Fight against Corruption

Corruption is really a very broad topic to discuss with, aside from it affects our economy, it also affect us as an individual.  When our government is corrupt, it just leads our nation to many debts that only us people of the said country to be full of debts. That is why we have to do some campaign against corruption and to make sure that it is credible.

The public has grown cynical. Citizens have heard all the words before. They have even seen a few minor prosecutions. But the culture of corruption remains, especially the feeling of high-level impunity. As a result, people feel that awful sense of structural shame that characterizes underdevelopment. Its awful, but there is nothing one can do about it. It is a part of the system and definitely part of the culture. In some parts of the world corruption is a fact of life and is a way of life.

Experience indicates that frying big fish can help break that culture of corruption. Big corrupt actors must be publicly named and punished so that a cynical public believes that an anti-corruption drive is more than words, more than a campaign against political opponents. Importantly, therefore, the first big fish must come from the party in power.

Having said this, the fishing of big offenders can be overdone. At some point it is a mistake to focus on the past if it takes energy away from a focus on the future. An analogy with health policy is germane. If illness is rampant, it must be treated. But in the long run, prevention deserves priority. In the case of reducing corruption, prevention means reducing monopoly power, limiting official discretion, and enhancing transparency in institutions of the public and private sectors.

Therefore, after frying a few big fish, we must turn to the reform of institutions. In the case of government corruption, experience shows that public officials should be involved in the solutions. We should begin with the positive. In particular, work with line officials to define ways to measure public sector success, and then link part of the officials' compensation to the achievement of results.

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