Corruption  and  Democracy

Dr. Ranju Singh, Lecturer, Dept of English, J D Womens’ College, Patna

Corruption is dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain, extreme  immorality or depravity. The so-called 'Third Wave' of democratisation in the early 1990s in developing and transition states might thus be seen as promising future reduction in levels of corruption in those states. But the relationship of corruption to democracy is far from simple and there is no straightforward correlation between levels of democracy and levels of corruption. This is partly because both corruption and democracy are contested concepts and difficult to measure.

The relationship partly depends on how firmly rooted democracy is in a particular country. Many modern states claim to be democracies and appear to have some democratic forms and processes but, for most, democracy is still fragile and poorly institutionalised. For corruption to flourish, office-holders must posses the discretion to abuse their public role for their private benefit. But democracies are usually thought to impose limits on the discretion of politicians and possess means of holding them to account for their actions. As political accountability increases, it increases the risks for corrupt officials of exposure and punishment.

The ultimate sanction on politicians in a democracy is defeat in elections, which removes them from office and the opportunities for corruption. In a democracy, opposition groups and parties will monitor the conduct of office-holders, expose corruption in government and generally hold the government accountable for its performance. But the prospects of having orderly, structured and open political competition in an environment where corruption is deeply entrenched and pervasive are poor. In such circumstances, the office holders seek to buy off opponents, bribe voters and electoral officials and generally corrupt the democratic process.

The persistence of differing degrees of corruption in established democracies shows that no particular set of political arrangements is a panacea for eliminating corruption. But established democracies usually have an underlying consensus on the values, rules and processes of political change. Politics is not seen as a zero sum game and, while corruption may persist, it does not endanger the constitutional order.

Corruption begets poverty and perpetuates as well as exacerbates poverty in a variety of ways including:

• Diverting resources and benefits towards the rich and away from the poor.
• Disturbing the pattern of public spending and investment by encouraging large capital-intensive projects to maximize bribe receipts. This reduces the resources available to governments to reduce poverty through education and social programmes.
• Imposing an additional unofficial 'tax', which the poor are least able to pay.
• Reducing tax revenues to governments and thus a reduction in public services that benefit the poor.
• Undermining social and political stability with consequences that leave poor people more insecure.
• Reducing economic growth and thereby reducing the opportunities for the poor to escape from poverty.
• Perpetuating social exclusion and preventing the poor from acquiring the capability to challenge inequalities of power and resources.
• Depriving the poor of their legal rights and entitlements.

The overall impact of corruption is to damage the prospects for development and thus the prospects of the poor.

• Most corruption rewards the already relatively rich but some poor people are themselves engaged in corruption and thereby receive some material benefit. Where bureaucratic salaries are low and paid irregularly, or not at all, and officials have many dependents, they have a strong incentive to accept bribes. In these cases, poor officials may benefit but the poor in general suffer.

Corruption contributes directly to poverty by depriving the poor of public services and benefits, by denying them political, social and legal rights and by distorting development priorities. Corruption encourages the poor to see government as predatory and oppressive rather than enabling and their sense of powerlessness and exclusion is reinforced.

Survey and research emphasise that:

• Women are disproportionately more likely to suffer from corruption than men.
• Women across different societies appear to be less corrupt than men.
• Empowering women seems to help reduce levels of corruption.

• Women's experiences of corruption and the extent it differs from men's experiences.
• The question of whether there are psychological and behavioral differences in the ways in which women and men perceives and reacts to corruption.
• The role of women in strategies aimed at reducing corruption.

Corruption involves illegitimate and unequal access to, and use of, resources. In general, women have less access to, and control over, resources than men. Women have less education, lower incomes, less access to capital and credit and less control over their lives and property. Women are underrepresented in politics, bureaucracy and business and, because they are disadvantaged politically, economically and socially, women are both more vulnerable to the impact of corruption and less able to challenge the corrupt.