Corruption is a ubiquitous phenomenon that lends itself to several strains affecting states, institutions and the larger society. The urge to bypass legitimacy has been there for centuries and reference to corruption is found in historical texts and ancient public administration literature. In his celebrated work on statecraft, Indian thinker Kautilya details administrative corruption and points out weaknesses in the system that may lead public officials to use government machinery for private gains. The treatise —Arthashastra —written around the third century BC delves into the reasons for graft and ways of tackling it.
The causes of corruption during historical times were largely helped by amorphous systems not given to sound professional settings. Institutions in a loose system tend to become dysfunctional soon with corruption being one of the symptoms of an inefficient administration. The checks and balances of a democratic society were lacking in ancient times. Though society was simple, corruption is said to have haunted the common man.
Corruption in today’s globalised world is driven by several competing forces. Globalisation provides an accentuating environment for corruption across international borders. This is what the Panama Leaks showed recently. The Anti-Corruption Summit in London is being held under the shadow of the Panama Leaks that showed the high and mighty squirreling away their funds in overseas havens. David Cameron had last year promised an anti-graft summit. The high-profile British premier got some bad press ahead of the summit when he told the Queen that some ‘fantastically corrupt’ countries were going to attend the conference. He was referring to Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Cameron’s remarks are revealing as they point to a virtually axiomatic truth. Afghanistan has been riven by insurgency for years. It is hard to enforce the rule of law in societies where lawlessness gets institutionalised because of loose structures of governance. The sense of nationalism is beaten by an overpowering propensity to be loyal to one’s clan or phratry. It is easy for undemocratic societies to fall into the corruption trap.
Nigeria is more democratic but scores low on the corruption index. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not seem overtly offended by the comment and admitted that his country had a corruption problem. Cameron’s comments, though not inaccurate, sounded off-the-cuff. He should have been more discreet. It is not surprising that developing and least developed countries are corrupt. The level of corruption in countries where the political system shows a degree of maturity, like Russia and its former republics, should also concern policy makers.
Corruption is a ubiquitous phenomenon that lends itself to several strains affecting states, institutions and the larger society. The urge to bypass legitimacy has been there for centuries and reference to corruption is found in historical texts and ancient public administration literature. In his celebrated work on statecraft, Indian thinker Kautilya details administrative corruption and points out weaknesses in the system that may lead public officials to use government machinery for private gains. The treatise —Arthashastra —written around the third century BC delves into the reasons for graft and ways of tackling it.
The causes of corruption during historical times were largely helped by amorphous systems not given to sound professional settings. Institutions in a loose system tend to become dysfunctional soon with corruption being one of the symptoms of an inefficient administration. The checks and balances of a democratic society were lacking in ancient times. Though society was simple, corruption is said to have haunted the common man.
Corruption in today’s globalised world is driven by several competing forces. Globalisation provides an accentuating environment for corruption across international borders. This is what the Panama Leaks showed recently. The Anti-Corruption Summit in London is being held under the shadow of the Panama Leaks that showed the high and mighty squirreling away their funds in overseas havens. David Cameron had last year promised an anti-graft summit. The high-profile British premier got some bad press ahead of the summit when he told the Queen that some ‘fantastically corrupt’ countries were going to attend the conference. He was referring to Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Cameron’s remarks are revealing as they point to a virtually axiomatic truth. Afghanistan has been riven by insurgency for years. It is hard to enforce the rule of law in societies where lawlessness gets institutionalised because of loose structures of governance. The sense of nationalism is beaten by an overpowering propensity to be loyal to one’s clan or phratry. It is easy for undemocratic societies to fall into the corruption trap.
Nigeria is more democratic but scores low on the corruption index. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not seem overtly offended by the comment and admitted that his country had a corruption problem. Cameron’s comments, though not inaccurate, sounded off-the-cuff. He should have been more discreet. It is not surprising that developing and least developed countries are corrupt. The level of corruption in countries where the political system shows a degree of maturity, like Russia and its former republics, should also concern policy makers.
