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Corruption_and_Transparency_ _Part_II
| Corruption and Transparency - Part II
II. What to Do? What is Being Done?
Two years ago, I proposed a taxonomy of corruption, venality,
and graft. I suggested this cumulative definition:
The withholding of a service, information, or goods that, by
law, and by right, should have been provided or divulged. The
provision of a service, information, or goods that, by law, and
by right, should not have been provided or divulged. That the
withholding or the provision of said service, information, or
goods are in the power of the withholder or the provider to
withhold or to provide AND That the withholding or the provision
of said service, information, or goods constitute an integral
and substantial part of the authority or the function of the
withholder or the provider. That the service, information, or
goods that are provided or divulged are provided or divulged
against a benefit or the promise of a benefit from the recipient
and as a result of the receipt of this specific benefit or the
promise to receive such benefit. That the service, information,
or goods that are withheld are withheld because no benefit was
provided or promised by the recipient. There is also what the
World Bank calls "State Capture" defined thus:
"The actions of individuals, groups, or firms, both in the
public and private sectors, to influence the formation of laws,
regulations, decrees, and other government policies to their own
advantage as a result of the illicit and non-transparent
provision of private benefits to public officials."
We can classify corrupt and venal behaviours according to their
outcomes:
Income Supplement - Corrupt actions whose sole outcome is the
supplementing of the income of the provider without affecting
the "real world" in any manner. Acceleration or Facilitation
Fees - Corrupt practices whose sole outcome is to accelerate or
facilitate decision making, the provision of goods and services
or the divulging of information. Decision Altering Fees - Bribes
and promises of bribes which alter decisions or affect them, or
which affect the formation of policies, laws, regulations, or
decrees beneficial to the bribing entity or person. Information
Altering Fees - Backhanders and bribes that subvert the flow of
true and complete information within a society or an economic
unit (for instance, by selling professional diplomas,
certificates, or permits). Reallocation Fees - Benefits paid
(mainly to politicians and political decision makers) in order
to affect the allocation of economic resources and material
wealth or the rights thereto. Concessions, licenses, permits,
assets privatized, tenders awarded are all subject to
reallocation fees. To eradicate corruption, one must tackle both
giver and taker.
History shows that all effective programs shared these common
elements:
The persecution of corrupt, high-profile, public figures,
multinationals, and institutions (domestic and foreign). This
demonstrates that no one is above the law and that crime does
not pay.
The conditioning of international aid, credits, and investments
on a monitored reduction in corruption levels. The structural
roots of corruption should be tackled rather than merely its
symptoms.
The institution of incentives to avoid corruption, such as a
higher pay, the fostering of civic pride, "good behaviour"
bonuses, alternative income and pension plans, and so on.
In many new countries (in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe) the
very concepts of "private" versus "public" property are fuzzy
and impermissible behaviours are not clearly demarcated. Massive
investments in education of the public and of state officials
are required.
Liberalization and deregulation of the economy. Abolition of red
tape, licensing, protectionism, capital controls, monopolies,
discretionary, non-public, procurement. Greater access to
information and a public debate intended to foster a
"stakeholder society".
Strengthening of institutions: the police, the customs, the
courts, the government, its agencies, the tax authorities -
under time limited foreign management and supervision.
Awareness to corruption and graft is growing - though it mostly
results in lip service. The Global Coalition for Africa adopted
anti-corruption guidelines in 1999. The otherwise opaque Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is now championing
transparency and good governance. The UN is promoting its pet
convention against corruption.
The G-8 asked its Lyon Group of senior experts on transnational
crime to recommend ways to fight corruption related to large
money flows and money laundering. The USA and the Netherlands
hosted global forums on corruption - as will South Korea next
year. The OSCE is rumored to respond with its own initiative, in
collaboration with the US Congressional Helsinki Commission.
The south-eastern Europe Stability Pact sports its own Stability
Pact Anti-corruption Initiative (SPAI). It held its first
conference in September 2001 in Croatia. More than 1200
delegates participated in the 10th International Anti-Corruption
Conference in Prague last year. The conference was attended by
the Czech prime minister, the Mexican president, and the head of
the Interpol.
The most potent remedy against corruption is sunshine - free,
accessible, and available information disseminated and probed by
an active opposition, uncompromised press, and assertive civic
organizations and NGO's. In the absence of these, the fight
against official avarice and criminality is doomed to failure.
With them, it stands a chance.
Corruption can never be entirely eliminated - but it can be
restrained and its effects confined. The cooperation of good
people with trustworthy institutions is indispensable.
Corruption can be defeated only from the inside, though with
plenty of outside help. It is a process of self-redemption and
self-transformation. It is the real transition.
About the author:
Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism
Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is
a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb
, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business
Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East
Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and
Suite101 .
Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com
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