Government Corruption Essay Example

Corruption refers to a dishonest and a fraudulent way used by those individuals in positions of influence to acquire resources. These in most cases are public resources not belonging to them. In simple terms, it is the abuse of power and authority entrusted to an individual for private and personal gains. Its gravity depends on the amounts of resources that are lost and therefore can be petty or grand. This topic of corruption is essential because it is a social, political and economic problem that deprives the United States and other countries their resources that are meant to benefit the citizens at large.

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Individuals engage in different forms of corruption. These are also referred to as types of corruption. According to Ackerman & Palifka (2016), various types of corruption include bribery, exchange of favors, cronyism, judicial fraud, extortion, accounting fraud in places of work, public service fraud and embezzlement of public funds, kleptocracy, influence peddling and lastly conflicts of interests. The most common forms of corruption are bribery, nepotism, public service fraud, embezzlement of funds conducted by public officials and electoral fraud. Ackerman & Palifka (2016) gives various definitions of these various forms of corruption.

Bribery, according to them, is defined to as "the explicit exchange of money, gifts in kind, or favors for breaking or as payment of benefits that should legally be costless or be allocated on terms other than a willingness to pay." Extortion, therefore, is a form of bribery where an individual demands a bribe in returns of a favor. Nepotism, on the other hand, is defined as "the hiring of a member of a family or an individual with close ties, instead of an applicant who is more qualified but has no relation to the person recruiting. Nepotism is closely related to cronyism where an individual prefers members belonging to his or her racial or ethnic; religious or the political group in matters relating to the allocation of jobs, positions, and promotions.

Similarly, public service is used to refer to whichever action that undermines the lawful necessities of community service relief. It is not a must to pay bribes in this case. Embezzlement of funds closely relates to public service fraud. Nurses in hospitals can prescribe unnecessary tests for their patients to increase reimbursements from the government. This can also happen in schools. Public officials also take funds allocated for public activities for their gains.

In American history, there have been reported cases of money scandals. For example, Alexander Hamilton who happened to be the first Secretary of the Treasury was on many occasions accused of taking advantage of his political position to enrich those who were close to him. His family members and close associates were snarled in money scandals. The Watergate scandal is also a major political scandal in the history of the United States. According to DeLeon (2015), the scandal took place in 1970. Five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters that is situated in Washington DC. The United States' president by then was Richard Nixon. The scandal came to be known when some misuse of political authority by close allies in Nixon's administration who in multiple occasions break-in, a situation which the government tried to cover up by not linking the white house to the scandal. This scandal led to the resignation of President Nixon.

The milk money scandal also occurred in 1974. John Connally, President Nixon's secretary, was accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice. It was believed that American Milk Producers Inc. gave Connally a bribe that was worth $10,000. The intent of this bribe was to convince Connally to increase the prices of milk. This intent was therefore implemented through raising the milk prices by 75%. Connally was fired from his position when this was learned.

Corruption has adverse effects on the economies and social wellbeing of citizens in every country. It has led to lack of proper justice. This is majorly connected to the corruption in the judiciary. Judges, lawyers, and prosecutors receive bribes to change situations. Culprits are usually left free while the innocent are jailed.

There is the challenge of lack of proper services regarding quality in the public service. Public officials demand bribes to deliver quality services to the citizens. These sectors where corruption is rampant are the education, health, security, among others. This has a great impact on the type of professionals that are produced as a result of candidates taking part in examination cheating. There have also been cases of the relief funds meant for aids are misappropriated by individuals for personal gains.

Similarly, there is a constant rise in the number of unemployed youths as a result of corruption in the public sector. Other effects of corruption in countries are increased poverty levels, pollution where industries bribe the government to dispose of wastes poorly, accidents among others.

Conclusion

In conclusion, corruption is a vice that every government needs to work on to improve the quality of service delivery to its citizens. Every government, therefore, needs to pay its public officials well to prevent cases of them engaging in corrupt practices. Similarly, there is need to enhance transparency in the manner public funds are spent. Those found culpable of engaging in corrupt practices can be arrested charged and tried in courts of law. This should act as an example to everyone. Ways of combating corruption are not limited to these. It is a vice that can be defeated if people join hands.

References

DeLeon, P. (2015). Thinking about political corruption. Routledge.Rose-Ackerman, S., & Palifka, B. J. (2016). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform. Cambridge university press.