How to tackle corruption in the public sector

The South Asian Section of Public Administration (SASPA) at ASPA hosted a webinar on "Corruption in the Public Sector" yesterday. As one of the organizers and moderators, I got to hear some perspectives on this issue and also challenges to doing research in this space.

Prof. Krishna Tummala, the author of an edited book of the same name was quite candid and forthcoming, pointing out that many countries, including India, talk about eradicating corruption but the actions don't amount to the rhetoric. In other words, everyone over-promises and under-delivers.

Despite the presence of various laws, ordinances, guidelines and moral principles, public agencies breed corruption. Why?

The panel discussed a few reasons and one of the main ones turned out to be the low pay scale of government employees around the world. "While this could be true, we also see corruption in countries where there are high salaries in government sector," pointed out one of the panelists. "It is certainly lack of professionalism, as we need to move away from moralizing about this issue and deal with it as a professional ethics issue," Prof. Tummala argued.

Others chimed in, sometimes with their own personal experiences of dealing with corruption.

Does corruption keep the wheels of government (and private sector) running? Yes, of course. I recall reading a number of articles during my Masters degree (and doctoral education too) which argued FOR corruption, meaning that without it, there would be no progress in several areas of the world. Without paying a bribe, oftentimes, contracts don't get passed. Not paying a bribe may mean not starting an infrastructure project.

In the world we live in, idealism is hard to come by. If one looks at corruption through the lens of pragmatism, as a necessary evil, that must be dealt with; then one begins to see the possibilities of dealing with it too. Idealism (in rhetoric) can lead to extreme reactions, such as capital punishment for corruption (as it exists in some countries) and this can also be used for political purposes, to go after "enemies of the state."

So, is greater transparency the answer? Do we need more FOIA, RTI and other acts?

The answer may be a qualified yes, with the understanding that laws themselves will not solve anything. Let me end with an anecdote of how some people may abuse the transparency laws :

I recall a student in my class complaining bitterly (she worked for a local government agency) where a private contractor had requested for hundreds of thousands of pages of photocopies of every contract awarded in the past 15 years. "He wanted to basically find better ways to market their product, so he is abusing the FOIA provisions, and keeping us all busy," she said.

And this abuse of government employees time is possible only because we have better ways to provide more information to the public.