Seeking and receiving information is a human right that can serve as a safeguard against corruption and build trust in decision-makers and public institutions. However, transparency is not only about providing information, but also about ensuring that it can be easily accessed, understood and used by citizens. According to a 2017 investigative study, the following factors were cited as causes of corruption:[27] We define corruption as the abuse of power entrusted for private purposes. Corruption adapts to different contexts and changing circumstances. It can evolve in response to changing rules, legislation and even technology. As a post-Soviet country, Armenia also faces problems of corruption. This was inherited to Armenia as well as other member republics of the Soviet Union. Armenia was a pleasant exception. After the Armenian Velvet Revolution in 2018, the new government has made the fight against corruption a top priority.
[23] The “Anti-Corruption Strategy” appeared to be producing results, rising from 105th place in the CPI ranking to 60th place in just two years. [24] 1Huruptcy is an elusive concept, especially for historians. “How should it be defined?” is the question that concerns most scientists trying to study the phenomenon. Heidenheimer`s work could be useful. Finally, this scientist has developed a categorization of different types of definitions of corruption. Corruption can be defined as a violation of the rules of a particular office, it can be defined economically and it can be defined as acting against the public interest. Scott made a slightly different categorization: corruption acts against the laws that affect it, or acts against what public opinion considers integrity, or in turn against the public interest. The presence or perception of corruption also undermines environmental initiatives. In Kenya, farmers blame corruption for low agricultural productivity and are therefore less likely to take soil protection measures to prevent soil erosion and nutrient loss. In Benin, mistrust of the government due to perceived corruption has led smallholder farmers to refuse to adapt to climate change measures. [39] In 2006, Transparency International ranked Angola just behind Venezuela and ahead of the Republic of Congo in the Corruption Perception Index with a score of 2.2 to a low 142 out of 163 countries. [54] [55] Angola ranked 168th in Transparency International`s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) (out of 178 countries) and received a score of 1.9 on a scale of 0 to 10. [56] In the World Bank`s 2009 Global Governance Index, Angola performed very poorly in all six aspects of governance assessed. While the score for political stability improved from 19.2 in 2004 to 35.8 in 2009 (on a 100-point scale), Angola scored particularly low on accountability, regulatory standards and the rule of law. The corruption score fell from an extremely low of 6.3 in 2004 to 5.2 in 2009. [57] [58] 4How do the authors who contributed to CorruptHistories deal with the many problems that corruption poses to the historian? The volume consists of three parts: one on “corrupt practices”, one on “corrupt discourse” and one on “corrupt conjunctures”. In the first part, Gambetta valiantly attempts to define corruption, and Johnston, seeking synergy between democracy, the market and good governance, introduces four corruption syndromes. However, the other authors in this part practice a history of mentality. Will, who studies administration in late imperial China, describes how notions of the need for adequate compensation for civil servants were certainly not foreign to the Chinese administration, but how salaries nevertheless remained meagre and forced administrators to improve their incomes in unofficial ways. The support of an extended family that, as a family, had also contributed to the acquisition of an office, was another reason for corrupt practices. Doyle, who studied France and Britain between 1770 and 1850, describes how the revolution ended venality in France and how modern political parties proved to be an alternative to patronage in Britain. In both cases, the cause was “structural change in the public.” Less analytical, but a very good read, is the article about how Hitler bribed his field officers. The Foreign Bribery Practices Act (FCPA, United States 1977) was an early paradigmatic law for many Western countries, i.e.the industrialized countries of the OECD. There, for the first time, the old main-agent approach was pushed back, in which mainly the victim (a company, private or public) and a passive corrupt member (an individual) were taken into account, while the active corrupt party was not at the center of law enforcement. The unprecedented law of an industrialized country directly condemned active corruption, particularly in international business transactions, which at the time was at odds with the anti-corruption activities of the World Bank and its spin-off organization Transparency International. Government corruption of the judiciary is well known in many transition and developing countries, as the budget is almost entirely controlled by the executive. The latter seriously undermines the separation of powers because it promotes financial dependence on the judiciary. The proper distribution of a nation`s wealth, including its government`s spending on justice, is subject to constitutional economics. Corruption is a major problem in China, where society relies heavily on personal relationships. At the end of the 20th century, combined with the new greed for wealth, this led to an escalation of corruption. Historian Keith Schoppa says corruption was just one of the tools of Chinese corruption, which included “embezzlement, nepotism, smuggling, extortion, nepotism, bribery, bribery, deception, fraud, waste of public funds, illegal business transactions, manipulation of shares, and real estate fraud.” Given the repeated anti-corruption campaigns, it made sense to move as much fraudulent money abroad as possible. [22] The New Testament, in accordance with the tradition of ancient Greek thought, also openly acknowledges the corruption of the world (ὁ κόσμος)[148] and claims to offer a way to keep the “immaculate spirit of the world.” [149] Paul of Tarsus acknowledges that his readers must inevitably “deal with the world[150] and recommends that, in all their affairs, they adopt an attitude of `as if this were not the case.`]