43. Corruption

Corruption is essentially termed as an "impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle; depravity, decay, and/or an inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means, a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct, and/or an agency or influence that corrupts." The term corruption is often vaguely used for any improper money charge and any improper money offer, or even any improper way to acquire money or goods and services. But the concept should be confined to tapping the money flows associated with government administration involving government agents.

The necessary condition for talking of corruption is the owner of an asset changing hands (the government or a victimized citicizen) does not approve of it, but is unaware or powerless. Corruption is talked about openly in most countries these days and few countries deny they suffer from it. Which is a good thing, since it provides politicians, business and labour leaders, journalists and civil society with a rare opportunity: that of agreeing on the urgency of stamping it out. But agreeing on what exactly is meant by corruption is another matter.

Even the most widely used definition, which is “the abuse of public office for private gain”, may err on the side of over-simplification. The cost of corruption is four-fold: political, economic, social, and environmental: On the political front, corruption constitutes a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system, offices and institutions lose their legitimacy when they are misused for private advantage. Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth. It hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring investment.

The effect of corruption on the social fabric of society is the most damaging of all. It undermines people's trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership. Frustration and general apathy among a disillusioned public result in a weak civil society. That in turn clears the way for despots as well as democratically elected yet unscrupulous leaders to turn national assets into personal wealth. Demanding and paying bribes become the norm. Those unwilling to comply often emigrate, leaving the country drained of its most able and most honest citizens. Environmental degradation is yet another consequence of corrupt systems. The lack of, or non-enforcement of, environmental regulations and legislation allows pollution, over-exploitation of natural resources, and other environmental damage which ravage natural environments.