Anti-Corruption
Oversight in the American Political Process
Winter Democracy School
Mark Levinson, USAID Democracy Advisor – January 29, 2010
Anti-Corruption Oversight in the
American Political Process
"I either want less
corruption, or
more chance to
participate...”
-American Humorist Ashleigh Brilliant
Corruption Perceptions Index 2009
World Map of Gross Domestic
Product Per Capita
Corruption Perceptions Index 2009
Rank Country
8
11
12
12
14
14
16
17
17
19
Iceland
Norway
Hong Kong
Luxembourg
Germany
Ireland
Austria
Japan
United Kingdom
United States
Score
8.7
8.6
8.2
8.2
8
8
7.9
7.7
7.7
7.5
Rank Country
120
120
120
120
120
120
126
126
126
126
Armenia
Bolivia
Ethiopia
Kazakhstan
Mongolia
Vietnam
Eritrea
Guyana
Syria
Tanzania
Score
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
Corruption in the United States
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
was
arrested
on
federal
corruption charges in December
2008 for conspiracy to commit
fraud and solicitation of bribery in
an attempt "to obtain personal
gain ... through the corrupt use"
of his authority to fill Barack
Obama's vacated United States
Senate seat by auctioning the seat
off to "the highest bidder". The
federal trial date has been set for
3 June 2010.
Corruption in the United States
Randall "Duke" Cunningham,
a United States Congressman
from California, resigned on
November 28, 2005, after
pleading guilty to accepting at
least $2.4 million in bribes. He
received a sentence of eight
years and four months in
prison and an order to pay
$1.8 million in restitution.
Corruption in the United States
Former United States Senator
from Alaska, Ted Stevens, the
longest-serving
Republican
senator in history was
indicted in 2008 on seven
counts of failing to report gifts
received from an Alaskan oil
exploration company on his
Senate financial disclosure
forms. He was formally
charged with violation of the
Ethics in Government Act. He
was found guilty on all seven
counts.
Corruption in the United States
United States Congressman
from Ohio, James Anthony
Traficant, Jr. was expelled
from Congress after being
convicted of taking bribes,
filing false tax returns,
racketeering, and forcing his
aides to perform chores at his
farm in Ohio and on his
houseboat in Washington,
D.C. He was released from
prison on September 2, 2009,
after serving a seven-year
sentence.
Corruption in the United States
Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of
the United States, resigned from office
on August 9, 1974 prior to impeachment
for his role in the Watergate scandal.
That scandal resulted from a break-in at
the Democratic National Committee’s
headquarters at the Watergate office
complex in Washington, D.C. by
operatives working for the Committee
to Re-Elect the President. He is the only
U.S. President to resign from office. The
scandal, and the ensuing cover-up,
exposed largely by two investigative
reporters from the Washington Post,
also resulted in the indictment and
conviction
of
several
Nixon
administration officials.
What Kind of Environment is
Conducive to Corruption?
What Kind of Environment is
Conducive to Corruption?
Perceived Need
or Entitlement
What Kind of Environment is
Conducive to Corruption?
Perceived Need
Perceived Need
or Entitlement
or Entitlement
Opportunity
What Kind of Environment is
Conducive to Corruption?
Perceived Need
Perceived Need
or Entitlement
or Entitlement
Opportunity
Lack of
Consequences
What Kind of Environment is
Conducive to Corruption?
Perceived Need
Perceived Need
or Entitlement
or Entitlement
Corruption
Opportunity
Lack of
Consequences
Why is Corruption Important?
CORRUPTION:
• Undermines economic development by
causing distortions and inefficiencies in the
marketplace.
– Protects inefficient businesses that would otherwise
be unable to compete effectively in the marketplace
– Reduces the competitiveness of well run businesses
that have to shoulder additional costs in increased
taxes, fees, and burdensome regulations
Why is Corruption Important?
CORRUPTION:
Increases the cost of business because of:
• Illicit payments and unpredictability
• The additional risk to investment because of
the potential unenforceability of business
agreements in the courts
• The imposition of arbitrary rules and
unpredictable delays imposed to extract more
payments
Why is Corruption Important?
CORRUPTION:
• Diverts public capital investment into projects
where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful,
instead of into projects and programs that
provide essential services or effectively
generate economic growth.
• Prevents governments from collecting
revenues that they are legitimately due
resulting in an inability to adequately fund the
government budget.
Why is Corruption Important?
CORRUPTION:
• Lowers compliance with construction,
environmental, and health regulations.
– Increasing maintenance costs.
– Endangering peoples’ lives.
• Facilitates criminal enterprises such as drug
trafficking, money laundering and trafficking
in human beings.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2009
Rank Country
8
11
12
12
14
14
16
17
17
19
Iceland
Norway
Hong Kong
Luxembourg
Germany
Ireland
Austria
Japan
United Kingdom
United States
Score
8.7
8.6
8.2
8.2
8
8
7.9
7.7
7.7
7.5
Rank Country
120
120
120
120
120
120
126
126
126
126
Armenia
Bolivia
Ethiopia
Kazakhstan
Mongolia
Vietnam
Eritrea
Guyana
Syria
Tanzania
Score
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
The Competition for Investment
Rank 09 Country
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
27
Estonia
6.6
6.6
6.5
6.7
6.4
5.5
5.6
5.6
27
Slovenia
6.6
6.7
6.6
6.4
6.1
5.9
6
5.2
46
Hungary
5.1
5.1
5.3
5.2
5
4.8
4.8
4.9
49
5
4.6
4.2
3.7
3.4
3.5
3.6
4
52
Poland
Czech
Republic
4.9
5.2
5.2
4.8
4.3
4.2
3.9
3.7
52
Lithuania
4.9
4.6
4.8
4.8
4.8
4.6
4.7
4.8
56
Latvia
4.5
5
4.8
4.7
4.2
4
3.8
3.7
56
Slovakia
4.5
5
4.9
4.7
4.3
4
3.7
3.7
61
Turkey
4.4
4.6
4.1
3.8
3.5
3.2
3.1
3.2
84
India
3.4
3.4
3.5
3.3
2.9
2.8
2.8
2.7
120
Armenia
2.7
2.9
3
2.9
2.9
3.1
3
Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel Prize in
Economic Sciences
“DEVELOPMENT AS
FREEDOM”
• Transparency, accountability, civil
freedoms, and political liberties
are prerequisites for sustainable
development.
• Creating a society that is free of
the impediments of corruption
and recognizes human rights, is
not only the primary end of
development, it is also the
principle means of development.
Robert F. Kennedy
"Laws can embody standards;
governments can enforce laws —
but the final task is not a task for
government. It is a task for each and
every one of us. Every time we turn
our heads the other way when we
see the law flouted — when we
tolerate what we know to be wrong
— when we close our eyes and ears
to the corrupt because we are too
busy, or too frightened — when we
fail to speak up and speak out — we
strike a blow against freedom and
decency and justice."
Anti-Corruption
Oversight in the American Political Process
Winter Democracy School
Mark Levinson, USAID Democracy Advisor – January 29, 2010