involved into doubtful activities which comprise of engaging into ritual murder just for making money. The cases in Nigeria regarding the ritual murder are explicit in the country but few instances will be adequate. This may appear to be exaggerated but this fact corrupts the mind of people just to make money for their own sake. Not only in the political system but also in every single small society of a country corruption exists (Wraith and Simpkins, 1983).
Having insufficient ethical standards though the government agencies and organizations in Nigeria is viewed to be a sever dilemma. Ethics in the public sector includes a wide set of actions such as simple obedience to authority and looking into the perspective of moral judgments. However, a lot of officeholders in Nigeria do not posses a clear image and lacks ethical standards with the consideration of their position in the government (Lambsdorff, 2002).
In addition to, the Nigerians reward system which is considered as the poorest worldwide can be a factor for corruption. Unfortunately, the national priorities in Nigeria are quite different from what the good ethics posses. A hard work is not recognized and rewarded, but the rascals are often overvalued in the country. Hence, disparity knocks this particular instance.
Thus, the main reasons for the occurrence of corruption in a society is driven by the behavior of its people and how each leaders are manipulated by the influence of greed and luxurious lifestyle. The causes of corruption encompass the impulse of the person in authority as to how the next actions will be done.
Effects of Corruption
Certainly, the effects of corruption in Nigeria are visible in the slow down of the countrys economic growth. Corruption leaves a negative effect on the economic growth of the country and lessens the budget for important sectors of the government such as education, health and employment opportunities. Corruption literary corrupts education from the citizens of Nigeria and hence reduces the chances of attaining ample ethical standards for the next generations. Corrupt government officials use the tactics of shifting government expenses to the areas where in they can gather bribes and thus gain and use the resources for their own sake leaving the needs of the people behind. It is said that the impairment in incomes and poverty are relatively associated with the effects of corruption. In addition to, development projects are usually turned down into poor quality works because the budget is cut short by the officials in order to have kickbacks on the resources (Olowu, 1993).
Many cases have been affected by the negative effects of corruption which sums up into the sense of poverty and details out the associated crimes, disparities and impairment in corruption for various aspects. However, some scholars regard corruption as a good one with regard to the modernization of political life. It depicts the growth or progress in politics in order to maintain the legitimacy specifically in the span of social change. It is viewed that modernization may help officials to distinguish the gap between the illiterate and literate levels in the society and thus be inform people whom to choose in administering the government.
Solving the Corruption in Nigeria
Controlling the corruption in Nigeria is a very difficult task to accomplish since the leaders are the ones involved. The society then should develop a culture of associated openness which is different from bureaucracy. Considering the fact that Nigeria is a wealthy country, people should be wise enough to vote the officials whom they think will bring profit for the welfare of the country and not just gain privately. The government officials should initiate the changes and this can be done through creating a strong law for anti-graft and corruption and be implemented with integrity. No one should be excluded no matter how significant the position of the official is, as long as the official commits disobedience. To attain ethical standards, a law should also be passed encompassing the ethical standards of an official and firm consequence for any wrong doings.
Nigeria should then be able to reinforce the fairness of power and authority of the highest political leader to instigate the anti-corruption laws. Financial transactions should be secured enough to avoid theft and fraud from office persons which primarily cause poverty (Olowu, 1993). This can be accomplished through the provision of necessary papers and dedicated leaders for the fiscal aspect of the country. Media should also be encouraged to actively participate in broadcasting the corrupt practices of the officials in the society. Regulate the government specifically the aspects that includes the issuance of licenses and other legal terms in order to dismiss corruption. It should be noted that implementation of policies that accord to the anti-graft and corruption should include all areas of the government and small agencies should then be added in order to fully accomplish the goal of cleaning up corruption in the country.
People should also participate in the resolution of corruption because the impact largely goes to them and thus, poverty arises. Each should participate in restricting the power of the officials and strive hard to avoid disparities. Political leaders should be responsible enough to carry ethical standards all the time and do not abuse the authority given by the position.
Conclusion
Corruption indeed takes the right of the people to live accordingly because it steals the welfare of people in general. Nigeria is known to be politically corrupt and its economy is largely affected. Police offices and other sectors of the government are corrupt as well. Unfortunately corruption results to poverty which impacts the people negatively. There are various forms of corruption listed and it prevails to be negative for the economy. Though positive effects are also seen from the practice of corruption, still the negative effects dominate and reflect the economic development of the country. The main reasons why corruption exists are due to the lifestyle that officials aim for and thus it results to different kinds of corruption just to get the things that will benefit such persons. It is recommended then to exert more effort for the higher political powers to develop laws that will impose an anti-graft and corruption which will exclude no one. Corruption should be solved in order to continuously develop the economy of Nigeria and benefit all people not only those who are in power.
References
Abed, G. and Gupta, S. (2002) The Economics of Corruption: An Overview , in G. Abed and S. Gupta (eds) Governance, Corruption and Economic Performance. New York: International Monetary Fund.
Ali, A.M. and H.S. Isse (2003) Determinants of Economic Corruption: A Cross-Country Comparison , Cato Journal 22(3): 449-66.
Erero, J. and T. Oladoyin (2000) Tackling the Corruption Epidemic in Nigeria , in K.R. Hope, Sr and B.C. Chikulo (eds) Corruption and Development in Africa: Lessons from Country Case-Studies, pp. 280-7. London: Macmillan.
La Franiere, S. (2005). Africa tackles graft, with billions in aid in play . New York Times.
Lambsdorff, J. G. (2002). Making corrupt deals: Contracting in the shadow of the law. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, 48:221-41.
Mbaku, J.M. (2000) Bureaucratic and Political Corruption in Africa: The Public Choice Perspective. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
Olowu, D. (1993) Ethical Violations in Nigerias Public Services: Patterns, Explanations, and Remedies, in S. Rasheed and D. Olowu (eds) Ethics and Accountability in African Public Services. Nairobi: ICIPE Science Press.
Tignor, RL. (1993). Political Corruption in Nigeria before Independence, The Journal of Modern African Studies > Vol. 31, No. 2.
Warren, M. E. (2004). What does corruption mean in a democracy? American Journal of Political Science 48 (2): 328-43.
Wraith, R, and E Simpkins, (1983). Corruption in Developing Countries. The Journal of Modern African Affairs.
Being one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh faces a number of development challenges, which range from economic to social and political. The main development problem that the country faces at the moment is economic.
The economic development problem is caused by many factors, but it is mostly precipitated by corruption. In Bangladesh, corruption is considered an endemic problem, which is encouraged by the weak system of government and the inadequate bureaucratic transparency in the country (Knox, 2009).
There are statistics that show the extent of corruption in Bangladesh and the effects of the problem in the countrys economic development. A study conducted by Transparency International (TI) in 2010 revealed that about 85% of the families in the country had been victims of corruption in that year of the survey.
Another study conducted by the same body in 2011 showed that between April 2011 and April 2012, close to $2.7 billion was used by different business people and other individuals to bribe their ways. This amount, according to the TI, is about 14% of the total national budget of Bangladesh (Dreher, Kotsogiannis, & McCorriston, 2007).
There are factors that are known to cause the spread of corruption in Bangladesh. The first one, lack of accountability, makes it easy for the high-ranking personnel to practice corruption. Nepotism is the second factor that encourages corruption among other unlawful practices.
Nepotism results in the appointment of individuals with low level of competency into high and critical positions in the government, which negatively impacts the countrys economy. Another cause of corruption in the country is the weak government system, which cannot set stringent measures for investing, arresting, and prosecuting the individuals who get involved in the corrupt deals (Knox, 2009).
The problem of corruption has a direct relationship with Bangladeshs economic development. The problem negatively impacts the economic development of the country. Corruption, in particular, affects how Bangladesh relates with other countries and international organizations, especially the financial ones.
Bangladesh, as a result of its high corruption index, rarely receives financial aid from financial international organizations such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank (Knox, 2009).
Theoretically, corruption in Bangladesh can be explained as a hindrance to economic development in the country, which emanates from the weak management of the state. The vice spreads in the country as a result of the existence of individual companies that exercise monopoly power over the limited resources in the country.
The monopolistic organizations influence most of the important decisions that regard the allocation and the use the resources in the country. The organizations, through their influence in the public and private sectors, interfere with the integrity of those responsible for the discharge of public wealth and utilities (Dreher, Kotsogiannis, & McCorriston, 2007).
Background of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is situated in southern Asia between India and Burma and it borders the Bay of Bengal; it was founded in 1971 as a result of separation of Bengali East from the union it had with West Pakistan. Initially, Bangladesh was referred to as East Bengal.
The union the country forms with West Bengal is called Bangal. The union is less powerful and is not well known outside Asia. Bangladesh has more than 145 million people, a population that cannot adequately be supported by the meager resources of the country (CIA World Factbook, 1998).
The country does not have adequate resources to support its population. The main economic activities in the country are agriculture, animal keeping and fish rearing. The agricultural sector employs more than 50% of the countrys population, which leads to excessive exertion of pressure on natural resources such as land.
The natural renewable resources in the country include water, energy, forests, and domestic animals such as fish. The non-renewable resources include coal, gas, rock, oil and sand. The country enjoys plenty of ground and surface water, which it uses in agriculture, fishing and generation of electricity. It also occupies a large area with mineral resources that it exports to other countries for economic gain (CIA World Factbook, 1998).
Bangladesh is one of the Asian countries with a unique type of government. The form of government in Bangladesh is described as a unitary secular parliamentary, which is elected by the citizens. The type of the elected government is referred to as the Jatiyo Sangshad.
It is this unique type of government and the high population densities in Bangladesh that make the country one of the most popular states in the globe. Although the Bengali people make up the highest percentage of the countrys population, there are other indigenous groups in the country especially in southeastern and northern districts (CIA World Factbook, 1998).
The problem of corruption has negative impact on the natural resources and the citizens of Bangladesh. The problems influences the way these resources are allocated to the citizens. In most cases, corruption results in an unfair distribution of the resources in various regions in the country. Companies, politicians and business people use their power and wealth to acquire these resources unfairly.
These groups, after obtaining large portions of the resources, use them to control how the country is managed. The unitary secular parliamentary type of government that exists in the country is a weak regime, which cannot deal with the issue of corruption. This form of government has been blamed for the spread of corruption in Bangladesh (CIA World Factbook, 1998).
Discussion
History of Corruption in Bangladesh
Corruption is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. The problem has existed in the country for so many years despite the strategies that the government has put in place in to reduce it. The problem began immediately after Bangladesh disintegrated from its union with West Pakistan. The disintegration resulted in a number of conflicts, which made a number of citizens of Bangladesh seek refuge in the neighboring countries.
All this mayhem caused a state of uncertainty and unrealistic expectations, which made people in the country, begin scrambling for power and wealth. The rich people use their wealth to gain power and have influence over most parts of the country. The end result of these uncertainties has been the problem of corruption (Ades & Tella, 2009).
The problem of corruption continues to exist in the country despite the pressure mounted on the government by the international community. It is evident that the problem cannot reduce at the moment because of lack of proper mechanisms to deal with it.
The problem is even worse in the main arms of the government that are supposed to address it. The two arms of government, the police and judiciary, which should be fighting corruption in the country, are heavily involved in it (Ades & Tella, 2009).
Strategies to Deal with Corruption
There are several strategies that the government of Bangladesh has put in place to assist in the fight against corruption in the country. The main project that the government has initiated in this fight is the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). ACC was created in 2004 to act as an independent institution that formulates and enact policies that fight corruption in both public and private sectors (Aidt, 2009).
However, the studies conducted by the International Crisis Group on the work of ACC revealed that it is incapable of reducing the incidents of corruption in the country. The efficiency of ACC in dealing with corruption is affected by the governments influence on the operations of the commission.
The commission has to get permission from the government before it launches an investigation on public high-ranking personnel, public corporations and the government itself. The commission is never as independent as it was intended to be (Knox, 2009).
The last strategy enacted by the government involved declaring the judiciary as an independent body that should operate on its own. This scheme was to allow the criminal justice system to prosecute and imprison individuals found guilty of corruption. The courts were to impose heavy fines and punishment on individuals proved to have a hand in corrupt deals.
This system also has never been effective since the government controls most of the cases and operations of the criminal justice system. In addition, most of the court officials are corrupt and they accept bribes to change the course of justice (Knox, 2009).
Apart from the government, the international communities have also made a number of initiatives in the fight against corruption in Bangladesh. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other international financial bodies have, on several occasions, placed sanctions on Bangladesh in an attempt to reduce cases of corruption in the country (Aidt, 2009).
For example, in 2012, the World Bank withdrew its assistance from multi-billion Padma Bridge Project. The mechanisms of the international communities have never been successful as they make the common citizens of Bangladesh suffer instead of the government officials, for whom they are intended. In most cases, the communities withdraw such bans before their effects are felt for fear of hurting the poor citizens of the country (Blackburn, Bose, & Hague, 2006).
Causes of Corruption in the Country
There are several factors that contribute to the high index of corruption in Bangladesh. The first one results from lack of proper laws to guide accountability of the public servants. Bangladesh is one of the countries that still lack stringent measures to deal with cases of corruption.
The public officials take advantage of this to practice corrupt deals. Most of the public servants make away with the gains they accrue from corrupt deals since there are no strict laws to prosecute them (Blackburn, Bose, & Hague, 2006).
Another contributing factor is the existence of dishonest politicians; they use their power and wealth to reverse the course of justice in their favor. Despite the staggering economic status of Bangladesh, the members of the parliament and other senior government officials are awarded so many luxurious facilities that are purchased by the countrys resources.
For instance, the officials are allocated large pieces of land, tax-free costly cars, and houses among other things. With all these amenities, the officials seem to have been put above the law (Ades & Tella, 2009).
Lastly, the incidents of corruption continue to spread in Bangladesh because of weak religious and family values that do not condemn acts of corruption. Most of the households in the country seem to have lost the battle against corruption and are slowly joining the shoddy deals.
They believe that they too can prosper through corruption and some give out bribes to enable their children to secure good jobs and places in learning institutions. Although the Islamic religion practiced in the country condemns corruption, it cannot succeed on its own without the assistance of the relevant bodies (Blackburn, Bose, & Hague, 2006).
Theoretical and Practical Solutions to the Problem
Corruption is a common phenomenon in many parts of the globe; it can never be eradicated completely, but it can be reduced significantly if the right measures are put in place. There are a number of strategies that can be used to reduce corruption in Bangladesh. Firstly, the problem can be reduced by educating the common citizens on their rights and the relevance of the laws that govern their lives.
The people of Bangladesh can only fight corruption effectively if they understand their rights and know how the law operates. It is has been discovered that there are low percentages of corruption in the regions where many people are educated (Knox, 2009).
Secondly, the occurrence of corruption can be thwarted by creating an independent anti-corruption commission and a strong criminal justice system. The commission created should be given all the power it needs and be allowed to operate as a full independent branch of the government.
The commission should ensure that it works together with the criminal justice system, which should also be independent and powerful. The commission and the criminal justice system should set very heavy punishments for individuals found guilty of corruption (Aidt, 2009).
Lastly, the government should reform the Electoral Commission to ensure that it only allows individuals of high integrity to vie for various positions in the government. The commission should develop ways of grilling aspirants to determine their level of integrity before they are cleared to vie for any position. This implies that only those individuals who have never been implicated in corruption scandals can hold electoral positions (Ades & Tella, 2009).
Conclusion and Recommendations
Although corruption is a common economic problem in the world, it seems more prevalent in developing countries. Bangladesh is one the developing countries in the world that experience the most number of corruption cases.
The high percentage of corruption in Bangladesh is mostly caused by lack of proper laws to deal with the problem. The incidents of corruption in the country are expected to continue for a long time unless an independent criminal justice system and a self-governing anti-corruption commission are formed.
This paper recommends the following strategies to be implemented by the government of Bangladesh to assist the country in the fight against corruption:
The government should create a judiciary that is powerful and fully independent.
The government should establish a powerful and independent anti-corruption commission in the country to assist in investigating cases of corruption.
The parliament should pass strict laws that carry heavy punishments for corrupt individuals.
The government should ensure that there is equal distribution of the countrys wealth to all regions of the country.
The government should not interfere with investigations that involve cases of corruption.
References
Ades, A., & Tella, R. D. (2009). The causes and consequences of corruption: A review of recent empirical contributions. IDS Bulletin, 27(2), 6-11.
Aidt, T. S. (2009). Corruption, institutions, and economic development. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 25(2), 271-291.
Blackburn, K., Bose, N., & Hague, M. E. (2006). The incident and persistence of corruption in economic development. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 30(12), 2447-2467.
Dreher, A., Kotsogiannis, C., & McCorriston, S. (2007). Corruption around the world; Evidence from a structural model. Journal of Comparative Economics, 35(3), 443-446.
Knox, C. (2009). Dealing with sectoral corruption in Bangladesh: Developing citizen involvement. Public Administration and Development, 29(2), 117-132.
Transparency International defines corruption as an act that abuses the entrusted power for private gain. This means that it violates the rights of individuals that have bestowed power, authority, and legitimacy. Corruption varies in degree and nature depending on the level of its occurrence, people involved, and circumstances that motivate individuals to be corrupt. Modernization has transformed corruption, and people adopt new and complicated ways of concealing their fraudulent activities. This paper presents the causes and effects of corruption in the public and private sector.
Causes of Corruption
Politics is an effective way of ensuring power and resources are shared equally among all individuals from different backgrounds within a specified jurisdiction. However, people have used political activities and offices to advance their gains and neglect the need to be accountable and responsible to the public. The emergence of political elites has created room for corruption to flourish in public and private offices because people no longer respect the need to develop national programs that will benefit citizens. They have diverted the resources of the public to achieve their gains without considering the impacts of their actions on other citizens. Politics has allowed corrupt officers to win elections and take powerful positions in government. Therefore, citizens continue to suffer because their interests are not addressed by those they expected would alleviate their problems.
Also, the existence of artificial scarcity of resources has pushed people to look for cheap ways of getting what they need. For instance, the scarcity of employment and investment opportunities has led to stiff competition for the limited available resources. Therefore, people use unorthodox ways to persuade those in charge of approving projects to allow them to continue with their investment projects. People with malevolent intentions continue to destroy the economy of their nations as they create false impressions of the scarcity of resources. The existence of unhealthy competitions among businesses forces some of them to use unethical ways to persuade their clients to buy their products. Government officials in charge of quality standards are usually bribed to cover the activities of such investors, and this promotes corruption in businesses. This violates the rights of citizens to access quality products and services.
Thirdly, the ethical qualities of people in authority have decreased, and their value system deteriorated due to lack of strong moral teachings and responsibilities. People no longer have respect for the old ideals of moral and honest service delivery procedures, and society has become a haven for individuals that disregard human dignity. It is necessary to explain that modernity has clouded the need to respect the positions and individuals placed to serve others. People have little respect for morals that guide service delivery and ensure others benefit from their services. Therefore, corruption has been fuelled by poor moral values and lack of respect for human life.
The present generation is full of corrupt activities because people fail to condemn them. There are no strong civil societies to rebuke and oppose corrupt leaders, and this promotes the flourishing of this behavior in generations. The American public forum is dominated by debates on gay marriages, foreign policies, and inflated health bills, but nobody seems to pay attention to the escalating cases of corruption in the public and private sectors. The younger generations do not see the need to fight corruption because their predecessors support and cultivate it through modern systems and activities.
Lastly, widespread poverty and illiteracy have contributed to endemic corruption in modern societies. There are efforts to educate people, especially the rural folks, to ensure they know their rights and freedoms to reduce corruption in their societies. However, these efforts seem to bear no fruits because poverty drives them to seek cheap and quick ways of accessing their needs. Also, poverty makes people desperate, and thus, they do anything that will ensure they have food on their tables. Therefore, corruption flourishes in most societies because people do not know their rights and those that do have limited resources to access them.
Effects of Corruption
Corruption violates the rights and freedoms of individuals to get basic services from public and private offices. This means that this practice compromises the quality of services offered by employees in the public and private sectors and puts the lives of citizens at risk. Corrupt officials do not offer equal services to clients because they treat some with more interests than others. This violates the provisions of equality and the rights for justice in various issues. This makes public institutions and offices to become illegitimate because of misusing their democratic power for private gains.
Also, corruption hinders the effective development of political systems in a country. This vice promotes patronage that is serious threats to democratic processes. Most corrupt nations experience civil disobedience and political instability that hamper development projects. The introduction of multi-party democratic systems is usually hampered by the corruption that compromises the legitimacy of political parties and individuals. Civil disobedience and lack of trust in political institutions propel individuals to protest and demand the removal of their leaders from power.
Moreover, this vice stalls development projects and subjects citizens to abject poverty because of a lack of transparency and accountability in public offices. Corruption enables few individuals that have money to have their way and get what they want while those that do not have been forced to look for other alternatives. Poverty and unemployment are common occurrences in societies that condone corruption, and they cannot develop because of poor management systems. The need to offer quality services like improving infrastructure, medical facilities, schools, and social amenities is compromised by the lack of transparent processes of awarding tenders and distributing resources in a society.
Lastly, this vice discourages unity and cooperation in society because some individuals think they are more important than others. Unequal distribution of national resources and restricted access to public services lead to frustration and apathy among citizens, and this weakens the fabric that binds members of the society. This leads to social inequality and the emergence of class differences that violate the dignity and rights of individuals. Uncontrolled corruption widens the gap between the rich and poor, and this results in a weak civil society.
Conclusion: What Are the Causes and Effects of Corruption?
Corruption is caused by man-made factors like capitalism, lack of transparency and accountability, nepotism, tribalism, poverty, weak social and political structures, and poverty. This vice lowers the pace of national development, weakens societies, and increases poverty. Therefore, people should work hard to ensure they fight corruption by educating their members on the importance of transparent practices. Also, government systems should be programmed to detect and eliminate this vice, and those found promoting it should face harsh penalties.
Bibliography
Johnston, M., Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Turvey, B., Forensic Fraud: Evaluating Law Enforcement and Forensic ScienceCultures in the Context of Examiner Misconduct. Massachussetts: Academic Press, 2013.
Corruption has existed in many civilizations throughout history. However, the phenomenon has been increasing in recent years at a very concerning rate. The practice is now severe and widespread, causing global economic issues. Governments and ethical institutions need to explore the matter and find mitigation measures before it gets off hand. Corruption in businesses occurs in many forms, such as illegal businesses, taking bribes, monopolizing markets and forceful coercion in business transactions. Most African countries are democratic, yet, this democracy is a tool of oppression towards citizens socially and economically. This essay explores some democratically suppressed factors contributing to the emergence and spread of corruption in Africas developing countries.
Neo-Patrimonialism
A significant contributor to corruption in Africa is neo-patrimonialism. The term refers to historical power connections that govern leadership and the spread of resources in a particular country or organization. The regime was formed as a unifying factor for the development of African countries. However, they became a source of individualism, monopoly and power controls affecting the economies and business clientele. Neo-patrimonialism affects policymaking, state budgets, distributions of funds, foreign aid and developmental projects (Masenya, 2017). The colonial powers have legal codes that influence the countries politics, leadership, business contracts and economy. According to Masenya (2017), British colonies have a higher rate of corruption than other countries, which hinders the countries from transforming into independent economies in import and export trade. British bureaucrats believe that former colonies with better civil service owe them for providing the conditions for a better society thus have a right to some power governing the countries.
Apart from the former colonial powers influence, powerful ethnic societies also practice individualism and nepotism in businesses. Historical communities have deep roots in politics and leadership, which governs the countries economies. A case study in Kenya investigating the primary cause of corruption indicated that powerful historical families practice nepotism and monopoly in all major industries and state corporations (Masenya, 2017). Thus, small business ventures that lack power cannot compete in the same businesses leading to a monopolistic economy.
Institutional Suppression
Legal institutions lack proper governing rules for anti-corruption offences. Laws responsible for promoting ethics should have severe prosecution punishments on corruption offenders to curb the practice. However, sub-Saharan legal systems are controlled by political and influential powers that control their freedom to practice justice and ethical rules (Masenya, 2017). Lack of professional ethics in legal and political areas hinder transparency, which contributes to widespread corruption cases. Media institutions also lack the freedom to expose corruption cases in government operations and nepotism due to suppressing their right to information and revealing illegal activities. Media institutions and the press are the whistleblowers against corruption. However, sub-Saharan countries do not have definite or clear guidelines that govern and protect the press. Therefore, the government suppresses its democracy and freedom to expose illegal activities and corruption, leading to the spread of unethical practices.
Economic Instability
Governments with poor economies require higher rents to transact imports and exports to other countries. The most affected economies have monopolistic businesses that control domestic markets and import and export through bribes. Due to poor economies, small and medium businesses offer lower rents in taxation and customs (Masenya, 2017). As a result, government and customs officials prefer bribes from powerful and monopolistic firms because they provide better profits than legal businesses.
Conclusion
Corruption is the leading cause of underdevelopment and challenging economic conditions in Africas developing countries. Significant factors that influence unethical business transactions are neo-patrimonialism, deep-rooted powerful families, corrupt legal institutions and lack of media freedom to expose corrupt cases. Colonial powers still influence the political and economic development of countries that were under their authority. Historical families take advantage of their capacity to form monopolies and nepotism in business transactions. Finally, legal and media institutions lack the freedom to practice justice and expose corruption.
Public corruption involves the violation of public trust that occurs when government officials participate in illegal activities such as collecting bribes, which influence the execution of their official duties.
Main text
As far as it is concerned, I would like to disagree with the assertion that corruption is a Western concept and; therefore, not applicable to local societies where corruption is assumed to have lesser negative meaning than in western countries. Corruption is in itself a very negative aspect that impedes the economic growth of the affected country, or organization irrespective of the status of development. Several studies have been conducted on the influence of corruption among various nations, and the results have indicated that the negative aspects of corruption outweigh the purported benefits that are associated with the vice.
Myint asserts that in most scenarios, corruption is rampant in the developing and third world countries where their current development has not reached a level that can help them fight the vice. High levels of corruption in such societies are linked to the fact that employee salaries are remarkably low; hence, people tend to accept rewards so as to undertake or speed up tasks that are indeed legal. On one side, this may seem like a benefit of corruption because it helps to speed up economic development, while on the other, it leads to unfairness and inequitable distribution of resources. In fact, wealth remains in the hands of the rich and well-connected, while ordinary people survive in poverty. Hence, it becomes impossible to realize significant economic growth levels that would improve the countrys per capita income, as well as the ability to fight corruption. Based on such effect, I would mention that corruption is not acceptable in any economy as it hinders the smooth economic development of the society.
In several undeveloped countries, however, corruption has taken another dimension where it is considered a cultural tradition. Corruption as a cultural tradition is assumed to be part of their virtues and is not seen as a negative practice. Countries like China and Malaysia have been in a similar situation, but have since managed to fight corruption to minimal levels. As a result, their economies are now flourishing due to the high levels of growth and development. According to the readings, corruption is considered unethical regardless of an individuals tradition. Myint for instance asserts that high levels of corruption slow down the economic growth of a country. Hence, creating a cultural tradition that supports corruption is insensitive because there is no actual evidence that corruption is needed, or at least beneficial in any tradition.
India and other societies have a common tradition that calls for gifts and rewards before someone can offer otherwise legal service. This is usually considered as a normal practice and severally termed as grease money, but the truth is that it is not beneficial for the economy. Where such activities are accepted, corrupt officials could take advantage of the tradition to accept large sums of money at the expense of the common man. Examples may include the awarding of government contracts to organizations that are willing to give large sums of money to such officials. When this happens, the effect moves on to the lowest individual; hence, a substantial amount of money would be lost in such dealings. Another effect of the gift-giving traditions is that there would be an inequitable distribution of resources and wealth in the society; at the same time, the economic growth of the country will be slowed down.
Conclusion
In conclusion, corruption is ethically unacceptable, and should not be encouraged so as to create a sound economic growth plan.
References
Delattre, E. J., & Bores, D. R. (2011). Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing (6th ed.). AEI Press.
U Myint. (2000). Corruption: Causes, consequences and cures. Asia-Pacific Development Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2.