Political Corruption
Political corruption is the use of powers
by government officials for illegitimate private gain. An illegal act by an
officeholder constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly
related to their official duties, is done undercolor of law or involves trading in influence.
Forms of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, andembezzlement. Corruption may
facilitate criminal enterprise such as drug trafficking, money laundering, andhuman trafficking, though is not
restricted to these activities. Misuse of government power for other
purposes, such as repression of political
opponents and general police brutality, is not considered
political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by private persons or
corporations not directly involved with the government.
The activities that constitute illegal
corruption differ depending on the country or jurisdiction. For instance, some
political funding practices that are legal in one place may be illegal in
another. In some cases, government officials have broad or ill-defined powers,
which make it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal actions.
Worldwide, bribery alone is estimated to involve over 1 trillion US dollars
annually.[1] A state of
unrestrained political corruption is known as a kleptocracy,
literally meaning "rule by thieves".
Some forms of corruption – now called
“institutional corruption – are
distinguished from bribery and other kinds of obvious personal gain. Campaign
contributions are the prime example. Even when they are legal, and do not
constitute a quid pro quo, they have a
tendency to bias the process in favor of special interests and undermine public
confidence in the political institution. They corrupt the institution without
individual members being corrupt themselves. A similar problem of corruption
arises in any institution that depends on financial support from people who
have interests that may conflict with the primary purpose of the institution.
In politics, corruption undermines democracy and good governance by
flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in
the legislature reduces accountability and distorts representation in
policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the inefficient provision of
services. It violates a basic principle of republicanism regarding the centrality of
civic virtue. More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of
government if procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and
public offices are bought and sold. Corruption undermines the legitimacy of
government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.
n the private sector, corruption
increases the cost of business through the price of illicit payments
themselves, the management cost of negotiating with officials and the risk of
breached agreements or detection. Although some claim corruption reduces costs
by cutting bureaucracy, the availability of
bribes can also induce officials to contrive new rules and delays. Openly
removing costly and lengthy regulations are better than covertly allowing them
to be bypassed by using bribes. Where corruption inflates the cost of business,
it also distorts the playing field, shielding firms with connections from
competition and thereby sustaining inefficient firms.[4]
Corruption also generates economic
distortions in the public sector by diverting public
investment into capital projects where bribes and kick backs are more plentiful.
Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to
conceal or pave the way for such dealings, thus further distorting investment.[5] Corruption also
lowers compliance with construction, environmental, or other regulations,
reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure, and increases
budgetary pressures on government
The scale of humanitarian aid to the poor and unstable regions of the
world grows, but it is highly vulnerable to corruption, with food aid,
construction and other highly valued assistance as the most at risk. Food aid can be directly and
physically diverted from its intended destination, or indirectly through the
manipulation of assessments, targeting, registration and distributions to favour
certain groups or individuals. Elsewhere, in construction and shelter,
there are numerous opportunities for diversion and profit through substandard
workmanship, kickbacks for contracts and favouritism in the provision of
valuable shelter material. Thus
while humanitarian aid agencies are usually most concerned about aid being
diverted by including too many, recipients themselves are most concerned about
exclusion. Access to aid may be
limited to those with connections, to those who pay bribes or are forced to
give sexual favours. Equally,
those able to do so may manipulate statistics to inflate the number of
beneficiaries and siphon off additional assistance.
References:
en.Wikipedia.org
www.Economictimes.indiatimes.org