Entrusted Power For Private Gain Research Articles

Moral Education and Corruption in Nigeria: A Reflection on Plato's Counsel on Education

Many nations of the world today especially in Africa are battling with the issues of corruption and Nigeria is not an exception. Sixty years after independence, the country is yet to come out of its socio-economic and political woes despite her abundant natural and human resources. There is so much abuse of entrusted power for private gain by most public operators through diversion and embezzlement of public funds meant for development purposes. With this scenario, certain questions call for attention: (a) what could be the cause of high rate of corruption in Nigeria and by extension Africa? (b) What are the dangers posed by corruption to the development of the area? (c) How can it be reduced or completely eradicated from our society?. Adopting the expository, analytical and critical methods of philosophical enquiry, this paper attributes the problem to moral ignorance occasioned by lack of proper moral upbringing at the formative years of the Nigerian child educational foundation resulting in the weakness of the ‘will’ to adhere to moral principles. The paper agrees with the Platonic position that he who knows what is good cannot do what is bad and calls for effective crusade against moral ignorance through the training of both the intellect and the will. therefore suggests Plato’s counsel on education where much emphasis is laid on moral education; that is the inculcation of moral habituation through the training of both the intellect and the will. It is believed that if this platonic counsel is strictly imbibed, with the passage of time people will not only know the good but also have the moral will to translate same into practice. By so doing, the issue of corruption will be reduced if not completely eradicated so as to usher in a responsible society characterized by sustainable development.

Corruption in Ghana: A Historical Perspective Under the 4th Republic (1992-2020).

Irrefutably, corruption is a long-standing phenomenon that derives its name from the Latin verb 'corrumpere,' which signifies 'to damage or spoil.' This implies that wherever there is corruption, devastation occurs. It is virtually usually provided under the guise of figurative languages and euphemisms because of its nature. For example, in Swahil contexts, corruption means "something modest" in Iran, "money for koko or water" in Ghana, or "advise yourself" and "something for the guys" in Swahil contexts.People who engage in corruption are implicitly aware of the unlawful consequences, but they utilise these euphemisms to hide, minimise, and make corrupt conduct socially acceptable (Ree, 2015). The misuse or abuse of entrusted power for private gain has been defined as corruption. In addition, systemic, individualised, grand, and minor corruptions are all distinguished.Corruption's harmful effects on Ghana, West Africa, the African continent, and the rest of the world cannot be overstated. Furthermore, Ghana's several subsequent democratically elected governments have all had their fair share of corruption. As a result, this paper examines corruption in Ghana from a historical perspective, with a focus on the period after Ghana's independence as the 4th Republic (1992-2020).Thus, thematic areas such as the analysis of each political era for the period between 1992 - 2000, the late former president Jerry John Rawlings, former President John Agyekum Kuffour for the period between 2001-2008, the late President John Evans Attah Mills for the period between 2009 - July 2011, and John Dramani Mahama for the period between July 2011 and 2016 as well as the first term of the current government which is between 2017-2020. Nonetheless, the ardent debate of this paper centered on the corruption in Ghana consideringthe historical perspective under the 4 th Republic (1992-2020). Keywords : Corruption, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-12-02 Publication date: June 30 th 2022

Corruption in the health care sector: A persistent threat to European health systems

Corruption is commonly defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It is estimated that over 500 USD billion are lost every year due to corruption and that a 1-point change in the control of corruption indicator measured by the World Bank increases life expectancy by 0.44 years and reduces under-five mortality by 4.6 per 1,000 infants. Despite its global prevalence and critical impact on public and private services, corruption in the healthcare sector remains understudied. The present report aims to expand the knowledge on the paramount need to tackle corruption in healthcare by identifying the actors in the health system at risk to involving in corrupt practices, followed by defining health corruption from the governmental, non-governmental organisations, and societal perspectives, together with describing relevant corruption indicators from countries from the WHO European region. To conclude, this report presents a set of proposals and recommendations to address corruption in the healthcare sector.

Links between corruption and quality of life in European Union

Studies looking at the links between corruption and quality of life have begun to take place recently, as until now the quality of life has not traditionally been associated with political decisions. Corruption may be defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, which in one way or another affects the quality of life and satisfaction of others. The aim is to bridge the gap between the nexus of corruption and the quality of life in the EU. EU countries were divided into groups of countries according to the year of accession and cover the years 2004-2017 period. The EU has been selected as a geographical region with the aim of uneven economic development of the countries and the lack of research in the region. The aim of the article is to determine the interdependencies between corruption and quality of life indicators in EU countries. Multivariate regression models revealed that the prevalence of corruption among individual groups of six countries had the highest impact on mortality rates, unambiguously showing how well countries are managing their health care systems, population density, birth rate and population aging, GDP per capita, economic situation, life expectancy, serving as an indicator of quality of life and the number of people with primary education. The results of empirical research allow to form insights that in order to reduce corruption it is necessary to focus on the following spheres reflecting the quality of life: education, health care system and general economic situation of the country. The article used the following methods: comparative and systematic literature analysis, multiple regression analysis.

The abuse of entrusted power for private gain: meaning, nature and theoretical evolution

Although the study of corruption has received increasing attention over the past decades, the theoretical progress of its earlier years has been increasingly relegated to a passive comment, resulting in an underdeveloped field as a whole. To address this issue, this paper explicitly adopts a prevalent definition of corruption—i.e. the abuse of entrusted power for private gain—and explores its meaning, nature, and theoretical evolution from the earliest human bands to the present era. The result is an examination of corruption’s constitutive elements and the way they open the door for a historical account based on the social evolution of political agency and the development of increasingly specialized ethical duties. The arguments presented here aim to provide a road map for future comparative historical research on the subject, and the potential identification of social patterns which sustain corruption tolerance today.

Corruption: Donald E. Klingner

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Collectively, its consequences imperil both democracy and development. This editorial will discuss the incidence and causes of corruptio...

Jurisprudence of Law and Governance: A Reference of Nepal

Good governance, transparency and fair procurement are the basic features of effective governance system. The word “governance” came from the Latin word ‘Gubernare’, and Greek word ‘Kubernaein’, which means to steer. In fact, it is the operation of various organ of the state effectively and efficiently. It also refers to corporate governance system. Governance is the structures and processes that are designed to ensure organizational goals effectively and efficiently. There various types of governance i.e. public governance vs. private governance, global governance vs. local governance, good governance vs. bad governance, central governance vs. state governance vs. local governance, Plato’s Governance (Aristocratic governance, timocractic governance, plutocratic governance, democratic governance and despot governance), Aristotle’s Governance (aristocratic governance, monarchial governance, polity governance, oligarchy governance, tyranny governance and democratic governance), democratic republic governance vs. People’s Republic governance, centralized governance vs. decentralized governance, participatory governance vs. non participatory governance, and devolved governance vs. federal governance etc. All the jurisprudence from Plato to Postmodern movement focuses on good governance. However, the issues of good governance have been changing over the period of time. As transparency is also the basic part of good government system, it is associated with right to information. In fact, transparency, legitimate procurement, rule of law, separation of power; corruption free society, predictability, and natural justice etc are the basic indicators of good governance system. Government procurement should be free and fair. Impartiality and fair dealing in procurement is also highly expected. Government procurement is made through direct procurement, sealed quotation and tender whereas selling of public goods is made through public auction systems, which are accepted for transparency and good governance. Government has extractive capabilities, regulative capabilities, distributive capabilities, corrective capabilities, special protection capabilities, international capabilities which needs good governance. These capabilities of government shouldn’t be misused. Jurisprudence never thinks that there can be corruption. However, it is the common but prohibited phenomena across the globe. If there are high levels of discretionary power to authority, there can be the chances of higher degree of corruption. So, the discretion to authority is necessary to reduce. For Transparency International, corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. There are different types of corruption i.e. grand corruption, political corruption, corporate corruption, administrative corruption, petty corruption, and systemic corruption etc. Constitution of Nepal, 2072 BS (2015 AD), Good Governance Act, 2064 BS (2008 AD), Local Government Operation Act, 2074 BS (2017) etc. are applicable laws for good governance in Nepal. Article 27 of the Constitution of Nepal, 2072 BS (2015 AD), Right to Information Act, 2064 BS (2007 AD), and Right to Information Rules, 2065 BS (2009 AD) are statutory measures of Nepal for transparency and right to information. Public Procurement Act, 2063 BS (2007 AD) and Public Procurement Rules, 2064 (2008 AD) are the legal measures to regulate and control government procurement process in Nepal. Public Procurement Monitoring Office prepares the standard of procurement and looks at the process of procurement of other public agencies. Nepal Restructuring Authority is working in crucial construction of Nepal which follows procurement law of Nepal. The Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 (2002 A.D) and Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act, 2048 (1991) are the principal legislation in Nepal to curb corruption. Nepal is also the members of UN Convention against Corruption, 2003. Corruptions of public officials are investigated by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). There is also the National Vigilance Center to look after the incidence of corruption by public authority, which is under Office of the Prime Minister of Nepal. In fact all the legislation and delegated legislation are issued for the purpose of good governance. Specialization in knowledge of human resource is made for good governance. Bad governance and misuse of power are the greatest sins, which are the crimes against general people.

Recharacterizing Corruption to Encompass Illicit Financial Flows

Anticorruption treaties generally define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. As such, global anticorruption efforts primarily target transactions involving the bribery of governmental officials. The definition excludes transactions in which multinational corporations deprive developing states of revenue by failing to pay taxes and other monies due. Yet such transactions are equally injurious to the development agenda of poor states. This essay argues that corruption should be redefined to encompass illicit financial flows, a term used by a growing network of tax and economic justice groups to refer to money that is “illegally earned, transferred or used.” Transactions such as trade misinvoicing, base-erosion, and abusive transfer pricing to illegally earn additional income undermine the ability of poor states to raise revenue for development. Expanding the definition of corruption would create a more realistic picture of the role of corporate actors and their involvement in corrupt and illicit dealings. It would also bring equivalency to the treatment of corporate actors and public officials. By focusing on illicit dealings involving corporate actors, this essay challenges the partial definition of corruption adopted in the heyday of the Washington Consensus, when skepticism about the role of the state, rather than of private actors, prevailed.

The Consequences of Corruption on Inflation in Developing Countries: Evidence from Panel Cointegration and Causality Tests

Up until the 1980s, studies on corruption were dominated by disciplines of public administration and sociology. In the following years, however, economists have also provided a good amount of research on this issue. According to Transparency International Agency, corruption, which has a negative impact on most macroeconomic indicators, is “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. Even though the disruption of corruption causing weak growth and investment rates has long been examined, there is little evidence regarding its impact on inflation. In this study, the nexus between corruption and inflation was investigated for 20 countries over the period 1995–2015. Estimation results indicated that high corruption increased inflation rates, and that there was a unidirectional causal relationship from corruption to inflation for ten countries in the sample.

Corruption and First Nations in Canada

ABSTRACTCorruption, defined as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain,” is recurrent in Canadian First Nations communities. Typical phenomena include embezzlement, nepotistic hiring practices, conflict of interest in business dealings and overpayment of office-holders. The causes are structural: small size of communities, leading to lack of expertise in public administration; intermingling of governmental and business functions; dominance of First Nations governments over civil society; and absence of taxation with attendant lack of concern for economy in band governance. Because these structural factors are virtually impossible to change except in the very long run, the best prospect for reform is greater transparency in First Nations financial administration. The previous Conservative government passed legislation designed to achieve this, but it seems likely that the current Liberal government will weaken or even repeal this legislation. If so, it would be highly desirable to find other mechanisms for transparency, such as a First Nations Auditor General.

In the Cesspool of Corruption: The Challenges of National Development and the Dilemma of Anti-Graft Agencies in Nigeria

Most theoretical and analytical discourse on national development identified the virulent nature of corruption as development curse. In Nigeria, as in many other soft states, the epidemic nature of corruption and its destructive impacts on the national development has received wider attention in both national and international mass media. Similarly, scholarly literature on the culture of sleaze in many of these countries revealed the depth of the disease. Nigeria, undoubtedly remain at the front page of countries under the siege of sleaze. Its profile as one of the most corrupt nations feeds largely into the crisis of its national development. Conceptually and theoretically, corruption encompassed very distinct social problems of mismanagement of public resources, weak and dysfunctional government institutions, complex relationships between political actors and public moral and economic assets. Indeed, the curse of corruption has assumed more than tantalizingly simple act of sleaze but a clear, complex and contested reality of national underdevelopment. It explains to a large extent the abuse of public power and misuse of entrusted power for private gain in the context of attaining national development. In this paper therefore, a continuation of the literature on corruption that espouses the interplay between the culture of greedy sleaze and national development is given bolder attention. The paper analyses a broad understandings of corruption from the analytical usefulness of an effective national development imperative. It further explains the interventionist roles of the ambitious anti-graft agencies and their contemporary challenges.

BANALITAS KEJAHATAN KORUPSI DAN AKTIVITAS BERPIKIR

Corruption, understood as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain, has spread to every corner of Indonesia and become engrained in our daily lives. This is partly caused by the failure to think critically and the fear of judging representatively. It seems that members of our society have become thoughtless and are enslaved by human-made systems or rules. They blindly and uncritically follow the rules to the point where stealing money from those who really need it is considered perfectly normal. Here, corruption is an evil that is called banal. Therefore, following Arendt’s way of thinking, this article suggests the enhancement of critical thinking accompanied by an ability of judging representatively in the midst of the homogenization of the process of thinking as a way of reducing or even eradicating corruption.

Marco Arnone/Leonardo S. Borlini: Corruption – Economic Analysis and International Law

This volume is the result of the joint efforts of an economist and a lawyer to explore the multi-faceted phenomenon of corruption from the viewpoint of their respective disciplines. The concept is not interdisciplinary in the strict sense, i.e., it is not a hybrid of the methodologies belonging to the different fields. Rather, the book is divided into two parts, the first on economic studies on corruption and the second on the international legal framework. The resulting work is a rich, up-to-date compilation of current anticorruption research. The working definition of corruption chosen for this volume was very much influenced by the specific topics that were examined. As regards the legal part, this follows the material scope of application of the international conventions it examines with their casuistic elements. In the economics part, however, the search for a general definition of corruption is more difficult. Here the authors follow the traditional description going back to Senturia of corruption as Bthe abuse of public office for private gain^. It appears that in modern times, in view of the extensive privatisation of what were formerly public services and the growing globalisation of the economy, this definition restricted to abuse of public power is on the decline. Transparency International therefore now describes corruption more generally as the Babuse of entrusted power for private gain^. As, however, the conclusions drawn in this chapter are in part based on older studies, which were still mostly restricted to the public sector, the narrow definition was appropriate here. One may suppose, though, that many of its statements would also be applicable to the private sector without significant change. The economics part begins with an overview on the current state of research. Whereas many of the early studies of the seventies and eighties were based on anecdotal reports, for example from the press, since the nineties there have been considerable improvements in methodologies for quantitatively measuring the effects Crime Law Soc Change (2016) 66:101–103 DOI 10.1007/s10611-015-9602-6

Women and Corruption

Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.” Corruption has a devastating impact on the social, economic, ethical and mental wellbeing of human beings as an individual and community. In Islam, any form of corruption (fasad) like bribery, extortion, kickback and illegal gratuity are strictly prohibited by the texts. The Qur´an enjoins the believers not to consume their property among themselves unjustly and not to give bribes to the rulers that may sinfully and knowingly lead to devouring of the property of others (al-Baqarah 2:188). In several other verses, the text also condemns all forms of economic and political oppression and proscribes spreading of mischief and corruption on the earth (al-Qasas 28:4 and al-A’raf 7:56). The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said that the bribe-taker, the bribe-giver and their mediator, all of them invoke God’s wrath.

Women and Corruption

Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.” Corruption has a devastating impact on the social, economic, ethical and mental wellbeing of human beings as an individual and community. In Islam, any form of corruption ( fasad ) like bribery, extortion, kickback and illegal gratuity are strictly prohibited by the texts. The Qur´an enjoins the believers not to consume their property among themselves unjustly and not to give bribes to the rulers that may sinfully and knowingly lead to devouring of the property of others ( al-Baqarah 2:188). In several other verses, the text also condemns all forms of economic and political oppression and proscribes spreading of mischief and corruption on the earth ( al-Qasas  28:4 and al-A'raf 7:56). The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said that the bribe-taker, the bribe-giver and their mediator, all of them invoke God’s wrath.Â

Leadership, Governance, and Poverty in Nigeria

The National Bureau of Statistics has said that 112.519 million Nigerians live in relative poverty conditions. The absolute measure puts the country’s poverty rate at 99.284 million. This paper attributes the poverty facing Nigerians to incompetent leadership and bad governance. Using Michael Lipton’s theory of ‘urban bias’ which posits that there is more poverty in the rural areas because of the existence of parasitical and corrupt urban elites, this paper points out that people in rural areas are most affected by poverty due to marginalization by government. It points out how bad governance has led to the persistence of the Dutch disease (or mono-cultural economic policy) and its effect on poverty. It also highlights the effect of corruption – the misuse of entrusted power for private gain – on poverty. The paper then presents a historical comparison of the effect of good leadership and bad leadership on poverty in Edo state since its creation in 1991. It concludes with cogent recommendations on the role of the government, the international community and the poor masses in tackling poverty via good leadership and governance. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n6p29

Corruption across countries: Impacts from education and cultural dimensions

Corruption, which is defined by Transparency International as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain, was related to the number of people participating in tertiary education across countries. It was found that as the number of people participating in tertiary education increased, the incidence of corruption occurring in the countries decreased. Similar to other studies, the higher the GDP per capita of a country, the lower the cases of corruption. Interestingly, correlation results showed that enrolment in tertiary education had a positive result with GDP per capita. Hofstede's (1984) cultural dimensions were also found to affect the acts of corruption indirectly through enrolment in tertiary education and GDP per capita. Overall, this study has included 56 countries and results were similar in two different time periods.

Removing a Roadblock to Development: Transparency International Mobilizes Coalitions Against Corruption

year. This amount is 40 times the costs estimated by the United Nations for a global campaign to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, ten times total annual development assistance spending, and nearly the GDP of the entire African continent. Yet even $1 trillion is a dramatic underestimate of the social and human cost of corruption. Corruption—the abuse of entrusted power for private gain—is a roadblock to human development. It distorts competitive markets, leads to the misallocation of resources, and disproportionately burdens the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. Human development is impeded whenever public contracts are awarded according to the size of the kickback instead of the size of the public benefit, whenever parents have to bribe teachers to educate their children, or whenever a mother is forced to watch her daughter die because she does not have the resources to bribe the hospital staff to provide care. Corruption makes a mockery of rights, breeds cultures of secrecy, deprives the neediest of vital public services, deepens poverty, and undermines hope. Yet, despite the evident corrosive impacts of corruption on development, until recently, there was no organized effort to combat either of its most harmful manifestations: the cross-border corruption that so frequently plagues large-scale public projects in poor countries, and the equally devastating small-scale corruption that mercilessly aggravates the daily obstacles faced by many of the world’s most disadvantaged citizens. In fact, only a decade ago, overseas bribery was legally permissible in most countries (the only exception was the United States, where in 1977, responding to the revelations about bribes to foreign public officials, which

Review of corruption in the health sector: theory, methods and interventions

There is increasing interest among health policymakers, planners and donors in how corruption affects health care access and outcomes, and what can be done to combat corruption in the health sector. Efforts to explain the risk of abuse of entrusted power for private gain have examined the links between corruption and various aspects of management, financing and governance. Behavioural scientists and anthropologists also point to individual and social characteristics which influence the behaviour of government agents and clients. This article presents a comprehensive framework and a set of methodologies for describing and measuring how opportunities, pressures and rationalizations influence corruption in the health sector. The article discusses implications for intervention, and presents examples of how theory has been applied in research and practice. Challenges of tailoring anti-corruption strategies to particular contexts, and future directions for research, are addressed.