College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2016/2017

POLI 362

Development Administration

Session 11-Corruption and Development I

Lecturer: Prof. Emmanuel Debrah, Dept. of Political Science. Contact Information: edebrah@ug.edu.gh

Session Overview

• This session discusses the role corruption plays in a country’s economic development process. It indicates that the prevalence of corruption undermines economic development. The session begins by describing the nature and the forms of corruption. It further discusses the fundamental causes of corruption.

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Session Outline

The topics to be discussed in this session are as follows:

• Topic One: Definition and Types/Forms of Corruption

• Topic Two: Causes of Corruption

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DEFINITION AND TYPES/FORMS OF CORRUPTION

TOPIC ONE

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Definition of Corruption

Different definitions by scholars and groups

• The World Bank (2014) defines it as the abuse of public office for private gain.

Public office is abused for private gain when an official accepts, solicits, or extorts a bribe. It is also abused when private agents actively offer bribes to circumvent public policies and processes for competitive advantage and profit. It is also abused for personal benefit even if no bribery occurs, through patronage and nepotism, the theft of state assets, or the diversion of state revenues.

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Definition of Corruption (cont’d)

• It is the utilization of an office holder’s official position to attain a private gain.

• Transparency International (2006) defines corruption as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain.

• That is whenever, a person who occupies a position of authority uses his position to gain some favours that benefit him rather than the office/state/organization.

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Definition of Corruption (cont’d)

• It is defined as a break from the norm, laws or procedures with a view to making personal gains at the expense of the public good (Kempe et al, 2000).

• A deliberate circumvention of the rules in order to achieve a private gain.

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Definition of Corruption (cont’d)

• Klitgaard (1988) uses the equation: C = M + D – A

• C (corruption) = M (monopoly) + D (discretion) – A (accountability)

• This definition measures the potential for corruption in practical situations.

• This means that corruption can be highly concentrated at the top of a political system and associated with the exercise of political power

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Types/Forms of Corruption

• Bribery -giving something (monetary/ in-kind) in order to influence the action or decision of an office-holder

• Theft -practice of stealing resources from organizations or institutions by officials

• Isolated and systemic /widespread corruption. It is rare if it consists of a few individual acts, it is straightforward (though seldom easy) to detect and punish.

• Systemic : when formal and informal rules are at odds with one another; eg the whole population regards it as normal, and happens at every transaction

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Types/Forms of Corruption (cont’d)

• Grand corruption – consists of acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good.

• Petty corruption – refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- and mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens

• Political corruption – is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth.

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Types/Forms of Corruption (cont’d)

• Kleptocracy- Rent-seeking- the practice of siphoning state resources. It refers to the looting of state resources by politicians – usually occurring in large scale

• Kickback – usually it refers to the practice whereby a percentage of contract sum is paid to politicians who awarded the contract to their cronies.

• Gift – usually known as thank you. Amount paid by businessmen and contractors to their patrons as a reward for the offer

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CAUSES OF CORRUPTION TOPIC TWO

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Bureaucratic Traditions

• The lack of motivation in public sector employees to work productively may be undermined by many factors, including

-Low and declining civil service salaries

-Promotion unconnected to performance.

-Inadequate supplies and equipment,

-Delays in the release of budget funds

-Loss of organizational purpose also may demoralize staff.

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Bureaucratic Traditions (cont’d)

• The motivation to remain honest may be further weakened if senior officials and political leaders use public office for private gain or if those who resist corruption lack protection.

• Low pay levels, with the informal understanding that staff will find their own ways to supplement inadequate pay.

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Weak Accountability

• This is where ethical values of a well-performing bureaucracy have been eroded or never established.

• Rules on conduct, financial management laws (which normally record and control the collection of revenues and the expenditure of budgeted resources) may have broken down

• Where there is no formal mechanism to hold public officials accountable for results.

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Weak Institutions

• Absence of anticorruption bodies

• Where they have turned into partisan instruments whose real purpose is not to detect fraud and corruption but to harass political opponents.

• The lack of supervisory team

• Lack of ethical leadership

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Centralized System of Administration

• Centralized system of administration may breed corruption.

• A bureaucratic system congests decision-making at a single location

• It forces people seeking social services to gravitate towards the center

• The system slows down service delivery

• It engender frustration and anger

• To break through the bureaucratic inert, bribe may be imminent.

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Neo-Patrimonial System

• Establishment of patron-client networks

• This system survives on reciprocity.

• Where patrons relies on clients’ to mobilize political support, and in return, secure obedience and mobilization of grassroots political support

• Clients feel obliged to act to please the patron and vice versa.

• Clients executing benefits from patrons would act without recourse to rules. For example, procurement laws and contract terms

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Economic Decay

• General economic malaise may give instigate corruption

• Eg. Scarcity of commodities, poor pay, rising cost of goods and services,

• Inflation and high prices

• Joblessness/high unemployment

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Sample Question

• Examine the view that ‘the causes of corruption advanced by economist and political scientists are an over-exaggeration’.

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Reference

• World Bank, World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World, New York: Oxford University Press.

• Klitgaard Robert. (1996). “Cleaning Up and Invigorating the Civil Service,” World Bank Operations Evaluation Department.

• Borner, S., Brunetti, A. and Weder, B. (1994). Political Credibility and Economic Development, New York: St. Martin's Press.

• Mauro, P. (1995). “Corruption and Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics.

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THANK YOU

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