TraCCC

A new awareness of the need to curb corruption has emerged among citizens and leaders in all parts of the world. Whereas overt discussions of corruption were taboo only a decade ago, now corruption is the increasing focus of diplomatic discourse, news and research. As the linkage between corruption and development has become clear, governments, business, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and donor agencies have sought to address corruption aggressively. Democratic politics, global markets, and a variety of international and regional factors (for example, EU accession) have provided openings for reformers to combat corruption and lay the foundation for more equitable, just, and prosperous communities.

This work is of vital importance to the economic, environmental, political and social welfare of communities where corruption is pervasive. New research shows that there is a strong causal effect running from control of corruption to higher income levels and to such development outcomes as lower infant mortality rates and higher rates of literacy. Corruption retards economic growth through a number of channels: it leads to the inefficient allocation of resources, increases the cost of business, decreases investor confidence, reduces competition, and raises the cost and decreases the quality of public projects and services. Corruption also jeopardizes efforts to protect the environment as pay-offs derail the formulation or implementation of effective policies. The political consequences of widespread corruption, while less tangible, are no less real. Corruption undermines the legitimacy of elected officials and democratic values, reduces representation in policymaking, erodes rule of law, and impairs performance of public institutions. Corruption also facilitates trafficking, money laundering and organized crime. For these reasons, corruption increases social polarization and, in extreme cases, can trigger social and political upheaval.

The work of non-governmental organizations such as Transparency International, international organizations, scholars and practitioners has increased understanding of the issues and led to more informed approaches to corruption problems. Key among these is the lesson that anti-corruption efforts cannot rely on enforcement alone, but require a three-pronged approach of prevention, awareness, and enforcement in order to make real inroads against corruption. Preventative measures include limiting opportunities for corruption, increasing transparency, improving oversight, and realigning official incentives to public ends, while awareness-raising measures include strengthening civil society organizations, advocacy, monitoring, and investigative journalism. Further, this work has shown that meaningful reductions in corruption require political leadership, collective action, and an in-depth knowledge of the situation in order to craft reform strategies that are tailored to the specific problem, and to the opportunities and constraints for addressing it.

Fighting corruption has become a larger priority in U.S. foreign policy and foreign aid in the past few years. U.S. assistance for discrete anti-corruption programs has grown to tens of millions of dollars annually, while anti-corruption measures have become increasingly integrated into other sectoral programs, such as disaster relief, economic growth, and environmental protection. Buttressing these efforts, the U.S. Congress passed the International Anticorruption and Good Governance Act of 2000 to ensure that U.S. assistance programs help other countries combat corruption and improve transparency and accountability throughout the government and the private sector.

The Bush administration has pushed this agenda further, making anti-corruption a key focus of its development policy. At the U.N-sponsored Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development in March 2002, President Bush launched the Millennium Challenge Account, which makes an additional $5 billion of development assistance available over three years to countries that are committed to anti-corruption and good governance, among other goals. In 2002, the Bush administration also advanced anti-corruption as a key theme in the World Food Summit, the G-7/8 Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

TraCCC and its overseas centers are engaged in a number of initiatives to combat corruption. In partnership with scholars in Budapest and St. Petersburg, TraCCC is researching corruption in business-government relations at the local level to improve anti-corruption policies in transition countries. TraCCC is also researching corruption in higher education in Ukraine and Georgia; and corruption in energy, transport and contraband trade in Georgia.
View the Corruption Database compiled by TraCCC scholars of recent Corruption research.