Corruption as an International Policy Problem: Overview and Recommendations

In just a few months in early 1997, Mexico fired its top drug-enforcement official for accepting bribes and ultimately closed the agency because it was so ridden with corruption; Ukraine’s president once again declared war on corruption; Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng lamented that his country was losing ground in its war on corruption; President Kim Young Sam deplored endemic corruption in South Korea; Russian Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov pledged to crack down on corruption and the gray economy; Pakistan’s voters, disillusioned by perceptions of widespread corruption, stayed away from the polls in droves; and public schools in Washington were alleged to be rife with cronyism and nepotism. Corruption scandals in recent years have also contributed to the downfall of governments in Ecuador, Brazil, Italy, and India. Long-entrenched ruling parties have been weakened, including Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party. In the United States, two decades after the Watergate scandals prompted new rules regarding political contributions and the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), campaign finance reform has reemerged as a major political issue. The number, variety, and importance of countries experiencing corruption scandals highlight both the complexity of this phenomenon and its prominence as a global issue. When it is pervasive and uncontrolled, corruption thwarts economic development and undermines political legitimacy. Less pervasive variants result in wasted resources, increased inequity in resource distribution, less political competition, and greater distrust of government. Creating and exploiting opportunities for bribery