CORRUPTION

International Affairs Forum Fall 2016
Interview with Jessica Tillipman
The George Washington University Law School
Developing countries face special issues,
challenges and constraints to develop
effective anti-corruption campaigns. What
areas present the most problems for them?
What measures/methods can be put into
place to mitigate potential pitfalls?
No two developing countries are the same. While
there are common threads among developing
countries that contribute to corruption, or
contribute to the drivers or causes of corruption,
each country has such different dynamics, it is
impossible to say there’s one particular cause.
I want to point out that you often hear people
saying things like, “corruption is a way of life
in that country” or “they just have a culture
of corruption.” However, I am a big believer
that there is no such thing as a “culture of
corruption.” Yes, corruption is very common in
certain countries, but it is not a cultural thing.
There are factors that have contributed to
corruption in developing countries, but when
people say, “corruption is a way of life”, it really
undermines the role of the average citizen in
these countries. It is difficult to imagine that an
average citizen wakes up every day and says,
“I hope I get extorted today” or “I love paying
these bribes.” Most citizens don’t want to pay a
bribe. Factors have made corruption prevalent in
these countries, but it’s not the average citizens
themselves.
have strong laws to prohibit bribery and strong
enforcement agencies to prosecute individuals or
companies accused of corruption, enforcement is
weak or non-existent. Without enforcement, the
laws are pretty meaningless. In many developing
countries, civil society will try to work with
government officials to strengthen anti-corruption
laws, but without enforcement, political will,
capacity-building, and other tools to assist with
the enforcement of the laws, these efforts don’t
go anywhere. Notably, this problem is not limited
to developing countries. For example, Australia
has their own version of the FCPA (Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act), but they rarely enforce it.
Another driver of corruption is overregulation or
government control over services that are in high
demand. For example, in some countries, it is
common for the government to control hospitals,
where people are asked to pay bribes to receive
care. This is a very common theme when the
government controls certain resources and
there is a weak rule of law. Often, officials act
with impunity. They know that they can demand
bribes and accept bribes without being punished
for it.
Another issue that contributes to corruption in
developing countries is low civil servant salaries.
If civil servants do not make enough to care for
themselves and their families, they will be more
likely to demand or accept bribes.
At the same time, there are some common
threads in developing countries concerning
corruption. One of the primary factors is a weak
rule of law. Although many developing countries
Lack of transparency is certainly a common
theme in many developing countries. In the
US, we talk a lot about the importance of
transparency in our laws. But in many developing
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