Corruption, Integrity, and Accountability Midterm

Issues with the Legal Definition of Corruption

Danger of assuming that everything legal is ethical Identical action in two nations can be considered different because of differences in laws

petty corruption

Decisions made by low-level bureaucrats. Often centered on local/regional regulations, licenses, or discretionary spending.

Comparative Reference

Denotes a group which is used by the person as a yardstick in making self-evaluation or judging others; people, such as celebrities and heroes, whom we aspire to be like.

quiet quitting

Those who will show up to work and do the minimum required but not much else. Taking a step back from extra work, committees and socialization with coworkers.

Non-Mandatory Offenses

Trading and influence, Abuse of Function, Illicit Enrichment, Private-to-private corrupt practices

reasons for quiet quitting

Unfair treatment in the workplace. Unmanageable workload. Lack of role clarity. Lack of communication or support from management. Unreasonable time pressure. Knowing efforts are futile to the upper management

Bribery

Using rewards to change the judgment of a person in a position of trust

Legal Definition of Corruption

Using statutes and legal language in order to define corruption

absolute deprivation

an objective measure of poverty, defined by the inability to meet minimal standards for food, shelter, clothing, or health care

policy implications

avoid over-regulation and legalization outreach and consensus building with all stakeholders good understanding of causes of crime and vulnerabilities and social organization of misconduct enforce corporate due diligence regular updates on regulatory effectiveness, costs, illicit modi operandi and interfaces

How Deviance Becomes Normalized

competitive business/egalitarian society --> normative and comparative groups --> end-legal means discrepancy --> perception of injustice, strain, and relative deprivation --> rationalization of deviant behavior / anonime --> deviant solution --> anonime (subculture of deviance is accepted) --> deviance without strain

organized crime group

contains at least three people; criminal activity is prolonged or indefinite; criminals are motivated by profit or power; serious criminal offences are being committed

functional crime / useful illegality

existence of crime being the result of the structure of society rather than the person; the success of X can only occur if bribery/corruption explains why WCC persists, morally upright individuals routinely engage in deviance w/out conflict, an emphasis on the individual as the evil-doer misses the point that the systems and individuals are involved in a mutually reinforcing dynamic process

normative reference groups

people relate to groups of which they are or are not members, which can be groups or individuals, and positive or negative. Factors into broken windows theory as seeing others engaging in criminal activity makes one see that it is the norm of that society and they set the standards for the individual who want to be accepted

Dennis definition of institutional corruption

political gain or benefit by a public official under conditions that in general tend to promote private interests (primarily towards Congress)

examples of criminogenesis

toxic waste dumping, tax evasion, pharmaceuticals and marketing/testing, money laundering, corruption, subsidies and EU CAP

possible impediments of goal setting (may lead to anomie)

uncertainty in market competition regulation/laws technology natural disasters geo-political events illness family problems

absenteeism

when an employee doesn't show up for work

Lessig definition of institutional corruption

when there is a systemic and strategic influence which is legal, or even currently ethical, that undermines the institution's effectiveness by diverting it from its purpose or weakening its ability to achieve its purpose, including, to the extent relevant to its purpose, weakening either the public's trust in that institution or the institution's inherent trustworthiness

unlawful but useful/ethical

- Bribery for sick children• - Child labor when voluntary and needed for survival (cf. with Rana kids killed)• - Jim Crowe and discrimination• - Apartheid, Nazi Germany, dictatorships around the world required things against consensus, morality/basic rights• - "Trapped" argues the fight against WCC by DoJ forces companies to act unethically• - Paul Rusesabagina trying to protect Tutsi by sheltering them in his hotel in Rwanda

Direct impact of silent corruption

Lower producitivty, lower human capital

White Corruption

Majority of elite and mass opinion probably would not support any attempt to punish

Indirect impact of silent corruption

Market concentration, poor resource allocation, disbelief in public institution

Reference Group Theory

Our wishes and values are shaped through our interactions with groups

Reasons why a Business will Commit Corruption

Pressure from the top to do well, unethical leadership and normative reference groups, regulatory environment impeding business, legitimacy and effectiveness of global rules/governance

Examples of Coercive Factors

Pressure, Matter of Survival, Strong Competition, Legal constraints, over-regulations, technological hurdle/non-capacity

Grey Corruption

Some elements may want to see the action punished and the majority will be ambivalent

United Nations Provisions Against Corruption

A nation has to have their own national strategy in order to combat corruption; They have to have their own independent commission in order to combat corruption

neo-liberalism

A strategy for economic development that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, and minimal government intervention in the economy.

United Nations Definition of Corruption

Abuse of power, trust, or authority for private gain

Black Corruption

Action is condemned by the majority and the elites and everyone wants to see punished

Mandatory Offenses

Active and Passive Bribery of national civil servants, public officials, and international organizations; Embezzlement, money laundering, Obstruction of Justice

Nye's Definition of Corruption

Behavior which deviates from the normal duties of a public role because of private-regarding (family, close private clique), pecuniary or status gains

Passa's Definition of Corruption

Corruption is when you breach the public or private trust in order to benefit yourself

Issues with Nye's Definition of Corruption

Corruption only involves the behavior of a public official in their public role Definition also requires that they go against normal duties or violate rules, but different nations see them different

Silent corruption

Corruption that involves no monetary exchange; rather, it's malpractice--people who disserve the collective interest by giving lower level effort or not properly doing their job; examples include teacher and medical absenteeism

Normative References

Denotes a group which lays down standards for a person who wishes to gain acceptance; includes individuals or groups that you directly interact with that influence your norms, attitudes, values and behavior.

Nepotism

Giving family positions in lieu of giving them to people with more merit

Misappropriation

Illegal appropriation of public resources

Effects of widespread corruption in a country

Interstate relationships, quality of life, brain-drain, unrest

Public Opinion Definition of Corruption

Looking at the public opinion to see how corruption is defined; Issue is that attitudes can change

Coercive Factors

Structural conditions may compel illegal acts by organizational actors and those they come in contact with. Acts often further organizational goals [instrumental deviance]; Laws that alter the business environment that create a problem for the execution of the business

Facilitiative Factors

Structural conditions may encourage illegal acts by organizational actors and those they come in contact with. Acts often incidental to organizational goals [unless we have normative problems/breakdown]; They don't force you to break the law, but they make it easier to do it

criminogenesis

Study of the origin of crime Overall organization of society leads to crime; Crime is inherent/intrinsic in the system (reiman)

Examples of Facilitiative Factors

Temptations Legal Asymmetries Complex formal rules Illicit opportunities Low risk (real and percieved) Complex / multinational corporate structures Incompetent staff Over-controlling leadership

ends-means

The outcomes and the actions taken to achieve them, as in, "Do the ends justify the means?"

Anomie

The situation that arises when the norms of society become unclear or are no longer applicable; normalization of deviance in terms of corruption: disjunction between means and goals

Public Interest Definition of Corruption

Whatever is in the public interest is not corruption

neutralizing views

portrays the delinquent as an individual who subscribes generally to the morals of society but who is able to justify his own delinquent behavior through a process of _____ "did it for the company, no one was hurt, everybody does it, not my job to check X, broke unclear laws, etc."

asymmetric influences

power to influence law making power to shape law enforcement national economy issues national security issues over-regulation and formalism (leading to burden, resistance, neutralizations, lower acceptance of norms)

capture

situation in which key actors are able to alter the rules, such as the conditions of service or the allocation of expenditure in the sector, to their advantage and to the detriment of service beneficiaries and the society at large

Criminogenic asymmetries

structural disjunctions, mismatches, and inequalities in the spheres of politics, culture, the economy, and the law that create crime because they: Create opportunities for illicit profit Produce or strenghten the demand for illegal goods and services Generate incentives for particular actors to participate in illegal transactions Reduce the ability of authorities to control illegal activities

criminogenic asymmetries

structure discrepancies in law, economy, politics, culture, tech, power produced in the course of interactions between unequal actors (individual or organizational) or systems with distinctive features

Relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself. involves the connection of subjective feelings of individuals with culturally and socially patterned comparisons made through the reference groups

deviance

the recognized violation of cultural norms