FILSAFAT KORUPSI - Direktori File UPI

chapter. In some countries several years have passed without the chapter obtaining a formal charter.
Once registered, nonprofits may face onerous formal reporting requirements.
Another problem is cooptation by the state. Some nonprofits provide services such as health
care, education, and housing. Their financing may be provided by the state or by aid funds
administered by the state. Thus their very existence depends upon cooperation with public
authorities. As a consequence, they may be reluctant to criticize officials openly. To avoid such
tensions, an NGO that takes on an anticorruption mandate should avoid participation in service
delivery.
The World Values Survey found that organizational membership may contribute to
democratic change.
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One would like, however, to know more about how this happens. The
sector‘s impact ought to depend upon the kinds of groups that attract members. My own
hypothesis would be that policies that encourage the development of those nonprofits that interact
with government can help institutionalize democracy but that nonprofits that simply build ―social
capital‖ through sports, recreation and cultural activities will not, on their own, have much impact.
d. Avenues for Individual Complaints
Fighting high level corruption requires national attention and private organizations willing to
push leaders for change. In contrast, limiting low-level bureaucratic corruption is often in the
interest of top officials who may try to enlist ordinary citizens in the effort. This can be done
without organized citizen activity if individuals can lodge complaints easily and without fear that
corrupt officials will take revenge.
Some bribes are made to get around the rules and others are made to get a benefit that
should have been provided for free. Facilitating complaints will only help uncover the latter type of
corruption. Bribes that permit illegal activities or that soften a legal regulation or tax assessment are
unlikely to be revealed by private individuals and firms unless they have been arrested and are
seeking to mitigate their punishment. In contrast, if bribery demands are a condition for obtaining a
legal benefit, individuals may not go along if they can appeal to an honest forum.
Many countries have established Ombudsmen to hear complaints of all kinds, not just those
related to malfeasance. These offices can help increase the accountability of government agencies to
ordinary citizens. Hence they may generate a great deal of resistance from politicians and
bureaucrats. Although this is regrettable, one should have modest expectations for an Ombudsman.
These officials seldom uncover large scale systemic corruption and generally lack authority to
initiate lawsuits.
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The list of organizations in the WVS ranges widely to include labor unions, political parties and
professional
associations as well as all kinds of community groups and organized nonprofits (Inglehart 1997: 396).
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Some public agencies have created ―hot lines‖ for direct citizen complaints. This method
will only be successful, however, if complainants can preserve their anonymity or do not fear
reprisals. ―Hot lines‖ must be more than just symbolic. Public officials--the Ombudsman, agency
oversight units, or law enforcement agents-- must follow up on complaints in a visible way. At the
same time, if the complaints concern individuals, the accused must have a credible way of defending
against false accusations. Otherwise, an anticorruption campaign can degenerate into a collection of
private vendettas with people enlisting the state to settle their private feuds.
3. Corruption and Government Reliability
Corruption is commonly associated with untrustworthy government officials. It underlying
cause is the search for private economic gain on both sides of the transaction. It represents a
betrayal of public trust. Corruption can be controlled by lowering the benefits and raising the costs
of particular corrupt transactions. But it can also be controlled indirectly by limits on political power
and by changes in public attitudes toward the exercise of that power. This latter strategy involves
giving people and groups a way to complain about poor government service provision. To facilitate