Systemic corruption
Encyclopedia
Systemic corruption is corruption
which is primarily due to a weaknesses of an organisation or process.
It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within the system.
Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives, discretionary powers
; monopolistic powers
; lack of transparency; low pay; and a culture of impunity
. Specific acts of corruption include "bribery, extortion, and embezzlement" in a system where "corruption becomes the rule rather than the exception." Scholars distinguish between centralized and decentralized systemic corruption, depending on which level of state or government corruption takes place; in countries such as the Post-Soviet states
both types occur.
Privatizing prisons, as an industry, creates a corporate incentive towards lobbying the government for more profits. This can be achieved through legislations promoting over-criminalization and over-incarceration of citizens. Thus some countries which have utilized this system, within capitalism, experience extremely higher incarceration rates.
The USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world
. Not even strict military states have an imprisonment rate as high.
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...
which is primarily due to a weaknesses of an organisation or process.
It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within the system.
Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives, discretionary powers
Discretion
Discretion is a noun in the English language with several meanings revolving around the judgment of the person exercising the characteristic.-Meanings:*"The Art of suiting action to particular circumstances"...
; monopolistic powers
Monopoly (disambiguation)
In Economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it.Monopoly may also refer to:...
; lack of transparency; low pay; and a culture of impunity
Impunity
Impunity means "exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines". In the international law of human rights, it refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a denial of the victims' right to justice and redress...
. Specific acts of corruption include "bribery, extortion, and embezzlement" in a system where "corruption becomes the rule rather than the exception." Scholars distinguish between centralized and decentralized systemic corruption, depending on which level of state or government corruption takes place; in countries such as the Post-Soviet states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
both types occur.
Examples
Under some cases, certain institutions might suffer from systematic corruption.Privatizing prisons, as an industry, creates a corporate incentive towards lobbying the government for more profits. This can be achieved through legislations promoting over-criminalization and over-incarceration of citizens. Thus some countries which have utilized this system, within capitalism, experience extremely higher incarceration rates.
The USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world
United States incarceration rate
The United States of America has an incarceration rate of 743 per 100,000 of national population , the highest in the world. In comparison, Russia has the second highest 577 per 100,000, Canada is 123rd in the world with 117 per 100,000, and China has 120 per 100,000...
. Not even strict military states have an imprisonment rate as high.
External Links
- The Chr. Michelsen Institute The largest centre for development research in Scandinavia, with a subfocus on governance-and-corruption.