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PIA 2000. Introduction to Public Affairs. Clients, Challenges and Corruption: The Elusive Rule of Law. GSPIA Presentation. Ethics and Responsible Government in a Time of Crisis Louis A. Picard, Origins St. Louis de Gonzague , Quebec. Session Objectives.
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PIA 2000 Introduction to Public Affairs
GSPIA Presentation Ethics and Responsible Government in a Time of Crisis Louis A. Picard, Origins St. Louis de Gonzague, Quebec
Session Objectives • Provide an Overview of Responsible Government Concerns • Discuss Corruption as a problem • Examine the debate about technical vs. environmental conditions and corruption
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Hands Out Cars President Robert Mugabe gave out 450 cars to senior and midlevel doctors at government hospitals in what opponents say is a vote-buying campaign ahead of Saturday’s presidential election. Mr. Mugabe presented doctors with keys to the cars at a ceremony in which he blamed Western sanctions for harming health care in Zimbabwe, one of the countries worst affected by H.I.V./AIDS. He also promised the doctors houses within two years. By REUTERS Published: March 28, 2008 The Issue?
The Usual Problem • Weakened Leader using authoritarian methods and corruption to stay in power • Tottering old military leader being manipulated by young Colonel to seize power in a coup. • Zimbabwe- 2008?
George Washington John Adams The Usual Problem: Not Zimbabwe but the U.S.A. in 1797
The Issue • Weak Presidency- John Adams, his corrupt followers and the dictatorial “Alien and Sedition Act” • Tottering Old General: George Washington. Coup Leader: Alexander Hamilton • Corruption is Universal
Corruption: The Problem • Defined: Pursuit of Personal Interests above Public Responsibility • Goal: Control not Elimination of Corruption • The Question: Is Corruption Contextual and Cultural?
Corruption Is Universal- But the Dimensions Differ • The English Government was “a loaded compost heap of corrupt influence” Edmund Burke 1729-1797
Corruption Case Studies
“We drink to our Constituencies. May they Live long so that we may Prosper.” “The Bed of Roses” “The Rich Growing Richer and the Poor Growing Poorer” (USA 1890s)
Understanding Corruption: Four Themes • Structural Issues • Cultural Interpretations • Social Contract • Life Boat Ethics
1. Structural Issues- Imperfect Political and Social Institutions • Lobbying Legislatures Accepted but need payment • Influencing Authoritarian Executive Branch often called corruption • Structural Poverty • Is all corruption functionally or morally Equivalent?
“Poverty Shortens a man’s (sic) time horizon and maximizes the effectiveness of short term material inducements” 1969 James C. ScottThe Poverty Argument
2. Cultural Interpretations • Cultures View Corruption Differently • Views of “The Gift” • “Honor to the Honorable” • First Cut of the Harvest • Is there a universality
3. Social Contract Debates • Civil Service agrees to middle class wages • Society guarantees a middle class life style • Breakdown of social contract leads to Corruption and Red Tape
“Australian Bureaucracy is a forum for people to sound-off their complaints”
4. Life Boat Ethics: Food, Health and Education and the Middle Class administrator • Who is more Important? • Your Family? Your Neighbor’s Family • A Family with a Different Language and/or a different religion • Who do we throw out of the Lifeboat?
Quoting Mr. Dooley: "A man that would expect to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic; but a man that thinks men can be turned into angels by an election is a reformer & remains at large." U.S.A. About 1910 The Poor and the Government In Conclusion: Finley Peter Dunne on Reforming Corruption
Focus of the Discussion: Reforming Corruption: A Technical or Cultural Focus?
References • David J. Gould, Bureaucratic corruption and underdevelopment in the Third World : the case of Zaire (New York : Pergamon Press, 1980). • Arnold Heidenheimer, Michael Johnston and Victor T. LeVine, eds. Political Corruption: A Handbook (New Brunswick, NJ.:Transaction Publishers, 1990). • Arnold Heidenheimer and Michael Johnston eds. Political Corruption: Concepts and Setbacks (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2001).
References, 2 • Robert Klitgaard, Controlling Corruption (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991). • Robert E. Klitgaard, Tropical Gangsters: One Man’s Experience with Development and Decadence in Deepest Africa (New York: Basic Books, 1990). • William L. Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1963).
Last Readings • Mark Twain, “Hadleyburg” • Nick Kotz, “Jamoe Whitten” • Jeffrey Archer, “The Coup”
Jeffrey Archer Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English author and former politician. His political career ended with his conviction and subsequent imprisonment (2001–03) for “perjury and the perferting of the course of justice.”
CASE HISTORY “Ethics and Responsible Government in a Time of Crisis” Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GON)
Five Groups Five Groups: 1. Civil Service 2. Parastatals 3. Private Sector 4. University 5. International Donor Community
Discussions • Twenty Minutes to Discuss questions and prepare presentation • Each group has 6-8 minutes for report back • General Discussion
Group AssessmentsGON Case Study (All questions to be examined from your group/sectoral- Employment perspectivelkkl.l)
Discussion Questions 1. To what extent, can the problems of corruption be addressed by technical and training problems? 2. What are the cultural, ethical and political dimensions that should be addressed in any case history? 3. How well, would you predict, that the GON (or any country)would do in implementing an anti-corruption activity?
