Institutions Governance And The Control Of Corruption

This book considers how emerging economies around the world face the challenge of building good institutions and effective governance, since so much of economic development depends on having these in place. The promotion of shared prosperity and the battle against poverty require interventions to reach out to the poor and the disadvantaged. Yet time and again we have seen such effort foild or diminished by corruption and leakage. The creation of good governance and institutions and structures to combat corruption require determination and passion but also intricate design rooted in data, analysis, and research. In this book, leading researchers from around the world bring to the table some of the best available ideas to help create better governance structures, design laws for corruption control, and nurture good institutions.

Corruption in politics and public administration is pervasive and difficult to eliminate. It has a strong effect on public attitudes toward government and is at the same time badly understood. A clear, comprehensive understanding of corruption is critical to the goal of ethical government that is trusted by the public. In this short and accessible text, Staffan Andersson and Frank Anechiarico demonstrate how the dynamics of life in organizations both generate corruption and make it difficult to prevent without undermining the effectiveness of government. They argue that how we define corruption, how we measure it, and how we try to combat it are strongly interrelated and should not be seen as separate issues. The authors demonstrate how this integrated approach, together with a focus on the damage caused by corruption to civic inclusivity and participation, can serve as an entry point for understanding the quality of democracy and the challenge of good governance. Using examples from mainly the United States and Sweden, Andersson and Anechiarico establish that recent anti-corruption reforms in public administration have often been narrowly focused on bribery (exchange corruption) and law enforcement approaches, while doing too little to other problems and forms of corruption, such as interest conflict. Corruption and Corruption Control: Democracy in the Balance will be of great interest to all students of politics, public administration and management, and ethics.

Much of the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Turkey was the result of widespread corruption between the construction industry and government officials. Corruption is part of everyday public life and we tend to take it for granted. However, preventing corruption helps to raise city revenues, improve service delivery, stimulate public confidence and participation, and win elections. This book is designed to help citizens and public officials diagnose, investigate and prevent various kinds of corrupt and illicit behaviour. It focuses on systematic corruption rather than the free-lance activity of a few law-breakers, and emphasises practical preventive measures rather than purely punitive or moralistic campaigns.

To a large extent, elite politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen hold the fortunes of their societies in their hands. This edited volume describes how formal and informal institutions affect elite behaviour, which in turn affects corruption and the quality of government.

From Here to Denmark: The Importance of Institutions for Good Governance represents the journey of developing nations from a state of poor governance - that manifests itself in various forms, such as lack of respect for rule of law, delay (and even denial) of justice, a capricious and corrupt ruling elite, lives deprived of basic human dignities and marked with fear and insecurity - to a state of good governance, reflected in predictability, accountability, and fairness in governance matters, and the strong presence of the rule of law. Drawing on experiences of some countries which have made the transition to 'Denmark' over time, the book identifies basic enablers which help a society to make the journey from here to Denmark. These are: building sufficient human capital (education and health) and enabling the effective participation by citizens in having a meaningful say in how they are governed.

Performance based oversight and accountability can serve as an important antidote to government corruption, inefficiency, and waste. This volume provides an analytical framework and operational approaches needed for the implementation of results-based accountability. The volume makes a major contribution to the literature on public management and evaluation. Major subject areas covered in this book include: performance based accountability, e-government, network solutions to performance measurement and improvement; institutions of accountability in governance; legal and institutional framework to hold government to account; fighting corruption; external accountability; ensuring integrity of revenue administration; the role of supreme audit institutions on detecting fraud and corruption; and the role of parliamentary budget offices and public accounts committees.

'Everyone wants good government, but how do we know when we have it? The path-breaking Quality of Government Institute cuts through the tiresome ideological debate with theoretically grounded empirical analyses of the components, measures, and outcomes of good government. The book's contributors demonstrate the relevance of political science, and they do so with arguments and evidence that should improve policy and, ultimately, peoples' lives.' – Margaret Levi, University of Washington, US 'All too often today research in political science is irrelevant and uninspiring, shying away from the "big" questions that actually matter in people's lives. Good Government shows that this does not have to be the case. Tackling some of the "biggest" questions of the contemporary era – What is good government? Where does it come from? How can it be measured and how does it matter? – this book will prove invaluable to academics and policy makes alike.' – Sheri Berman, Barnard College, US 'What is "Good Government?" Few doubt that it is better to have a "good government" than a "bad" one, but few of us have thought carefully about what makes for good government vs. bad. Sören Holmberg and Bo Rothstein's excellent volume helps fill in this gap. Though the book is more than this, the focus on corruption is particularly fascinating. We know that corruption is "bad" but where does it come from? Why are some legislatures more corrupt than others? Why does the media sometimes collude? Why are women less easily corrupted than men? These are just a few of the many fascinating questions this volume explores. By bridging democratic theory, public policy and institutional analysis, it is one of the first to give us some practical insight into the obviously important question: what makes some governments "better" than others?' – Sven Steinmo, European University Institute, Italy In all societies, the quality of government institutions is of the utmost importance for the well-being of its citizens. Problems like high infant mortality, lack of access to safe water, unhappiness and poverty are not primarily caused by a lack of technical equipment, effective medicines or other types of knowledge generated by the natural or engineering sciences. Instead, the critical problem is that the majority of the world's population live in societies that have dysfunctional government institutions. Central issues discussed in the book include: how can good government be conceptualized and measured, what are the effects of 'bad government' and how can the quality of government be improved? Good Government will prove invaluable for students in political science, public policy and public administration. Researchers in political science and the social sciences, as well as policy analysts working in government, international and independent policy organizations will also find plenty to interest them in this resourceful compendium.

Corruption, Good Governance and Economic Development adopts a non-Eurocentric approach towards good governance issues in Asia and Africa on practical and theoretical levels. Edited by R N Ghosh and M A B Siddique, this volume features contributions from distinguished scholars and policy makers who examine whether there is any correlation between the level of corruption in a country and its rate of economic change. These chapters are the outcome of major papers that were presented in conferences on the topic of “Good Governance and Economic Development” presented in Australia and India in June and December 2009 respectively, and it is hoped that they will bridge the gap in the area of good governance from a non-Western perspective in existing development literature. Contents: Corruption, Crime and Economic Growth:Some Quantitative Measures of Corruption (R N Ghosh and M A B Siddique)Using the Release of Information as an Indicator of Government Transparency (Andrew Williams)Deliberative Democracy, Global Green Information System and Spirituality (Dora Marinova, Vladislav Todorov and Amzad Hossain)Selected Case Studies:Governance, Institutions and Corruption: Negative Sovereignty in Africa(Derek H Aldcroft)Corruption in Bangladesh: Review and Analysis (M A B Siddique)Restoring Sustainable Governance in Bangladesh (Amzad Hossain and Dora Marinova)Crime, Corruption and Economic Growth — A Study in Indian Perspective (Gautam M Chakrabarti)Comparative Crime and Corruption in Different Indian States in the Context of Economic Development (Surajit Kar Purkayastha)A Certain Uncertainty; Assessment of Court Decisions in Tackling Corruption in Indonesia (Rimawan Pradiptyo)Does Governance Reform in a Democratic Transition Country Reduce the Risk of Corruption? Evidence from Indonesia (Budi Setiyono)Conclusion and Policy Implications:Conclusion: Good Governance and Sustainable Development (M A B Siddique and R N Ghosh) Readership: Undergraduates and postgraduates focused on development studies; policymakers with an interest in development issues in Asia and non-governmental organizations. Key Features:The book contains a good deal of useful statistical informationSome of the papers are contributed by distinguished scholars based on evidenceVarious chapters make an in depth analysis of the relationships between corruption and developmentKeywords:Corruption;Good Governance;Transparency;India;Bangladesh;Indonesia;Africa