leadership and ethics in the public sector seminar series considering corruption: what can...

Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector Seminar Series

Considering Corruption: What Can

Development Ethics Offer to Development Practitioners?

Presenter: Chloe Schwenke, Ph.D.Management Systems International

Chair: Stephen Ndegwa, Ph.D.

World Bank ~ PRMPS May 2, 2005 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm

MC 5-500

Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector ~ Seminar Series

Presentation Summary

The shape and significance of “anti-corruption” now• The analytical focus

• Corruption’s nature and impact

• “Corruption” or “integrity” (“slavery” or “freedom”)?

Using a moral lens to consider corruption• The Capability Approach

The moral response to corruption• Balance the focus

• Strengthen motivation

• Heighten public awareness

• Raise expectations


Analyzing corruption

Anti-corruption assessment initiatives around the world: Public Integrity Index (Center for Public Integrity) ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Action Plan Stocktaking Reports for Asia and the Pacific UNDP Country Assessment in Accountability and Transparency (CONTACT) OECD Survey of Prevention Measures for Public Sector Corruption (1999) OECD Trust in Government – Ethics Measures in OECD Countries (2000) Integrity Development Review (DAP/USAID) ~ combination of the Corruption

Resistance Review (CRR) and the Corruption Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) OAS Follow-Up Questionnaire ~ Implementation of the Inter-American Convention

Against Corruption Transparency International National Integrity Systems Country Studies GRECO (Group of States Against Corruption) Peer Evaluations OSI’s EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) – Corruption Methodology USAID Country Assessments World Bank Governance Indicators Framework


The current art of “anti-corruption” ~ 1

Measuring situational factors that either facilitate or inhibit corruptionAnalyzing diverse data sources

• court statistics, citizen awareness and perceptions (Corruption Perception Index), legal structures, “good governance” institutional structures and processes (Control of Corruption Index), transparency (Opacity Factor), inappropriate influence of business interests (State Capture Index)

Evaluating the political economy of corruption• support for and opposition to corrupt systems of

governance; opportunities for corruption; possible reforms


The current art of “anti-corruption” ~ 2

Political economy: Understanding the dynamics of corruption• The governance lens: do institutions (public,

private, civil society) deliver efficient, transparent, accountable services within the law?

• The economic lens: to what extent (if at all) should the government intervene in the market to constrain corruption?

The moral lens???


What about integrity? All of the leading anti-corruption assessment initiatives focus on corruption, or “integrity systems”• The immoral presumption ~ if people think they can get

ahead (or get by) through corrupt means, they’ll do so. • Are human beings – and their institutions - morally

deficient, if not degenerate, by nature?• Do people aspire towards integrity and virtue?• Do people “accept” corruption?

Question: Why do we concentrate on constraining corruption and not on fostering (and celebrating) integrity?


What can ethics tell us about

corruption?

Our focus is too heavily weighted towards effective mechanisms to measure corruption – rather than considering corruption itself • measurement systems fail to capture

many of the qualitative impacts of corruption

Can we think about corruption – and its impact – through a moral lens?


One moral lens – the Capability Approach ~ 1

Pioneered by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, David Crocker, Sabina Alkire, and others.The Objective of Economic Development:• Takes human beings - improving human well-

being and agency – as its end• Is to expand capabilities or valuable freedoms.• People's capabilities are what they are actually

able to do and to be, that is, their freedom to enjoy valuable beings and doings.


The Capability Approach ~ 2

Features of the Capability Approach:• Combines ethics and economics - acknowledges value

judgments are inherent in development and social arrangements and policies.

• Has a multidimensional objective - human well-being is multidimensional, and should advance many different kinds of capabilities at the same time.

• Broadens the informational base - often “non-capability” information is also very important for issues of justice, development and policies.

• Recognizes that values differ across persons and groups


The Capability Approach ~ 3

Features of the Capability Approach (continued):• Involves people as participants and agents - people need

to hold governments and other sites of power accountable.

• Is not a theory of justice: information of other kinds (such as human rights) might also be required

• Draws attention to group disparities (such as those based on gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, and others), and to capability disparities between nations.

• Not conceived as a tool to measure corruption, but it does provide a robust assessment of human flourishing – or lack thereof.


“The List”: Articulating human

well-being using the CA

Sen & Crocker: Peoples’ values differ, so each social group should decide its own “list”.

Nussbaum: Peoples’ values are sufficiently universal that a “master list” is possible, although subject to revision.


What makes a life "truly human"?

Nussbaum ~ We should be able to identify when "a life has been so impoverished that it is not worthy of the dignity of the human being."

Nussbaum ~ Identify a list of the central capabilities "that can be convincingly argued to be of central importance in any human life, whatever else the person pursues or chooses“.


Nussbaum’s List ~ 1

All of equal priority, no trade-offs: 1. Life. Being able to live to the end of a human life of normal length; not dying prematurely, or before one's life is so reduced as to be not worth living.

2. Bodily Health. Being able to have good health, including reproductive health; to be adequately nourished; to have adequate shelter.

3. Bodily Integrity. Being able to move freely from place to place; having one's bodily boundaries treated as sovereign, i.e., being able to be secure against assault (including sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and domestic violence); having opportunities for sexual satisfaction and for choice in matters of reproduction.


Nussbaum’s List ~ 24. Senses, Imagination, and Thought. Being able to use the senses, to imagine, think, and reason -- and to do these things in a 'truly human' way. Being able to use imagination and thought. Being able to use one's mind in ways protected by guarantees of freedom of expression and of religious exercise. Being able to search for the ultimate meaning of life in one's own way. Being able to have pleasurable experiences, and to avoid non-necessary pain.5. Emotions. Being able to love, to grieve, to experience longing, gratitude, and justified anger. Not having one's emotional development blighted by overwhelming fear and anxiety, or by traumatic events of abuse or neglect.

6. Practical Reason. Being able to form a conception of the good and to engage in critical reflection about the planning of

one's life. (This entails protection for the liberty of conscience.)



7. Affiliation. • A) Being able to live with and toward others, to

recognize and show concern for other human beings, to engage in various forms of social interaction; to have the capacity for both justice and friendship.

• B) Having the social bases of self-respect and non-humiliation; being able to be treated as a dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others.

8. Other Species. Being able to live with concern for and in relation to animals, plants, and the world of nature.



9. Play. Being able to laugh, to play, to enjoy recreational activities.

10. Control over One's Environment. • A) Political. Being able to participate effectively in

political choices that govern one's life; having the right of political participation, protections of free speech and association.

• B) Material. Being able to hold property; having the right to seek employment on an equal basis with others; having the freedom from unwarranted search and

seizure


Introducing “James Mwangi”


Corruption and James Mwangi ~ 1Daily incidents of corruption:

• Harassment by police seeking petty bribes

• “Chai” to foreman on construction site for site “entry fee”

• Fees to youth gang members in slums for “protection”

Longer-term considerations:• Saving to “buy” a place on

the permanent staff at the construction site ~ boots, hardhat, no daily fees, priority

• Trade unions co-opted by employers, hence no advocacy


Corruption and James Mwangi ~ 2• Working on an unsafe

building – bribes to building plans reviewers to reduce reinforcing steel standards

Corruption has undercut “good governance” and deeply eroded aid and development funding to Kenya

• Fewer (or no) improvements to access to education, health, job safety, micro-lending schemes, job training, affordable transport, cleaner air and water

• General sense of powerlessness – loss of hope


Corruption and James Mwangi ~ 3

The Life of James Mwangi ~ CA Assessment 1. Life ~ Mwangi’s life will be shortened and difficult2. Bodily Health ~ Mwangi will often be ill, have little access to a

doctor, no access to a dentist, and will be inadequately housed. 3. Bodily Integrity ~ Mwangi will live in constant fear of assault,

and have no short-term prospect of intimacy and sexual satisfaction.

4. Senses, Imagination, and Thought ~ Mwangi is poorly educated, has little free time, is often exhausted, ill and in pain, and is not stimulated by a wholesome environment. He has little opportunity for or interest in political expression.

5. Emotions ~ Mwangi’s emotional development has been blighted by the overwhelming fear and anxiety of struggling to survive day to day.



6. Practical Reason ~ Mwangi has few decisions available, so has little incentive for critical reflection about the planning of his life.

7. Affiliation ~ Mwangi’s scope for living with and toward others is constrained by his need to survive. He does have friends, but he often feels humiliated by his poverty, and frequently experiences undignified treatment. He does not think that his worth is equal to that of others.

8. Other Species ~ The urban slums are harsh; Mwangi has only a limited conception of living in peace and harmony with the natural environment.



9. Play ~ Mwangi still laughs and plays, but has very modest access to – and little free time for – recreational activities.

10. Control over One's Environment ~ Mwangi has no time and few opportunities to participate in political choices that govern his life; he has no short-term or medium-term prospects of owning property or finding a worthwhile job in the formal sector.


The moral response to corruption Sitting with the discomfort ~ avoiding “abstracting out” the personal narrativesCreating the environment for integrity• Linking moral ideals with good governance• Seeking out and celebrating integrity in

leadership• Moral education ~ transcending Kohlberg’s

levels• Moral dialogue ~ tapping in to public concern• Ethical tools ~ developing better tools for

normative analysis


The moral response to corruption

Pursuing justice, virtue, and caring• Shaming ~ “frying the big fish”• Political will ~ commitment to rule of law• Integrity ~ Setting high ethical standards of

leadership• Retributive justice ~ making the penalty for

corruption fit the crime• Restorative justice ~ healing the wounds of

victims, offenders and communities• Compassion ~ caring for the victims of

corruption

leadership and ethics in the public sector seminar series considering corruption: what can...

Documents

public sector corruption

impact corruption

dynamics of corruption

corruption possible

current art of anticorruption

public sector seminar

public awareness

institutions public