Corruption has long-tailed behind the governance of countries and has consistently undermined the development and capability of governments globally. In today's world, government corruption has proven to be a dominant topic amongst other global issues. In the face of government corruption, other real-world problems are quickly overshadowed. The attention this problem is receiving is minimal, and inadequate to prompt a much-needed change. If solutions to the embezzlement and bribery within the government fail to arise, and public attention is not allocated, then government corruption may become an even larger issue. This is why in the modern world, government corruption is a topic that demands immediate attention. “Corruption is one of the most pervasive types of crime: it fuels transnational crime, wastes public resources, destabilizes countries, and impedes good governance" (United States Department of State, 2024).
Observing corruption within government institutions, such as the judiciary, highlights the pervasive nature of corruption and its detrimental effects. Corruption in the government tends to undermine its basic principles. The judiciary branch being one of the more apparent examples of this. Corruption breaks the basic principles of equality and the right to a fair trial. This corrupt judicial system can influence what happens in court, and how the law is enforced. The government's corruption goes even deeper, as manipulation of appointments is made evident, alongside many other unfair actions. For personal benefit, actions such as these break apart the integrity of the government. Furthermore, unqualified appointments due to favoritism, nepotism, cronyism, etc. can cause inefficiency and mismanagement.
Anecdotal accounts of witnessing government corruption, mainly embezzlement and bribery, as well as global rankings, highlight the real-world consequences, and the need to address this issue. Through reports such as the news, everyday people like myself can identify government corruption. On the news and other forms of reports, the bribery taking place in the government is made apparent. Global rankings, specifically the CPI (Corruption Perception Index) index, show us how corrupt our government is. This scale shows us how corrupt our countries are, despite us not being able to see it in our daily lives. These rankings mainly correlate with the quality of governance, showing us the urgent need to fix the corruption in government.
Government corruption is evident in the misallocation of public funds for personal gain, undermining the trust of citizens and hindering socio-economic development. One very specific instance where the misallocation of public funds was especially obvious, was in the 1MBD scandal. This was an incident where billions of dollars were taken from the Malaysian state-owned investment fund, Berhad, and were instead put through a series of fraudulent transactions. In short, money allocated to public welfare was siphoned into the hands of government officials for personal benefit and gain. The World Economic Forum estimates that 5% of global GDP is lost to government corruption. This money is instead taken unbeknownst to the public, and used for personal benefits. This is all possible due to the lack of transparency, and poor accountability. Low salaries in government jobs are also responsible, as they pave the way to corruption as a means of income.
While Government corruption may now seem to be the only urgent problem requiring a solution, that isn’t the truth. There are many other global issues that, like corruption, are affecting the world negatively. Despite the presence of these various issues, corruption proves its urgency in many ways. Some of these prioritized reasons include quality of governance, which affects how countries are run, equality, which is the basic right of citizens, and bribery, which changes how figures in power act, influencing the actions of the government.
In conclusion, government corruption requires attention and should be placed at a higher importance than other occurring issues in today's world. While the same can be said about these other issues, corruption affects the world heavily in almost every country. Solutions could start with targeting the transparency that exists in the government. There are multiple other ways that attempts at solving corruption could start with, showing that despite the severity of the problem, there are effective solutions that can be taken.
Works Cited
“2022 Corruption Perceptions Index: Explore the Results.” Transparency.org, 31 Jan. 2023, www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
“Combating Corruption and Promoting Good Governance - United States Department of State.” United States Department of State, 10 Jan. 2024, www.state.gov/combating-corruption-and-promoting-good-governance/#:~:text=Corruption%20is%20one%20of%20the,countries%2C%20and%20impedes%20good%20governance. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
“Economic Issues No. 6 -- Why Worry about Corruption?” Imf.org, 2024, www.imf.org/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/ISSUES6/INDEX.HTM. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
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