Causes of Graft and Corruption

The term corruption refers to misuse of a position of trust for personal gain. Even though corruption can be present in any sphere of life, it usually refers to political corruption. By political corruption, we mean the illegitimate use of government powers by the officials for their personal purposes. Political corruption influences the state or country in many ways and hinders the overall development of the region.

Causes of Graft and Corruption

Almost all the governments of the world indulge in corruption. Political corruption can take many forms like bribery (influence the recipient by offering money or gifts), patronage (favoring supporters by granting financial aid or favors) and graft (offering money). All forms of corruption are illegal and people indulging in these services are punishable under the law. Let's discuss about the causes of graft and corruption.

While being a government official, he/she has both money and power in his/her hand; money for the development of the country and power to utilize the money. The government official then uses both of these for personal gain. It is because of money and power that many politicians make politics a family business. In case, the politician cannot rule the government, his brother, sister or even wife will compete in the elections.

In every corruption form, there are two parties, the one who offers money or favors and one who receives it. Corruption is best explained with the fact that it is giving an opportunity to the government officials. In such a situation, the citizens are the ones who give opportunities to the officials. Hence, the citizens or the public also play a major role in increasing corruption in a country. Imagine a condition where there are no opportunities; ultimately, there will be no corruption as such.

Anything that is illegal becomes a source of corruption for government officials. To understand better, let's take the example of drug trafficking or trading of illegal drugs. As we all know, the distribution and sale of certain illegal drugs is banned under most jurisdictions. There are many people who are ready to offer money, so as to allow trading of such illegal drugs. Similarly, corruption alleviates crime in trafficking and money laundering.

One of the major causes of graft and corruption in many regions, is acceptance of bribery by the public citizens during election or in other words, vote buying. The candidate offers money or grants favors to supporters and citizens to gain election votes. Imagine a situation, if the same candidate wins the election. The consequence is obvious, he/she will try to cover up the money spent during the election time. In addition, he/she has to save more money for the next elections. So, the only way to obtain this huge sum is by indulging into corruption.

In many countries, before the government job openings are advertised to the citizens, the jobs are already sold out. The government officials will take bribery from people who are rich enough to offer money. This way, eligible candidates are often neglected, while recruiting non-deserving candidates is rampant.

The final outcome of political corruption is obvious, a stage will come, when the country is ruled by thieves, not by deserving or trustworthy political leaders. Everyone can imagine the fate of people of that particular region. According to scholars, the only way to prevent graft and corruption is regular vigilance, through surprise auditing and inspection. Hence, constant supervision will help in prevention of corruption; it is only then that people will be honest citizens.