EXPLANATION OF CORRUPTION AND ITS HISTORY
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Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization
that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or
abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities like bribery, influence peddling, and embezzlement, as well as practices that are legal in many countries,
such as lobbying. Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental
employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain.
Historically,
"corruption" had a broader meaning concerned with an activity's
impact on morals and societal well-being: for example, the ancient Greek
philosopher Socrates was
condemned to death in part for "corrupting the young".
Contemporary
corruption is perceived as most common in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-states, authoritarian states, and mafia states,[citation
needed] however, more recent research and policy statements
acknowledge that it also exists in wealthy capitalist economies. In How
Corrupt is Britain, David Whyte reveals that corruption exists "across
a wide range of venerated institutions" in the UK, ranked as one of
the least corrupt countries by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). In a
2022 speech on "Modern Corruption", USAID Administrator Samantha
Power stated: "Corruption is no longer just about individual autocrats
pilfering their nation's wealth to live large", but also involves
sophisticated transnational networks, including financial institutions hidden
in secrecy. Responding to Whyte's book, George Monbiot criticized the CPI for
its narrow definition of corruption that surveys mostly only Western executives
about bribery. Similarly, others point out that "global metrics
systematically under-measure 'corruption of the rich' - which tends to be
legalized, institutionalized, and ambiguously unethical - as opposed to
'corruption of the poor'".
Corruption and crime
are endemic sociological occurrences that appear regularly in virtually all
countries on a global scale in varying degrees and proportions. Recent data
suggests corruption is on the rise. Each nation allocates domestic
resources for the control and regulation of corruption and the deterrence of
crime. Strategies undertaken to counter corruption are often summarized under
the umbrella term anti-corruption. Additionally, global initiatives like the United
Nations Sustainable
Development Goal 16 also
have a targeted goal which is supposed to reduce corruption in all of its forms
substantially. Recent initiatives like the Tax Justice Network go beyond
bribery and theft and bring attention to tax abuses.
Definitions and scales
A billboard in Zambia exhorting
the public to "Just say no to corruption"
Stephen D.
Morris, a professor of politics,
wrote that political corruption is the illegitimate use of public power
to benefit a private interest. Economist Ian Senior defined corruption as an
action to secretly provide a good or a service to a third party to influence
certain actions which benefit the corrupt, a third party, or both in which the
corrupt agent has authority. World Bank economist Daniel
Kaufmann extended the
concept to include "legal corruption" in which power is abused within
the confines of the law—as those with power often have the ability to make laws
for their protection. The effect of corruption in infrastructure is to increase
costs and construction time, lower the quality and decrease the benefit.
Corruption is a
complex phenomenon and can occur on different scales. Corruption ranges
from small favors between a small number of people (petty corruption), to
corruption that affects the government on a large scale (grand corruption), and
corruption that is so prevalent that it is part of the everyday structure of
society, including corruption as one of the symptoms of organized crime
(systemic corruption). "Corruption of the rich" is particularly hard
to measure and largely excluded from conventional metrics like the CPI.
A number of
indicators and tools have been developed which can measure different forms of
corruption with increasing accuracy; but when those are impractical, one
study suggests looking at bodyfat as a rough guide after finding that obesity
of cabinet ministers in post-Soviet states was highly correlated with more accurate measures
of corruption.
Petty theft, grand theft, speed money, access money
Political economist
Yuen Yuen Ang "unbundles corruption" into four types, encompassing
both petty and grand corruption as well as legal and illegal versions: petty
theft, grand theft, speed money, access money. According to her
definition, speed money "means petty bribes that businesses or citizens
pay to bureaucrats to get around hurdles or speed things up." This is the
kind of corruption associated with the "efficient grease hypothesis,"
which economists found burdensome to businesses in practice. Ang defines
access money as "high-stakes rewards extended by business actors to
powerful officials, not just for speed, but to access exclusive, valuable
privileges." Most theories about bribery focus on speed money, but
neglects access money. "From a businessperson's point of view, access
money is less a tax than an investment... making it more sludge than
grease." The Unbundled Corruption Index measures the prevalence of
these four types of corruption.
Whereas corruption
with theft and speed money is endemic in poor countries, access money can be
found in both poor and rich countries.
Petty corruption
Petty corruption
occurs at a smaller scale and takes place at the implementation end of public
services when public officials meet the public. For example, in many small
places such as registration offices, police stations, state licensing
boards, and many other private and government sectors.
Grand corruption
Grand corruption is defined as corruption occurring at the highest
levels of government in a way that requires significant subversion of the
political, legal and economic systems. Such corruption is commonly found in
countries with authoritarian or dictatorial governments but also in those
without adequate policing of corruption.
The government
system in many countries is divided into the legislative, executive and judicial branches in an attempt to provide
independent services that are less subject to grand corruption due to their
independence from one another.
Systemic corruption
Systemic corruption (or endemic corruption) is
corruption which is primarily due to the weaknesses of an organization or
process. It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act
corruptly within the system.
Factors which
encourage systemic corruption include conflicting
incentives, discretionary powers; monopolistic powers; lack of transparency; low pay; and a culture of impunity. Specific
acts of corruption include "bribery, extortion, and embezzlement" in
a system where "corruption becomes the rule rather than the
exception." Scholars distinguish between centralized and decentralized
systemic corruption, depending on which level of state or government corruption
takes place; in countries such as the post-Soviet states both types occur. Some scholars argue that
there is a negative duty[clarification
needed] of western governments to protect against
systematic corruption of underdeveloped governments.
Corruption has been
a major issue in China, where society depends heavily on personal
relationships. By the late 20th century that combined with the new lust for
wealth, produced escalating corruption. Historian Keith Schoppa says that bribery
was only one of the tools of Chinese corruption, which also included,
"embezzlement, nepotism, smuggling, extortion, cronyism, kickbacks,
deception, fraud, squandering of public money, illegal business transactions,
stock manipulation and real estate fraud." Given the repeated
anti-corruption campaigns it was a prudent precaution to move as much of the
fraudulent money as possible overseas.
In Latin American countries, corruption is permitted as a result of the cultural
norms of the institution. In countries like the United States, there is a
relatively strong sense of trust among strangers, one that is not found in
Latin American countries. In Latin American countries, this trust does not
exist, whereas the social norms imply that no stranger is responsible for the
wellbeing or happiness of another stranger. Instead, the trust is found in
acquaintances. Acquaintances are treated with trust and respect—a level of
trust that is not found among acquaintances in countries like the United
States. This is what permits for corruption in Latin American countries. If
there is a strong enough trust within an administration that no one will betray
the rest, corruptive policies will take place with ease.
Money in politics
While petty, grand,
and systemic corruption, described above, are largely found in poor countries
with weak institutions, a newer literature has turned to money politics in
wealthy democracies and extreme global inequalities. Simon Weschle at Syracuse
University examines the prevalence of campaign finance and its consequences for
democracy. Kristin Surak at the London School of Economics explores the
controversial practice of millionaires buying "golden passports" with
no intention of actually migrating. In her words, "a full-blown
citizenship industry that thrives on global inequalities" has
arisen."
State-business collusion
While not
necessarily involving bribery, recent research documents the emergence of
"a particular kind of large, non-state business group" that is akin
to a mafia system in China. In this situation, the boundary between public
and private actors blurs.
Causes
Much of existing
literature focuses on explicit corrupt actions like bribery and embezzlement,
endemic in poor countries (see below). For "money in politics," the
causes are very different and largely ignored in conventional literature. For
example, the UK is a developed economy with a robust democracy, and yet London
is a hub for money laundering. In a critique of the failures and politics
leading up to the US financial crisis, a Stanford financial economist noted,
"In the real world, it turned out, important economic outcomes are often
the consequences of political forces. During 2010, people within regulatory
bodies told me privately that false and misleading claims were affecting key
policy decisions... I saw confusion, willful blindness, political forces,
various and sometimes subtle forms of corruption, and moral disengagement,
first hand."
Per R. Klitgaard corruption will occur if the corrupt gain is
greater than the penalty multiplied by the likelihood of being caught and
prosecuted.
Since a high degree
of monopoly and discretion accompanied by a low degree of transparency does not
automatically lead to corruption, a fourth variable of "morality" or
"integrity" has been introduced by others. The moral dimension has an
intrinsic component and refers to a "mentality problem", and an
extrinsic component referring to circumstances like poverty, inadequate
remuneration, inappropriate work conditions and inoperable or over-complicated
procedures which demoralize people and let them search for "alternative"
solutions.
According to a
2017 survey study, the following factors have been attributed
as causes of corruption:
·
Higher
levels of market and political monopolization
·
Low
levels of democracy, weak civil participation and low political transparency
·
Higher
levels of bureaucracy and inefficient administrative structures
·
Low
press freedom
·
Low
economic freedom
·
Large
ethnic divisions and high levels of in-group favoritism
·
Poverty
·
Political
instability
·
Weak
property rights
·
Contagion
from corrupt neighboring countries
·
Low
levels of education
·
Lack
of commitment to society
·
Lack
of proper policies against corruption
It has been noted
that in a comparison of the most corrupt with the least corrupt countries, the
former group contains nations with huge socio-economic
inequalities, and the latter
contains nations with a high degree of social and economic justice.
Social norms have
been posited as an explanation for why some environments are corrupt and others
are not.
By sector
Corruption can occur
in many sectors, whether they be public or private industry or even NGOs (especially
in public sector). However, only in democratically controlled institutions is there
an interest of the public (owner) to develop internal mechanisms to fight
active or passive corruption, whereas in private industry as well as in NGOs
there is no public control. Therefore, the owners' investors' or sponsors'
profits are largely decisive.
Public sector
Public corruption
includes corruption of the political process and of government agencies such as
tax collectors and the police, as well as corruption in processes of allocating
public funds for contracts, grants, and hiring. Recent research by the World Bank
suggests that who makes policy decisions (elected officials or bureaucrats) can
be critical in determining the level of corruption because of the incentives
different policy-makers face.
Political
A
political cartoon from Harper's Weekly, 26 January 1878, depicting U.S. Secretary of the
Interior Carl Schurz investigating the Indian
Bureau at the U.S.
Department of the Interior. The original caption for the cartoon is: "THE
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR INVESTIGATING THE INDIAN BUREAU. GIVE HIM HIS DUE,
AND GIVE THEM THEIR DUES."
Political corruption
is the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected government
officials for personal gain, by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes. It
can also take the form of office holders maintaining themselves in office by
purchasing votes by enacting laws which use taxpayers' money. Evidence
suggests that corruption can have political consequences- with citizens being
asked for bribes becoming less likely to identify with their country or region.
The political act of
"graft" (American English), is a well known and now global form of
political corruption, being the unscrupulous and illegal use of a politician's
authority for personal gain, when funds intended for public projects are
intentionally misdirected in order to maximize the benefits to illegally
private interests of the corrupted individual(s) and their cronies. In some
cases government institutions are "repurposed" or shifted away from
their official mandate to serve other, often corrupt purposes.
),_((Lithuania)).png)
The
Kaunas "Golden Toilet"
The Kaunas
golden toilet case was
a major Lithuanian scandal. In 2009, the municipality of Kaunas (led by mayor
Andrius Kupčinskas) ordered that a shipping container was to be converted into
an outdoor toilet at a cost of 500,000 litai (around 150,000 euros). It was to also require
5,000 litai (1,500 euros) in monthly maintenance costs. At the same time
when Kaunas's "Golden Toilet" was built, Kėdainiai tennis club acquired a very similar, but more
advanced solution for 4,500 euros. Because of the inflated cost of the
outdoor toilet, it was nicknamed the "Golden Toilet". Despite the
investment, the "Golden Toilet" remained closed for years due to the
dysfunctionality and was a subject of a lengthy anti-corruption investigation
into those who had created it and the local municipality even considered
demolishing the building at one point. The group of public servants
involved in the toilet's procurement received various prison sentences for
recklessness, malfeasance, misuse of power and document falsifications in a
2012 court case, but were cleared of their corruption charges and received
compensation, which pushed the total construction cost and subsequent related
financial losses to 352,000 euros.
On 7 July 2020,
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a global think tank, released a report claiming the
Emirati city, Dubai,
of being an enabler of global corruption, crime and illicit
financial flows.
It stated that the global corrupt and criminal actors either operated through
or from Dubai. The city was also called a haven for trade-based money laundering, as it gives space to free trade zones, with minimal
regulatory laws and customs enforcement.
A report in
September 2022 revealed that British Members
of Parliament received
a total of £828,211 over a period of eight years from countries of the Saudi-led
coalition in the Yemeni
Civil War. The money was
granted in the form of all-expenses-paid trips to 96 MPs by Saudi Arabia (at least £319,406), Bahrain (£197,985),
the United Arab Emirates (£187,251), Egypt (£66,695) and Kuwait (£56,872). MPs also received gifts, including a
£500 food hamper, tickets for a Burns Supper, an expensive watch and a day out at the Royal
Windsor Horse Show.
The Saudi-led coalition was accused of attempting to buy influence in the UK.
While the MPs registered the trips and gifts at Westminster as per the rules, critics called it
"absolutely shameful" to accept donations from countries with
poor human rights records.
Judicial
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In
the Renaissance fresco The
Good and the Bad Judge (Monsaraz, Portugal),
the Bad Judge, depicted as having two faces, is shown taking bribes: the nobleman to
the right offers him gold coins from a purse, and the villein to
the left gives him a pair of partridges.
Judicial corruption
refers to the corruption-related misconduct of judges, through the receiving or giving of bribes, the improper
sentencing of convicted criminals, judicial activism, bias in the hearing
and judgement of arguments and
other forms of misconduct. Judicial corruption can also be conducted by
prosecutors and defense attorneys. An example of prosecutorial
misconduct, occurs when
a politician or a crime boss bribes a prosecutor to open investigations and file
charges against an opposing politician or a rival crime boss, in order to hurt
the competition.
Governmental
corruption of the judiciary is broadly known in many transitional and developing countries because the budget is almost completely controlled by the executive.
The latter critically undermines the separation of powers, because it fosters
financial dependence on the judiciary. The proper distribution of a nation's
wealth, including its government's spending on the judiciary, is subject
to constitutional
economics.
The judiciary may be
corrupted by acts of the government, such as through budget planning and
various privileges, and by private acts. Corruption in judiciary may also
involve the government using its judicial arm to oppress opposition parties.
Judicial corruption is difficult to completely eradicate, even in developed
countries.
Military
Military corruption
refers to the abuse of power by members in the armed forces, in order for
career advancement or for personal gain by a soldier or soldiers. One form of
military corruption in the United
States Armed Forces is
a military soldier being promoted in rank or being given better treatment than their
colleagues by their officers due to their race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, religious
beliefs, social
class or personal relationships with higher-ranking officers in spite of their
merit. In addition to that, the US military has also had many instances of
officers sexually assaulting fellow officers and in many cases, there were allegations that many
of the attacks were covered up and victims were coerced to remain silent by
officers of the same rank or of higher rank.
Another example of
military corruption, is a military officer or officers using the power of their
positions to commit activities that are illegal, such as skimming logistical
supplies such as food, medicine, fuel, body armor or weapons to sell on the
local black market. There have also been instances of military
officials, providing equipment and combat support to criminal syndicates, private
military companies and terrorist groups, without approval from their superiors. As a
result, many countries have a military police
force to ensure that
the military officers follow the laws and conduct of their respective countries
but sometimes the military police have levels of corruption themselves.
Natural resources
Within less
democratic countries, the presence of resources such as diamonds, gold, oil,
and forestry increases the prevalence of corruption. Corruption includes industrial
corruption, consisting of large bribes, as well as petty corruption such as a
poacher paying off a park ranger to ignore poaching. The presence of fuel extraction and export is
unambiguously associated with corruption, whereas mineral exports only
increased corruption in poorer countries. In wealthier countries, mineral
exports such as gold and diamonds are actually associated with reduced
corruption. The international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative seeks to create best practices for good governance
of gas, oil, and minerals, particularly focusing on the state management of
revenue from these resources. Any valued natural resource can be affected by
corruption, including water for irrigation, land for livestock grazing, forests for hunting and
logging, and fisheries.
The presence or
perception of corruption also undermines environmental initiatives. In Kenya,
farmers blame poor agricultural productivity on corruption, and thus are less
likely to undertake soil conservation measures to prevent soil erosion and loss of
nutrients. In Benin, mistrust of government due to perceived corruption led
small farmers to reject the adaptation of measures to combat climate change.
Police
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A
1902 cartoon depicts a police officer whose eyes are covered with a cloth
labelled "bribes".
Police corruption is
a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, personal
gain, career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not
pursuing or selectively pursuing an investigation or arrest or aspects of the
"thin blue line" itself where force members collude in lies to
protect their precincts, unions and/or other law enforcement members from
accountability. One common form of police corruption is soliciting or
accepting bribes in
exchange for not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities. When civilians
become witnesses to police brutality, officers are often known to respond by harassing and
intimidating the witnesses as retribution for reporting the misconduct. Whistleblowing is not common in law enforcement in part because
officers who do so normally face reprisal by being fired, being forced to
transfer to another department, being demoted, being shunned, losing friends,
not being given back-up during emergencies, receiving professional or even
physical threats as well as having threats be made against friends or relatives
of theirs or having their own misconduct exposed. In America another
common form of police corruption is when white supremacist groups, such as Neo-Nazi Skinheads or Neo-Confederates (such as the Ku Klux Klan), recruit members of law enforcement into their ranks or
encourage their members to join local police departments to repress minorities
and covertly promote white supremacy.
Another example is
police officers flouting the police code of conduct in order to secure convictions of suspects—for
example, through the use of surveillance abuse, false confessions, police perjury and/or falsified evidence. Police officers have also been known to sell forms of
contraband that were taken during seizers (such as confiscated drugs, stolen
property or weapons). Corruption
and misconduct can also be done by prison officers, such as the smuggling
of contraband (such as drugs or electronics) into jails and
prisons for inmates or
the abuse of prisoners. Another form of misconduct is probation officers
taking bribes in exchange for allowing paroles to violate the terms of
their probation or abusing their paroles. More rarely, police
officers may deliberately and systematically participate in organized crime themselves, either while on the job or during off
hours. In most major cities, there are internal
affairs sections to
investigate suspected police corruption or misconduct. Similar entities include
the British Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Private sector
Private sector corruption occurs when any institution, entity or
person that is not controlled by the public sector company, household and
institution that is not controlled by the public sector engages in corrupt
acts. Private sector corruption may overlap with public sector corruption, for
example when a private entity operates in conjunction with corrupt government
officials, or where the government involves itself in activity normally
performed by private entities.
Legal
Corruption
facilitated by lawyers is
a well known form of judicial misconduct. Such abuse is called Attorney misconduct. Attorney misconduct can be either conducted by
individuals acting on their own accord or by entire law firms. A well known example of such corruption are mob
lawyers. Mob lawyers are attorneys who seek to protect the leaders of
criminal enterprises as well as their criminal organizations, with the use of unethical and/or illegal conduct such
as making false or misleading statements, hiding evidence from prosecutors,
failing to disclose all relevant facts about the case, or even giving clients
advice on how to commit crimes in ways that would make prosecution more
difficult for any investigating authorities.
Corporate
Petrobras
headquarters in downtown Rio de Janeiro
In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals
acting on behalf of a corporation or other business entity (see vicarious
liability and corporate liability). Some negative behaviours by corporations may not be
criminal; laws vary between jurisdictions. For example, some jurisdictions
allow insider trading.
Examples
Petróleo Brasileiro
S.A. — Petrobras, more commonly known as simply Petrobras (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌpɛtɾoˈbɾas]), is a semi-public Brazilian multinational
corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The company's name translates to Brazilian Petroleum Corporation – Petrobras.
The company was ranked No. 58 in the 2016 Fortune Global 500 list. From 2014 to 2021, an investigation
known as Operation Car Wash examined allegations of corporate and political
collusion and corruption by Petrobras.
Odebrecht is a privately held Brazilian conglomerate consisting of businesses in the fields of
engineering, real estate, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company was founded in 1944 in Salvador da Bahia by Norberto Odebrecht, and the firm is now present in South America, Central
America, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Its
leading company is Norberto
Odebrecht Construtora [pt]. Odebrecht is one of the 25 largest international
construction companies and led by Odebrecht family.
In 2016, the firm's
executives were examined during Operation Car Wash part of an investigation over Odebrecht
Organization bribes to executives of Petrobras, in exchange for contracts and
influence. Operation Car Wash is an ongoing criminal money laundering and bribes related corporate crime investigation being carried out by the Federal
Police of Brazil,
Curitiba Branch, and judicially commanded by Judge Sergio Moro since 17 March 2014.
PhilHealth, the
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, has been marred by a history of
corruption and mismanagement, with notable scandals including unnecessary
cataract surgeries, excessive travel expenses by executives, and fraudulent
claims for deceased patients. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified these issues,
leading to allegations of a "mafia" within the agency exploiting
funds through the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism and purchasing overpriced
medical supplies. These corrupt practices have severely impacted the right to
healthcare, threatened PhilHealth's financial stability, and eroded public
trust. Ongoing investigations aim to address these allegations and implement
necessary reforms, but concerns about the agency's integrity and effectiveness
persist.
In 2020, ABS-CBN, a
major Philippine media network, faced allegations of corruption and biased
reporting, particularly during President Rodrigo Duterte's administration.
Accusations included failing to air paid political advertisements, negative reporting
against Duterte, and tax evasion, all of which the network denied or
contextualized as part of their journalistic responsibility. The refusal to
renew ABS-CBN's franchise in 2020 led to its shutdown, which many viewed as an
attack on press freedom. Additionally, concerns were raised about potential
corruption related to the Villar family's acquisition of ABS-CBN's channels.
Overall, the situation surrounding ABS-CBN is complex and politically charged,
highlighting the need for careful examination of the allegations and their
implications for media freedom in the Philippines.
Education
Corruption in
education is a worldwide phenomenon. Corruption in admissions to universities
is traditionally considered one of the most corrupt areas of the education
sector. Recent attempts in some countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, to
curb corruption in admissions through the abolition of university entrance
examinations and introduction of standardized computer-graded tests have met
backlash from part of society, while others appreciate the changes.
Vouchers for university entrants have never materialized. The cost of
corruption is that it impedes sustainable economic growth.
Endemic corruption
in educational institutions leads to the formation of sustainable corrupt
hierarchies. While higher education in Russia is distinct with widespread
bribery, corruption in the US and the UK features a significant amount of
fraud. The US is distinct with grey areas and institutional
corruption in the higher
education sector. Authoritarian regimes, including those in former Soviet
republics, encourage educational corruption and control universities,
especially during the election campaigns. This is typical for
Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asian regimes, among others. The
general public is well aware of the high level of corruption in colleges and
universities, including thanks to the media. Doctoral education is no
exception, with dissertations and doctoral degrees available for sale,
including for politicians. Russian Parliament is notorious for
"highly educated" MPs High levels of corruption are a result of
universities not being able to break away from their Stalinist past, over
bureaucratization, and a clear lack of university autonomy. Both
quantitative and qualitative methodologies are employed to study education
corruption, but the topic remains largely unattended by the scholars. In
many societies and international organizations, education corruption remains a
taboo. In some countries, such as certain eastern European countries, some
Balkan countries and certain Asian countries, corruption occurs frequently in
universities. This can include bribes to bypass bureaucratic procedures
and bribing faculty for a grade. The willingness to engage in corruption
such as accepting bribe money in exchange for grades decreases if individuals
perceive such behavior as very objectionable, i.e. a violation of social norms
and if they fear sanctions regarding the severity and probability of sanctions.
Healthcare
Corruption, the
abuse of entrusted power for private gain as defined by Transparency
International, is
systemic in the health sector. The characteristics of health systems with their
concentrated supply of a service, high discretionary power of its members
controlling the supply, and low accountability to others are the exact constellation
of the variables described by Klitgaard on which corruption depends.
Corruption in health
care poses a significant danger to public welfare. It is widespread, yet
little has been published in medical journals about this topic. As of 2019,
there is no evidence on what might reduce corruption in the health
sector. Corruption occurs within the private and public health sectors and
may appear as theft, embezzlement, nepotism, bribery up until extortion, or
undue influence. It can occur anywhere within the sector, be it in service
provision, purchasing, construction, and hiring. In 2019, Transparency
International described the 6 most common ways of service corruption as
follows: absenteeism, informal payments from patients, embezzlement,
inflating services also the costs of services, favoritism, and manipulation of
data (billing for goods and services that were never sent or done).
Labor unions
Labor unions leaders
may be involved in corrupt action or be influenced or controlled by criminal
enterprises. For example, for many years the
Teamsters were
substantially controlled by the Mafia.
Stock market corruption
The Indian stock exchanges, Bombay Stock
Exchange and National
Stock Exchange of India,
have been rocked by several high-profile corruption scandals. At times,
the Securities
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
has barred various individuals and entities from trading on the exchanges
for stock manipulation, especially in illiquid small-cap and penny stocks.
Arms trafficking
"Arms for
cash" can be done by either a state-sanctioned arms dealer, firm, or state
itself to another party. It regards them as simply good business partners and
not as political kindred or allies, thus making them no better than regular gun runners. Arms smugglers, who are already into arms trafficking, may work for them on the ground or with shipment.
The money is often laundered and records are often destroyed. It often
breaks UN, national or international law.
The Mitterrand–Pasqua
affair, also known
informally as Angolagate, was an international political scandal over the secret and illegal sale and shipment of
arms from the nations of Central Europe to the government of Angola by
the Government of France in the 1990s. It led to arrests and judiciary
actions in the 2000s, involving an illegal arms sale to Angola despite a UN embargo,
with business interests in France and
elsewhere improperly obtaining a share of Angolan oil revenues. The scandal has
subsequently been tied to several prominent figures in French politics.
42 individuals,
including Jean-Christophe
Mitterrand, Jacques Attali, Charles Pasqua and Jean-Charles
Marchiani, Pierre Falcone. Arcadi Gaydamak, Paul-Loup Sulitzer, Union
for a Popular Movement deputy Georges Fenech, Philippe
Courroye [fr] the son of François Mitterrand and a former French Minister of the Interior, were
charged, accused, indicted or convicted with illegal arms trading, tax fraud,
embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes.
Philosophy
The 19th-century
German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer acknowledged that academics, including
philosophers, are subject to the same sources of corruption as the societies
which they inhabit. He distinguished the corrupt "university"
philosophers, whose "real concern is to earn with credit an honest
livelihood for themselves and ... to enjoy a certain prestige in the eyes of
the public" from the genuine philosopher, whose sole motive is to
discover and bear witness to the truth.
To
be a philosopher, that is to say, a lover of wisdom (for wisdom is nothing but
truth), it is not enough for a man to love truth, in so far as it is compatible
with his own interest, with the will of his superiors, with the dogmas of the
church, or with the prejudices and tastes of his contemporaries; so long as he
rests content with this position, he is only a φίλαυτος [lover of self], not a
φιλόσοφος [lover of wisdom]. For this title of honor is well and wisely
conceived precisely by its stating that one should love the truth earnestly and
with one's whole heart, and thus unconditionally and unreservedly, above all
else, and, if need be, in defiance of all else. Now the reason for this is the
one previously stated that the intellect has become free, and in this state, it
does not even know or understand any other interest than that of truth.
Religious organizations
The history of religion includes numerous examples of religious leaders
calling attention to the corruption which existed in the religious practices
and institutions of their time. The Jewish prophets Isaiah and Amos berate
the rabbinical establishment of Ancient
Judea for failing to
live up to the ideals of the Torah. In
the New Testament, Jesus accuses
the rabbinical establishment of his time of hypocritically following only the
ceremonial parts of the Torah and neglecting the more important elements of
justice, mercy and faithfulness. Corruption was one of the important
issues which led to the Investiture
Controversy. In 1517, Martin Luther accused the Catholic Church of widespread corruption, including the selling
of indulgences.
In 2015, Princeton University professor Kevin M. Kruse advances the thesis that business leaders in the
1930s and 1940s collaborated with clergymen, including James W. Fifield Jr., in order to develop and promote a new hermeneutical approach to Scripture which would de-emphasize
the social Gospel and emphasize themes, such as individual salvation, which were more congenial to free enterprise.
Business leaders, of
course, had long been working to "merchandise" themselves through the appropriation of religion.
In organizations such as Spiritual
Mobilization, the prayer
breakfast groups, and the Freedoms Foundation, they had linked capitalism and Christianity and, at the same time, they likened the welfare state to godless paganism.
Methods
In systemic corruption and grand corruption, multiple methods of corruption are used concurrently
with similar aims.[148]
Bribery
An
election leaflet with money stapled to it
Bribery involves the
improper use of gifts and favours in exchange for personal gain. This is also
known as kickbacks or, in the Middle East, as baksheesh. It is a common form of corruption. The types of favors
given are diverse and may include money, gifts, real estate, promotions, sexual favors, employee benefits, company shares, privileges, entertainment, employment and political benefits. The personal gain that is
given can be anything from actively giving preferential treatment to having an
indiscretion or crime overlooked.
Bribery can
sometimes form a part of the systemic use of corruption for other ends, for
example to perpetrate further corruption. Bribery can make officials more
susceptible to blackmail or to extortion.
Embezzlement, theft and fraud
Embezzlement and theft involve someone with access to funds or assets
illegally taking control of them. Fraud involves using deception to convince the owner of
funds or assets to give them up to an unauthorized party.
Examples include the
misdirection of company funds into "shadow companies" (and then into
the pockets of corrupt employees), the skimming of foreign aid money, scams, electoral fraud and other corrupt activity.
Graft
The political act of
graft is when funds intended for public projects are intentionally misdirected
to maximize the benefits to private interests of the corrupt individuals.
Extortion and blackmail
While bribery is
the use of positive inducements for corrupt aims, extortion and blackmail centre around the use of threats. This can be the
threat of physical violence or false imprisonment as well as exposure of an individual's secrets or
prior crimes.
This includes such
behavior as an influential person threatening to go to the media if they do not
receive speedy medical treatment (at the expense of other patients),
threatening a public official with exposure of their secrets if they do not
vote in a particular manner, or demanding money in exchange for continued
secrecy. Another example can be a police officer being threatened with the loss of their job by their superiors, if
they continued with investigating a high-ranking official.
Access money
According to Ang,
access money "encompasses high-stakes rewards extended by business actors
to powerful officials, not just for speed, but to access exclusive, valuable
privileges." Whereas bribery and extortion is always illegal and
unethical, access money can encompass both illegal and legal actions, and it
can involve only corrupt individuals or entire institutions where no person is
individually liable for corruption. "Illegal forms of access money entail
large bribes and kickbacks, but they can also include ambiguously or completely
legal exchanges that omit cash bribes, for example, cultivating political
connections, campaign finance, “revolving door” practices."
Influence peddling
Influence peddling is the illegal practice of using one's influence in
government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favors or
preferential treatment, usually in return for payment.
Networking
Networking
(both Business and Personal)
can be an effective way for job-seekers to gain a competitive edge over others
in the job-market. The idea is to cultivate personal relationships with
prospective employers, selection panelists, and others, in the hope that these
personal affections will influence future hiring decisions. This form of
networking has been described as an attempt to corrupt formal hiring processes,
where all candidates are given an equal opportunity to demonstrate their merits
to selectors. The networker is accused of seeking non-meritocratic advantage
over other candidates; advantage that is based on personal fondness rather than
on any objective appraisal of which candidate is most qualified for the
position.
Euro
bank notes hidden in sleeve
Abuse of discretion
Abuse of discretion refers to the misuse of one's powers and decision-making facilities. Examples include a judge improperly
dismissing a criminal case or a customs official using their discretion to
allow a banned substance through a port.
Favoritism, nepotism and clientelism
Favouritism, nepotism and clientelism involve the favouring of not the perpetrator of
corruption but someone related to them, such as a friend, family member or
member of an association. Examples would include hiring or promoting a family
member or staff member to a role they are not qualified for, who belongs to the
same political party as you, regardless of merit.
"State capture"
The term "state capture" was first used by the World Bank in 2000 to describe certain Central Asian countries making the transition from Soviet communism, where small corrupt groups used their influence over
government officials to appropriate government decision-making in order to
strengthen their own economic positions. The original definition of state
capture refers to the way formal procedures (such as laws and social
norms) and government bureaucracy are manipulated by government officials,
state-backed companies, private companies or private individuals, so as to
influence state policies and laws in their favour. State capture seeks to
influence the formation of laws, in order to protect and promote influential
actors and their interests. In this way it differs from most other forms of
corruption which instead seek selective enforcement of already existing laws.
State capture is not
necessarily illegal, depending on determination by the captured state
itself, and may be attempted through private lobbying and
influence. The influence may be through a range of state institutions,
including the legislature, executive, ministries, and the judiciary, or through a corrupt electoral process. It is similar to regulatory capture but differs in the scale and variety of influenced
areas and, unlike regulatory capture, the private influence is never overt.
Measurement
Several
organizations measure corruption as part of their development indexes.
The Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI)
ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and
opinion surveys." The index has been published annually by the
non-governmental organization Transparency
International since
1995. On the supply side, Transparency
International used
to publish the Bribe Payers Index, but stopped in 2011.
The Global
Corruption Index (GCI), designed by the Global Risk Profile to be in line with
anti-corruption and anti-bribery legislation, covers 196 countries and
territories. It measures the state of corruption and white-collar crimes around
the world, specifically money laundering and terrorism financing.
Absence of
corruption is one of the
eight factors the World Justice
Project Rule of Law
Index measures to evaluate adherence to the rule of law in 140 countries
and jurisdictions around the globe. The annual index measures three forms of
government corruption across the executive branch, the judiciary, the military
and police, and the legislature: bribery, improper influence by public or
private interests, and misappropriation of public funds or other resources.
The Unbundled
Corruption Index (UCI) measures perceived levels of corruption in four
categories: petty theft, grand theft, speed money, access money. It uses
"stylized vignettes" instead of broadly worded survey questions.
Relationship to economic growth
Different types of
corruption harm in different ways, though not all are immediately
growth-impeding. Following an "Unbundled Corruption" framework, Ang
describes using the analogy of drugs: "Petty theft and grand theft are
like toxic drugs; they directly and unambiguously hurt the economy by draining
public and private wealth while delivering no benefits in return. Speed money
is akin to painkillers; it may relieve a headache but doesn't improve one's
strength. Access money, on the other hand, is like steroids. It spurs muscle
growth and allows one to perform superhuman feats, but it comes with serious
side effects, including the possibility of a complete meltdown."
Corruption can
negatively impact the economy both directly, through for example tax evasion
and money laundering, as well as indirectly by distorting fair competition and
fair markets, and by increasing the cost of doing business. It is strongly
negatively associated with the share of private investment and, hence, lowers
the economic growth rate.
Corruption reduces
the returns of productive activities. If the production returns fall faster
than the returns to corruption and rent-seeking activities, resources will flow from productive
activities to corruption activities over time. This will result in a lower
stock of producible inputs like human capital in corrupted countries.
Corruption creates
the opportunity for increased inequality, reduces the return of productive
activities, and, hence, makes rent-seeking and corruption activities more
attractive. This opportunity for increased inequality not only generates
psychological frustration for the underprivileged but also reduces productivity
growth, investment, and job opportunities.
Some experts have suggested
that corruption stimulated economic growth in East and Southeast Asian
countries. An often-cited example is South Korea, where President Park Chung Hee favored a small number of companies, and later used
this financial influence to pressure these chaebols to follow the government's development
strategy. This 'profit-sharing' corruption model incentivizes government
officials to support economic development, as they would personally benefit
financially from it.
One neglected
example of high growth with corruption is the American Gilded Age, which Yuen
Yuen Ang has compared to China's Gilded Age. In both, she noted,
"corruption evolved over time from thuggery and theft to more
sophisticated exchanges of power and profit," and resultingly, both saw
unequal and risky growth. Biased narratives about Western development and
global corruption metrics have obscured this historical pattern.
Prevention
According to the
amended Klitgaard equation, limitation of monopoly and regulator
discretion of individuals and a high degree of transparency through independent
oversight by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media plus public
access to reliable information could reduce the problem. Djankov and other
researchers have independently addressed the role information plays in
fighting corruption with evidence from both developing and developed countries.
Disclosing financial information of government officials to the public is associated
with improving institutional accountability and eliminating misbehavior such as
vote buying. The effect is specifically remarkable when the disclosures concern
politicians' income sources, liabilities and asset level instead of just income
level. Any extrinsic aspects that might reduce morality should be eliminated.
Additionally, a country should establish a culture of ethical conduct in
society with the government setting the good example in order to enhance the
intrinsic morality.
Enhancing civil society participation
Creating bottom-up
mechanisms, promoting citizens participation and encouraging the values of
integrity, accountability, and transparency are crucial components of fighting
corruption. As of 2012, the implementation of the "Advocacy and Legal
Advice Centres (ALACs)” in Europe had led to a significant increase in the
number of citizen complaints against acts of corruption received and
documented and also to the development of strategies for good governance
by involving citizens willing to fight against corruption.
Anti-corruption programmes
United Nations Convention against Corruption
The Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA,
USA 1977) was an early paradigmatic law for many western countries i.e.
industrial countries of the OECD.
There, for the first time the old principal-agent approach was moved back where
mainly the victim (a society, private or public) and a passive corrupt member
(an individual) were considered, whereas the active corrupt part was not in the
focus of legal prosecution. Unprecedented, the law of an industrial country
directly condemned active corruption, particularly in international business
transactions, which was at that time in contradiction to anti-bribery
activities of the World Bank and its spin-off organization Transparency
International.
As early as 1989 the
OECD had established an ad hoc Working Group in order to explore "the
concepts fundamental to the offense of corruption, and the exercise of national
jurisdiction over offenses committed wholly or partially
abroad." Based on the FCPA concept, the Working Group presented in 1994
the then "OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation" as precursor for
the OECD
Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International
Business Transactions which
was signed in 1997 by all member countries and came finally into force in 1999.
However, because of ongoing concealed corruption in international transactions
several instruments of Country Monitoring have been developed since then
by the OECD in order to foster and evaluate related national activities in
combating foreign corrupt practices. One survey shows that after the
implementation of heightened review of multinational firms under the convention
in 2010 firms from countries that had signed the convention were less likely to
use bribery.
In 2013, a
document produced by the economic and private sector professional evidence
and applied knowledge services help-desk discusses some of the existing
practices on anti-corruption. They found:
·
The
theories behind the fight against corruption are moving from a principal
agent approach to
a collective
action problem.
Principal–agent theories seem not to be suitable to target systemic corruption.
·
The
role of multilateral institutions has been crucial in the fight against
corruption. UNCAC provides
a common guideline for countries around the world. Both Transparency
International and
the World Bank provide assistance to national governments in term
of diagnostic and design of anti-corruption policies.
·
The
use of anti-corruption agencies have proliferated in recent years after the
signing of UNCAC. They found no convincing evidence on the extent of their
contribution, or the best way to structure them.
·
Traditionally
anti-corruption policies have been based on success experiences and common
sense. In recent years there has been an effort to provide a more systematic
evaluation of the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies. They found that
this literature is still in its infancy.
·
Anti-corruption
policies that may be in general recommended to developing countries may not be
suitable for post-conflict countries. Anti-corruption policies in fragile
states have to be carefully tailored.
·
Anti-corruption
policies can improve the business environment. There is evidence that lower
corruption may facilitate doing business and improve firm's productivity. Rwanda in
the last decade has made tremendous progress in improving governance and the business
environment providing a model to follow for post-conflict countries.
·
Armenia aims
to achieve zero corruption through raising awareness on the societal hazards.
After the lavish spending accusations on the Armenian anti-corruption council,
through action strategies with implementation and observing instruments
progress is noticeable.
In recent years,
anti-corruption efforts have also been criticised for overemphasising the
benefits of the eradication of corruption for economic growth and
development, following a diversity of literature which has suggested that
anti-corruption efforts, the right kind of institutions and "good
governance" are key to economic development. This criticism is based
on the observed fact that a variety of countries, such as Korea and China but
also the US in the 19th and early 20th century, saw high economic growth and
broader socio-economic development coinciding with significant corruption
In popular culture
In some countries
people travel to corruption hot spots or a specialist tour company takes them
on corruption city tours, as is the case in Prague. Corruption tours have also occurred in Chicago and Mexico City.
Films about
corruption include Runaway Jury, The
Firm, Syriana, The
Constant Gardener,
and All
the President's Men.
Legal corruption
Though corruption is
often viewed as illegal, a concept of "legal corruption" has been
described by Daniel
Kaufmann and Pedro
Vicente. It might be termed as processes which are corrupt, but are
protected by a "legal" (that is, specifically permitted, or at least
not proscribed by law) framework.
Examples
In 1994, the German
Parliamentary Financial Commission in Bonn presented a comparative study on
"legal corruption" in industrialized OECD countries They
reported that in most industrial countries foreign corruption was legal, and
that their foreign corrupt practices ranged from simple, through governmental
subsidization (tax deduction), up to extreme cases as in Germany, where foreign
corruption was fostered, whereas domestic was legally prosecuted. The German
Parliamentary Financial Commission rejected a Parliamentary Proposal by the
opposition, which had been aiming to limit German foreign corruption on the
basis of the US Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA
from 1977), thus fostering national export corporations. In 1997 a
corresponding OECD
Anti-Bribery Convention was
signed by its members. It took until 1999, after the OECD Anti-Bribery
Convention came into force, that Germany withdrew the legalization of foreign
corruption.
Foreign corrupt practices of industrialized OECD
countries 1994 study
A study on foreign
corrupt practices of industrialized OECD countries 1994 (Parliamentary
Financial Commission study, Bonn) indicates widespread acceptance of
bribes in business practices.
Belgium: bribe
payments are generally tax deductible as business expenses if the name and
address of the beneficiary is disclosed. Under the following conditions
kickbacks in connection with exports abroad are permitted for deduction even
without proof of the receiver:
·
Payments
must be necessary in order to be able to survive against foreign competition
·
They
must be common in the industry
·
A
corresponding application must be made to the Treasury each year
·
Payments
must be appropriate
·
The
payer has to pay a lump-sum to the tax office to be fixed by the Finance
Minister (at least 20% of the amount paid).
In the absence of
the required conditions, for corporate taxable companies paying bribes without
proof of the receiver, a special tax of 200% is charged. This special tax may,
however, be abated along with the bribe amount as an operating expense.
Denmark: bribe
payments are deductible when a clear operational context exists and its
adequacy is maintained.
France: basically
all operating expenses can be deducted. However, staff costs must correspond to
an actual work done and must not be excessive compared to the operational
significance. This also applies to payments to foreign parties. Here, the
receiver shall specify the name and address, unless the total amount in
payments per beneficiary does not exceed 500 FF. If the receiver is not disclosed
the payments are considered "rémunérations occult" and are associated
with the following disadvantages:
·
The
business expense deduction (of the bribe money) is eliminated.
·
For
corporations and other legal entities, a tax penalty of 100% of the "rémunérations
occult" and 75% for voluntary post declaration is to be paid.
·
There
may be a general fine of up 200 FF fixed per case.
Japan: in Japan,
bribes are deductible as business expenses that are justified by the operation
(of the company) if the name and address of the recipient is specified. This
also applies to payments to foreigners. If the indication of the name is
refused, the expenses claimed are not recognized as operating expenses.
Canada: there is no
general rule on the deductibility or non-deductibility of kickbacks and bribes.
Hence the rule is that necessary expenses for obtaining the income (contract)
are deductible. Payments to members of the public service and domestic
administration of justice, to officers and employees and those charged with the
collection of fees, entrance fees etc. for the purpose to entice the recipient
to the violation of his official duties, can not be abated as business expenses
as well as illegal payments according to the Criminal Code.
Luxembourg: bribes,
justified by the operation (of a company) are deductible as business expenses.
However, the tax authorities may require that the payer is to designate the
receiver by name. If not, the expenses are not recognized as operating
expenses.
Netherlands: all
expenses that are directly or closely related to the business are deductible.
This also applies to expenditure outside the actual business operations if they
are considered beneficial to the operation for good reasons by the management.
What counts is the good merchant custom. Neither the law nor the administration
is authorized to determine which expenses are not operationally justified and
therefore not deductible. For the business expense deduction it is not a
requirement that the recipient is specified. It is sufficient to elucidate to
the satisfaction of the tax authorities that the payments are in the interest
of the operation.
Austria: bribes
justified by the operation (of a company) are deductible as business expenses.
However, the tax authority may require that the payer names the recipient of
the deducted payments exactly. If the indication of the name is denied e.g.
because of business comity, the expenses claimed are not recognized as
operating expenses. This principle also applies to payments to foreigners.
Switzerland: bribe
payments are tax deductible if it is clearly operation initiated and the
consignee is indicated.
US: (rough résumé:
"generally operational expenses are deductible if they are not illegal
according to the FCPA")
UK: kickbacks and bribes
are deductible if they have been paid for operating purposes. The tax authority
may request the name and address of the recipient.
"Specific" legal corruption: exclusively
against foreign countries
Referring to the
recommendation of the above-mentioned Parliamentary Financial Commission's
study, the then Kohl administration (1991–1994) decided to maintain the
legality of corruption against officials exclusively in foreign
transactions and confirmed the full deductibility of bribe money, co-financing
thus a specific nationalistic corruption practice (§4 Abs. 5 Nr. 10 EStG, valid
until 19 March 1999) in contradiction to the 1994 OECD recommendation. The
respective law was not changed before the OECD Convention also in Germany came
into force (1999). According to the Parliamentary Financial Commission's
study, however, in 1994 most countries' corruption practices were not
nationalistic and much more limited by the respective laws compared to Germany.
Development
of the shadow economy in (West-) Germany 1975–2015. Original shadow economy data from Friedrich Schneider, University Linz.
Particularly, the
non-disclosure of the bribe money recipients' name in tax declarations had been
a powerful instrument for Legal Corruption during the 1990s for German
corporations, enabling them to block foreign legal jurisdictions which intended
to fight corruption in their countries. Hence, they uncontrolled established a
strong network of clientelism around Europe (e.g. SIEMENS) along with the
formation of the European
Single Market in
the upcoming European Union and the Eurozone. Moreover, in order to further strengthen active
corruption the prosecution of tax evasion during that decade had been severely
limited. German tax authorities were instructed to refuse any disclosure of
bribe recipients' names from tax declarations to the German criminal
prosecution. As a result, German corporations have been systematically
increasing their informal economy from 1980 until today up to 350 bn € per
annum (see diagram on the right), thus continuously feeding their black money
reserves.
Siemens corruption case
In 2007, Siemens was
convicted in the District Court of Darmstadt of criminal corruption against the Italian
corporation Enel Power SpA. Siemens had paid almost €3.5 million in bribes to be
selected for a €200 million project from the Italian corporation, partially
owned by the government. The deal was handled through black money accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein that were established specifically for such
purposes. Because the crime was committed in 1999, after the OECD
convention had come into force, this foreign corrupt practice could be
prosecuted. It was the first time a German court of law convicted foreign
corrupt practices like a national practice, although the corresponding law did
not yet protect foreign competitors in business.
During the judicial
proceedings it was disclosed that numerous such black accounts had been
established in the past decades.
Historical responses in philosophical and religious
thought
Philosophers and
religious thinkers have responded to the inescapable reality of corruption in
different ways. Plato,
in The
Republic, acknowledges the
corrupt nature of political institutions, and recommends that philosophers
"shelter behind a wall" to avoid senselessly martyring themselves.
Disciples
of philosophy ... have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession philosophy is,
and have also seen and been satisfied of the madness of the multitude, and
known that there is no one who ever acts honestly in the administration of
States, nor any helper who will save any one who maintains the cause of the
just. Such a savior would be like a man who has fallen among wild beasts—unable
to join in the wickedness of his fellows, neither would he be able alone to resist
all their fierce natures, and therefore he would be of no use to the State or
to his friends, and would have to throw away his life before he had done any
good to himself or others. And he reflects upon all this, and holds his peace,
and does his own business. He is like one who retires under the shelter of a
wall in the storm of dust and sleet which the driving wind hurries along; and
when he sees the rest of mankind full of wickedness, he is content if only he
can live his own life and be pure from evil or unrighteousness, and depart in
peace and good will, with bright hopes.
— Plato, Republic, 496d
The New Testament, in keeping with the tradition of Ancient Greek thought,
also frankly acknowledges the corruption of the world (ὁ κόσμος) and claims to offer a way of keeping the spirit
"unspotted from the world." Paul of Tarsus acknowledges his readers must inevitably "deal
with the world," and recommends they adopt an attitude of "as if
not" in all their dealings. When they buy a thing, for example, they
should relate to it "as if it were not theirs to keep." New
Testament readers are advised to refuse to "conform to the present
age" and not to be ashamed to be peculiar or singular. They are
advised not be friends of the corrupt world, because "friendship with the
world is enmity with God." They are advised not to love the corrupt
world or the things of the world. The rulers of this world, Paul explains,
"are coming to nothing" While readers must obey corrupt rulers
in order to live in the world, the spirit is subject to no law but to love
God and love our neighbors as ourselves. New Testament readers are advised
to adopt a disposition in which they are "in the world, but not of the
world." This disposition, Paul claims, shows us a way to escape
"slavery to corruption" and experience the freedom and glory of being
innocent "children of God".
(Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption)
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