Explain the Term “Corruption” and What It Includes

Subject: Economics
Pages: 3
Words: 659
Reading time:
3 min

Corruption occurs as a result of poverty in the whole world. Corruption occurs at all ranks of the society from the businesses, the government, the judiciary, and the civil society. The poorest are the most affected by corruption may they be in rich or poor economies. All elements of the society are in some manner affected by corruption because corruption poses a challenge to democracy, public health, political development, the environment and economic development. Globally, the perception of corruption in public areas is high but corruption is not only found in government offices; corruption can leak into the whole society.

Corruption is a big challenge to the benefits of globalization. For example, corruption leads to an increase in cost and risk of conducting business in a particular nation and therefore discourages capital brought by foreign investors. Many global nations define corruption similarly as the misuse of public offices for personal gain. The definition of corruption however depends on the sector of the economy that is involved in corrupt practices. All nations in the globe legislate against corruption and discourage involvement in corruption. Many countries have established and implemented the anti-corruption laws which legislate against corrupt dealings in whichever sector.

The establishment of the International Anti-corruption Laws is one of the most significant efforts towards the fight against corruption. This law introduces the discovery, investigation, and prosecution of individuals involved in any form of corruption. Some countries in the world are more corrupt than others. Approximately half of the nations in the world are faced with the challenge of corruption. Corruption is increasing in many countries influencing almost every part of the lives of people on all continents. Corruption takes many forms and it usually involves the judiciary and the police department.

Most corruption occurs in nations mostly the developing countries which are not well equipped to deal with the effect of corruption. These are the nations that are the most deprived of resources due to lack of globalization. By being economically developed does mean nonexistence of corruption, many developed nations keep their corruption in check. Indices that are used to measure corruption are obtained from research about people and businesses. They measure how those affected by corruption in business operations and daily lives perceive corruption. This involves people’s views versus access to public services, enforcement of the law, practices of the labor market, and business regulation. People’s responses are written down with the highest value indicating the lowest amount of corruption.

The challenge is not simply about objective or definition or how to obtain information. The public may understand the meaning of corruption but interpretations can be used to manipulate the proof and perceptions of people. When a sector is corrupt, maybe the only method of measuring corruption is by finding a way of determining what part is not corrupt. Reduction can be done by implementing the following measures: introduction of state finding as an element of reforming elections, a transparent and practical tax structure, liberal and modern laws that are respectable and can be easily understood by the citizens, introduction of police reforms and making the judiciary accountable, and better pay for government and civil servants proportionate to their jobs.

Some sectors of the economy in many countries are more corrupt than others. The public sector for example the police department in developing nations has been the most corrupt in the economies of these nations. The reason for the high corruption in the police force is that the police are paid low wages compared to the amount of work they do and also live in dilapidated houses. They involve themselves in corrupt activities to make some more money to enable them to provide for their families’ daily needs. The services offered by police officers are required by each citizen and those who do not comply with the law pay some amount of money to the officers as bribes for their release. The government should pay police force money that is commensurate with their responsibility to curb corruption.