Surprise, surprise! Corruption undermines democratic development and it is one of the primary reasons that democracies do not seem to deliver. This is according to the newly released report — Countries at the Crossroads 2006 — by the Freedom House (past issues are available here).
Zimbabwe, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Kazakhstan and Bahrain were the five weakest performers on the anticorruption measure. Zimbabwe was the worst performer of all 30 countries in this category. The Zimbabwe report observes that “the primary interest of the Mugabe government is to retain power through a system of patronage that includes access to both state and private assets. The ruling ZANU-PF party owns a wide range of businesses, allowing party elites to profit personally.”
Also, evidently (and this is in-line with CIPE’s standing on corruption), exposing corruption, although important in its own right, is not enough if it is not followed up by real actions directed at its root sources. Voting in new administrations does not necessarily mean that corruption will be successfully eliminated or reduced:
“These reports illustrate that sound democratic institutions do not emerge spontaneously after credible elections,” said Sanja Tatic, managing editor of Countries at the Crossroads. “Even most reform-oriented governments find it extremely challenging to root out corruption and transform key state institutions,” she added.
Finally, the most troubling finding of the report, at least in my view, is down the list:
Respect for the rule of law has dramatically declined across the survey since 2004, with decreased scores in nearly half of the countries examined.
Jean Rogers has more thoughts on the economic and social impact of weak rule of law.
The point by Sanja Tatic on challenges to reduce corruption is well taken. Ultimately, government officials play an important role in eradicating bribery and extortion, whether through legislation, enforcement, or various public-private partnerships. But, if they themselves benefit from the system – where is the incentive to change? While leadership may commit to anti-bribery programs, the implementation of such programs lies with bureaucrats, who, in the absence of rule of law, find it easy to benefit from the system and find little punishment for their actions. Strong rule of law increases the probability of getting caught and punished and ultimately acts as a deterrent to some of the corruption activities.
Published Date: August 04, 2006