A well-functional democracy requires strong safeguards against corruption, as it significantly interferes with public services and faith in the democratic system. Furthermore, it is the government's core responsibility to provide citizens with the prerequisite services crucial for their well-being and overall quality of life. However, corruption hinders the government's ability to successfully implement the existing policies as it hampers the delivery of services to citizens. The issue of government corruption is a sensitive one as it affects developed and developing countries alike. Through accountability, however, malfeasance can be exposed and failed policies corrected. Society has felt that a lack of accountability and transparency fuels government corruption. The need to see that corruption is addressed and the government increases its accountability makes the issue a societal problem. The global impacts of corruption include weakened developmental and distribution of resources, huge international debts, and lack of fair elections. Government corruption and lack of accountability can be resolved by implementing policies that hold people in power accountable and through fiscal decentralization and institutionalizing the political party systems. These solutions are ethical and will facilitate public trust in democracy.
Background of the Problem
Government accountability and corruption are correlated in that the lack of the former results in the latter. Furthermore, Lyrio et al. (2018), in their study, assert that corruption in the public sector is mainly a result of a lack of accountability among government officials. The issue of corruption and accountability is crucial as it establishes whether the government in power meets the needs of its citizens effectively or not. Besides, democratic governments are supposed to be accountable to their people and accept criticism and feedback. Lyrio et al. (2018), in their study, establish that transparency and accountability are essential democratic values that incorporate the availability of information to the public about the inner working and performance of the government. Therefore, for a nation to have smooth operations, the government should be accountable and transparent such that its people can question their actions and performances and make crucial decisions for the country. Such inclusion will give citizens confidence in the government and sequentially improve the overall quality of life. However, most nations across the world have foregone the value of accountability due to rampant corruption. Lyrio et al. (2018) further reveal that corruption is a problem for both developed and developing nations. From a conceptual standpoint, government corruption refers to public office misuse for selfish gains and encompasses bribery, illegal rent-seeking, and theft forms. Studies further reveal that although corruption is a global problem, it is more persistent in post-conflict countries (Nuristani & Vanhove, 2020). The rationale stems from enabling factors in such countries, including societal instability, foreign help that has not been accounted for, and cultural norms. Nations that have deeply delved into corruption for prolonged periods have weak economies since respective governments are not held accountable for their actions.
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Corruption weakens the development of countries and negatively affects the distribution of resources. Countries with rampant corruption are limited from a developmental perspective and overwhelmed regarding citizens’ trust in the government. According to a recently done research by IONESCU (2018), corruption has been termed as adverse for economic and social development and also results in preferentiality; hence the unequal distribution of public resources. Inequity poses a greater risk of clientelism, which further weakens accountability. Clientelism, at its core, refers to dealing with empowering specific individuals at the expense of others. Clientelism, in most cases, tends to involve the politicians and public officials from whom they were able to obtain resources via corrupt means. As a result of preferentiality for specific people, businesses, and organizations, economic disparity rises, further escalating corruption in democratic nations. In another recent study that sought to look at the nature of the economy is through the logarithm of GDP per capita, results indicate that corruption limits development as it decreases the spread of resources, education, and literacy (Schleiter & Voznaya, 2018). Lack of development and inequity distribution of resources is an apparent consequence of corruption, though the magnitude differs across societies. However, evidence affirms that corruption is averse to nations' economies as it leads to more economic problems such as accumulating debts.
Another concern resulting from corruption is the accumulation of huge international debts. The high loans’ countries indicate the huge debts have borrowed at the World Bank. According to Schleiter and Voznaya (2016), the control of corrupt dimensions of the World Bank Indicators is one of the most widely accepted corruption measures. The World Bank data measures a country’s hidden phenomenon, ranging from the survey of residents, international business, and risk analysis. The indicator reveals how public funds have been misused for personal gain, including small and petty corruption forms. As a result of corruption, there is lower growth, which hinders private and government investment spending. Government investment spending boosts economic growth as there is cash flow within the economy. However, when funds are channeled to specific individuals, there is limited cash, and governments are forced to borrow funds from other nations and the world bank. This vicious cycle results in the accumulation of huge debts that are payable with high-interest rates. Some of these borrowed funds are also used in elections, but the outcomes are unfair elections in most cases.
In addition to huge debts and weakened development, and unfair distribution of resources, corruption has also resulted in unfair elections in most countries. Mostly, corruption has a hand in unfair elections based on the rationale of party systems. In their study, Schleiter and Voznaya (2018) reveal that the institutionalized party system plays a neglected role in determining the fairness of elections and serves as a tool for voters to control politicians. Most nations across the world are unable to control their politicians due to poorly institutionalized political systems. Furthermore, the characteristics of party systems go beyond mere electoral rules and social cleaves. Instead, it is characterized by social diversity and contingent political choices of party leaders and members. A good example revealing underlying corruption problems in institutionalized parties is the 2013 congressional elections in the Philippines. The winner, Gloria Arroyo, was on trial for corruption charges. In the Philippines, as it is in most nations, most parties are characterized by frequent switching and overlapping membership from one election to the next (Quah, Yu & Batalla, 2015). This results in a lack of institutionalization, corruption and undermines the coordination of elections. In the long run, citizens cannot oust corrupt incumbents and get accountability from people responsible for elections.
Solutions
Considering the detrimental effects of government corruption on the distribution of resources, developments, economies, and election outcomes, it is crucial to seek solutions that will address the problem and increase government accountability and transparency. One solution for government corruption is establishing policies that make people in public power accountable and transparent. A recent study reveals that significant levels of corruption indicate underlying problems within the public structures and weak public policies hence the lack of accountability (Lyrio et al., 2018). Reform schemes and strong policies may buckle down corruption to avoid the unfavorable consequences it has in the world. Another study has also established that establishing policies ensure that the government is keener to monitor resources and create more opportunities for its people, making them accountable and less susceptible to corruption. They have to interact with several public and private companies (Shon & Cho, 2020).
Another solution for resolving corruption is the fiscal decentralization of governments. The demand for decentralized governments has been on the rise because of the positive impacts, including efficient response to citizens and increased accountability. Furthermore, a range of studies on decentralization reveals that it fuels economic growth (Jongmin & Yoon, 2020). However, its relation to corruption has mixed results with both theoretically and practically. Furthermore, a primary issue between corruption and decentralization is whether local democracy limits local leaders' accountability. For example, appointed and local leaders may feel more accountable to their immediate communities, resulting in more accountability and transparency to its citizens.
Institutionalizing political parties is also a solution for resolving government corruption. Aforementioned, most countries experience unfair elections characterized by corrupt leaders due to their inability to do away with them following the nature of political parties. The institutionalization of political parties is from two standpoints: competition's regularity and a party’s stability (Schleiter & Voznaya, 2018). Most party systems are unstable due to party-switching by politicians and the frequent rising of new parties. Institutionalization has implications for using elections as tools of government accountability depending on the citizens’ ability to vote against corrupt leaders and the ability to attribute responsibility for policies. Well, institutionalized party systems are expected to decrease the corruption scope by increasing the effectiveness of elections as tools and mechanisms for government accountability and transparency.
Evaluation of Evidence
All the evidence used here is valid, reliable, and without bias. Most of the sources are peer-reviewed articles, which makes information credible and reliable. Besides, all of the sources used to address government corruption and accountability, making them valid and reliable. For example, several sources define corruption almost similarly. According to the articles used for the study, corruption is defined as public power for private, personal, and selfish gains. The source by Schleiter and Voznaya, for instance, conceptualizes government corruption as the misuse of public office for personal or political gain and acquiescence in such misuse by bureaucrats (2018). Another source classifies corruption depending on the sector it takes place and the money and resources lost. Further, the source refers to government corruption as grand corruption that consists of acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the state's central functioning, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good (Lyrio et al., 2018). I do not feel any information presented in these articles is biased as each article links government corruption with accountability and proposes different solutions for the problem.
Some sources also presented statistical data that needed interpretation about how well governments are handling corruption.
The statistical evidence presented above reveals that while governments are handling corruption, most of them are not doing well, hence implementing the proposed solutions. These figures reveal that governments are yet to take proactive measures to ensure their accountability to their citizens and combat corruption in their respective countries.
Ethical Outcomes of Solution
The issue of fiscal decentralization of governments to help curb corruption has been considered crucial. The solution offers insight into the issues of ethicality, particularly utilitarianism. At its core, utilitarianism depicts that where there is a choice between two acts, the one that brings the most happiness to most people should be chosen (Radcliff, 2013). Though with fiscal decentralization, the correlation of this stems from the rationale that the act has some negative impacts. For instance, when governments become decentralized, there is closeness to people, and the local government will tend to be more accountable to a certain group of people, neglecting the larger population. This could increase preferentiality for a certain community over others. From a utilitarian standpoint, regardless of moral or wrong acts, the consequences determine whether the action is right or wrong.
On the other hand, fiscal decentralization has profound positive impacts on economic growth and increased transparency at the local levels. Aforementioned, fiscal decentralization fosters close relations between the government and its people hence increasing accountability and transparency (Jongmin & Yoon, 2020). The rationale stems from the fact that fiscal decentralization has come under demand in most countries, both developed and developing, due to the positive impacts on social reforms and countries' economies.
Conclusion
The global impacts of corruption include weakened developmental and distribution of resources, huge international debts, and lack of fair elections. Government corruption and lack of accountability can be resolved by implementing policies that hold people in power accountable and through fiscal decentralization and institutionalizing the political party systems. These solutions are ethical and will facilitate public trust in democracy. We are now aware that corruption is a critical problem affecting the globe and hence the need to take proactive measures to increase government accountability. This is an important issue because those in power are responsible for ensuring they deliver quality and transparent services to their subjects. Government corruption can be curbed by increased accountability by those in power.
References
IONESCU, L. (2018). Public Perception of Government Accountability and Corruption and The Performance of The Political System. Annals of Spiru Haret University. Journalism Studies 19(2), 2018, pp. 87–97
Jongmin Shon & Yoon Kyoung Cho (2020) Fiscal Decentralization and Government Corruption: Evidence from the U.S. States, Public Integrity, 22:2, 187 204, DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2019.1566427
Lyrio, Maurício & Lunkes, Rogério & Taliani, Emma. (2018). Thirty Years of Studies on Transparency, Accountability, and Corruption in the Public Sector: The State of the Art and Opportunities for Future Research. Public Integrity. 20. 1. DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2017.1416537
Nuristani, Sami & Vanhove, Adam. (2020). A Model of the Institutionalization of Corruption During the Rebuilding Process. Public Integrity. DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2018.1544018.
Quah, J. S., Yu, C., & Batalla, E. V. C. (2015). Treading the straight and righteous path: curbing corruption in the Philippines. Asian Education and Development Studies . https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-10-2014-0043
Radcliff, B. (2013). The political economy of human happiness: How voters' choices determine the quality of life . Cambridge University Press.
Schleiter, P., & Voznaya, A. (2016). Party System Institutionalization, Accountability, and Governmental Corruption. British Journal of Political Science, 48 (2), 315-342. DOI:10.1017/S0007123415000770
Shon, J., & Cho, Y. K. (2020). Fiscal decentralization and government corruption: Evidence from the United States. Public Integrity, 22 (2), 187-204. DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2019.1566427
