Corruption and Development - pogar

Table 2 shows a direct correlation between corruption
and the measures of governance such as the electoral
process and pluralism, political participation and civil
liberties. Countries with better indicators of
governance are more likely to report lower incidences
of corruption. Flawed democracies, hybrid regimes
and authoritarian regimes are more likely to foster
a more corrupt environment when they try to build
trust among sectoral elites taking advantages of
opportunities for rent-seeking. On the other hand,
democracies are better able to control corruption,
since regular elections, political participation, the
political culture and civil liberties provide checks and
balances and also punish corrupt politicians.
Moreover, the impact of corrupt practices is often
aggravated when those engaging in them disregard
the long-term sustainability of certain economic
activities, instead exploiting them well beyond their
profitability (Le Billon 2003). For example, the
predatory state was a big obstacle to the economic
development of Haiti. A grossly unfair tax system and
other mechanisms allowed a small number of people
to profit at the expense of the vast majority of
Haitians.
For almost two centuries, the government collected
tax from the urban class, who then passed the tax
burden on to peasants.
Table 2: Correlation of corruption perception index with governance indicators
Corruption Electoral Fuctioning Political Political Civil liberties
Perceptions
Index
process &
pluralism
of
goverment
participation culture
Corruption Perceptions
Index
1
Electoral process &
pluralism
-0.50 1.00
Functioning of
goverment
-0.73 0.79 1.00
Political
participation
-0.62 0.81 0.78 1.00
Political culture -0.67 0.41 0.66 0.63 1.00
Civil
-0.60 0.92 0.82 0.79 0.49 1
liberties
Source: 2006 CPI Index from TI and all other indicators from the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index 2006.
2.6. Corruption and conflict
Corruption does not necessarily contribute to armed
conflicts; however, it can lead to and sustain violent
conflict, in the context of patrimonial regimes that are
degenerating under local or international shocks and
pressures for reform. Corruption could fuel war when,
in the absence of a legitimate political regime, certain
social groups are favoured in the allocation of
resources, thus fuelling grievances among
marginalized groups. For example, the conflicts in
Liberia and Sierra Leone provide evidence for the
linkages between the criminalization of politics and
economic accumulation.
The government was more concerned about collecting
tax than raising the agricultural productivity and
the living standards of the rural population. Haiti has
been locked into the process of de-development
(Timilsina 2007).
In post-conflict countries, although corruption does
not always backslide into violence, it often predates
hostilities and is among the factors that trigger
political unrest or conflict escalation. Some argue that
an aggressive agenda to curb corruption can actually
obstruct peace-building since post-conflict national
reconciliation is often based on pragmatism and
appeasement, which does not always result in fair
system of sharing power, being a politically motivated
distribution of state assets.
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