Corruption and Development: The International Anti-Corruption Movement and Anti-Corruptionism in India
| Author | Sophie Rushton |
| Position | LLB, BSc/DML (French), University of Melbourne) |
| Pages | 69-85 |
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CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT: THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-
CORRUPTION MOVEMENT AND ANTI-CORRUPTIONISM IN INDIA
Sophie Rushton*
A INTRODUCTION
Corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. It
undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts
markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organised crime, terrorism and other threats
to human security to flourish …
1
A familiar yet vague term, the popular notion of ‗corruption‘ is one which is both relative and
emotive. Finding itself at the centre of development discourse for the last two decades,
corruption has been a ‗star‘ of the international development scene since it was brought to the top
of the agenda in the 1990s.
2
Following the end of the Cold War, a changing geopolitical climate
encouraged the establishment of an international commitment to condemning and criminalising
corruption at the multilateral level, a process which culminated in the appearance of a
coordinated global anti-corruption movement.
3
Consisting of international agreements, domestic
laws and initiatives, the reorientation of international organisations and the mobilisation of civil
society, this global anti-corruption movement was aimed at tackling corruption via the
systematic implementation of tools and strategies to address the issue on the ground.
The anti-corruption movement drew positive attention to an issue which had long been
selectively ignored and neglected.
4
However, despite the enthusiasm and accompanying
proliferation of initiatives brought about by the movement, developing countries today continue
to be plagued by the debilitating consequences of corruption. Bearing particularly harshly on the
poor and disenfranchised,
5
corruption represents a scar on social stability and economic growth.
6
The effects of corruption are broad and destructive
7
and the global movement has highlighted a
number of difficulties associated with stamping out corruption in any meaningful way. The
application of Right to Information Legislation (RTI) and E-Governance techniques in India
highlight both the immense potential and the experienced failures of the global movement to
assist in development. RTI and E-Governance represent two formidable strategies for the
tackling of corruption in India, however the Indian experience has underlined the critical need
* LLB, BSc/DML (French), University of Melbourne).
1
United Nations Convention Against Corruption (adopted 9 December 2003, entered into force 14 December 2005)
GA Res 58/4.
2
M Goodwin and K Ro se-Sender ‗Linking Corruption and Human Rights: An Unwelco me Addition to the
Development Discourse‘ in F Coomans et al (eds) Corruption and Human Rights (forthcoming).
3
See Section D (1) below.
4
ibid.
5
G Hill ‗Laws P rohibiting Foreign Bribery: The Practicalities of Legislating for Integrity Internationally‘ [2000]
AMPLA Yearbook 13-14.
6
W Kasper ‗Make Poverty History: Tackle Corruption‘ Centre for I ndependent Studies Working Paper No 67
(2006) 1.
7
Hill (n 5).
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for the implementation of such initiatives to be culturally sensitive, locality specific and
practically appropriate.
8
Corruption and its impediment of development are global problems;
however despite their international dimensions, they are, by their very nature, issues that need to
be addressed locally and responsively.
9
B CORRUPTION DEFINED
Corruption has been a persistent feature of human societies from time immemorial, long being
recognised as a threat to the order of civility.
10
A vice known to the Egyptians as far back as the
4th Century BC,
11
corruption is a key theme in Kautilya‘s
12
Arthashastra, an ancient Hindu
treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy written in the 4th Century BC.
13
Corruption continues to be labelled as ‗one of the greatest social evils of our time‘,
14
described
emotionally and emphatically by global corruption-fighting NGO Transparency International
(TI) as ‗hurting anyone whose life, livelihood or happiness depends on the integrity of people in
a position of authority‘.
15
In spite of its prominence through the ages, corruption remains difficult to define.
16
A
multifaceted concept, there is no universally accepted definition of ‗corruption‘ and there has
been disagreement as to what specific acts constitute corruption as a construct.
17
A thorny
18
and
loaded term,
19
it has been said that corruption is like an elephant – though it may be difficult to
describe, it is generally not difficult to recognise when observed.
20
8
See Section D(2) below.
9
H Moroff and D Schmidt-Pfister ‗Anti-Corruption Movements, Mechanisms and Machines – An Introduction‘
(2010) 11(2) Global Crime 89.
10
T S Aidt ‗Economic Analysis of Corruption: A Survey‘ (2003) 113 T he Economic Journal F632, F632; AT Martin
‗The Development of International Bribery Law‘ (1999) 14(2) Natural Resources and Environment 1.
11
ibid.; Pharaoh Horemheb provided for a law against br ibe taking, proclaiming that any judge who too k a r eward
from one litigant and failed to hear the adversary was guilty of a ‗crime against justice‘, penalt y being capital
punishment.
12
Also known as ‗Vishnugupta‘.
13
SK Sharma ‗Indian Idea of Good Governance: Revisiting Kautilya‘s Arthshastra‘ (2005) 17-18(1-2) Dynamics of
Public Administration; V Tanzi ‗Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Sco pe and Cures‘
International Monetary Fund Working Paper No 4 (1998).
14
Goodwin and Rose-Sender (n 2) 1.
15
Transparency International, About Transparency International: What is Transparency Internatio nal?
16
Aidt (n 10) F632.
17
J Bacio-Terracino ‗Corruption as a Violation of Human Rights‘ (Gr aduate Institute of International and
Development Studies Geneva for the International Council on Human Rights Policy 2008) 5
18
KS Ivanov ‗The Limits of a Global Campaign Against Corruption‘ in S Bracking (ed) Corruption and
Development: The Anti-Corruption Campaigns (Palgrave Macmillan 2007) 28, 35.
19
S Bracking ‗Political Deve lopment and Corruption: Why ‗Right Here, Right Now‘?‘ in S Bracking (ed),
Corruption and Developmen t: The Anti-Corruption Campaigns (Palgrave Macmillan 2007) 3. Loaded both morally
and politically.
20
Tanzi (n 13) 6.
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