Corruption in developing countries
Corruption is to all appearances widespread in developing countries and has very serious repercussions on their peoples' quality of life – above all that of the poor and disadvantaged. (23)
4.1. The background
Gunnar Myrdal, the late, great, committed social scientist, saw how corruption in the developing world triggers a chain of deplorable effects. He emphasized two in particular:(24)
◦Habitual corruption paves the way for authoritarian regimes. It works thus: by exposing the corrupt character of the old crowd and undertaking to punish the guilty the new crowd manage to wrap themselves (temporarily) in a mantle of legitimacy. Parenthetically, this charade underscores the important fact that the broad mass of people in developing countries reject corruption, precisely because they suffer under it.
◦Exaggerated notions of how pervasive corruption is and of how corruptible civil servants (for example) are-what Myrdal calls the “folklore of corruption”-produce resignation and fatalism among the “little people” and reinforce their conviction that this form of asocial behavior is normal.
Myrdal saw the roots of corruption in developing regions such as South Asia in the remnants of the traditions of pre-modern societies, where presents, tribute and other social obligations were a customary and normal part of social networks. Where fundamental loyalties are due the family, the village, co-religionists or one's own ethnic group or caste, rather than the state or society as a whole, then for someone holding office favors done for and preferential treatment given to kinsmen are more important than fidelity to the state and its organs. Where culturally sanctioned gifts denote respect toward higher-ups and taking care of protégés by way of reciprocating are the done thing it becomes especially difficult to pinpoint just where these customs slide over into corruption. Added to this, in many developing countries government employees are so poorly paid that they are unable to maintain even a modest standard of living. In consequence they have almost no other recourse than to seek to augment their income. And when the payroll is not met, for many of them loyalty to their employer ceases. They then start looking out for opportunities to feather their nest. Myrdal recalled that 200 years ago corruption was widespread in England, Holland and Scandinavia. It took improved governance and a firming up of moral standards, especially among the higher echelons of their civil services, as well as pay reforms to curb the rot. (25)
The confluence of poverty, relics of old and outmoded traditions, and bad governance, together with the fact that in this conflation, too, Myrdal's principles of cumulative causation and circular interdependence intensify the effects of the problem components, have disastrous consequences.