El afiche y sus lenguajes

As discussed in preceding sections, there are various types of activity which have been labelled as corrupt and are used to identify different forms of corruption. Some, for example, may have been categorised on the basis of the sector within which the activity occurs (e.g. the identification of forms of public, private and political sector corruption). As shown in Table 2.1, the range of different corrupt practices which have been identified is considerably wider than this might suggest. These include but are not limited to: bribery, graft, extortion and robbery, patronage, nepotism, and cronyism, embezzlement and kickbacks amongst others. It is interesting to note, of course, that many of these terms themselves are subject to intense definitional debate.

In some treatments, the various forms of corruption discussed above are classified under broad depictions of grand as opposed to petty corruption. Grand corruption could be described as the abuse of power to promote personal interests (UN 2004). This type of corruption also known as political corruption is common at the highest levels of government. It is sometimes classified as “state capture” when external vested interests are believed to be illegally meddling with the highest organs of a political system to advance their private interests, which often results in the erosion of the rule of law, economic stability and confidence in good governance. Petty corruption (day-to-day administrative corruption) on the other hand, often involves small amounts of money, such as a civil servant collecting £40 pounds in bribes to process a file (UN 2004).

43 Table 2.1: Forms of corruption

Classification Description

Bribery It takes two participants for a bribe to take place, the giver and taker of the bribe. The bribe is usually monetary in nature and is used to procure services or gain influence illegally. Other terms used to describe a bribe include: kickbacks, gratuities, pay-off, sweeteners, greasing palms, etc. (Bayart etal 1997, p.11)

Graft While bribery is a form of corruption that takes place between the giver and taker of the bribe, graft is a little bit different in that it involves the acquisition of money or power by dishonest or unfair means by an individual without any necessary participation by others. This form of corruption occurs most commonly among government officials who take advantage of a position of trust (Collins, 2005).

Extortion and Robbery This type of corruption is characterised by the use of coercion, force or the threat of violence to take something from someone illegally. Payment may be demanded by a corrupt official, a police officer, for instance, who may intimidate an individual by the illegitimate use of state force to inflict harm or pervert the course of justice. This type of activity is generally held to be more common in developing countries (Bayart et al, 1997,p.11)

Patronage In politics, the practice of making appointments or granting contracts could be regarded as an act of patronage which could be legitimate in most cases. However, this could be seen as corruption when incompetent persons are considered or selected before more able ones (or only people with particular political connections or ethnic identities are considered) in return for support for the regime. The Sunni Arabs during Saddam Hussein‟s regime in Iraq, the Nomenklatura in the Soviet Union, Junkers in Imperial Germany are all examples of this type of corruption (see: Bearfield 2009).

44 Nepotism and

Cronyism

While Nepotism could be regarded as favouritism shown to relatives or close friends by those with power or influence, cronyism is the practice of appointing friends to high level office regardless of their suitability for such a position. Other examples include the exemption of kinfolk and family members from the application of certain laws or regulations or giving them undue preference in the allocation of scarce resources (see: Amundsen, 1997 and Girling 1997). North Korea or Syria are examples of public sector corruption, where the entire state appears to be inherited. This is also common in the private sector, for instance a Bank appointing new member of staff with the intention of persuading depositors for patronage.

Embezzlement, Theft and Fraud

Embezzlement and fraud could be described as stealing by an individual taking advantage of his or her official capacity (UN 2004). In particular, embezzlement involves the outright theft of entrusted funds. It is a misappropriation of property. This form of corruption is common in both public and private sectors and occurs when individuals illegitimately convert money or property entrusted to them fraudulently for their own use (Collins, 2005).

Additionally, fraud could be specifically described as some kind of trickery, swindle or deceit, such as counterfeiting, racketing, smuggling or forgery. It generally involves the use of false or misleading information to influence the rightful owner of property, to voluntarily part with it (UN 2004). For instance, a bank or an insurance official who induces an individual (customer) to subscribe to a loan package or an insurance policy by misrepresenting certain facts and conditions which apply to the policy, could be described as committing fraud. However, the regular description of theft is probably outside the scale of any definition of corruption. For instance, a poor and hungry individual who steals a loaf of bread from a truck could be described as having committed theft, but may not be considered within the common definitions of corruption.

On the other hand, embezzlement could be classified within the common definition of corruption and may attract with it a breach of fiduciary duty, irrespective of the place it occurred.

45

This type of corruption also known as political corruption is common at the highest levels of government. It is sometimes classified as “state capture” when external vested interests are believed to be illegally meddling with the highest organs of a political system to advance their private interests, which often results in the erosion of the rule of law, economic stability and confidence in good governance. Petty corruption (day-to-day administrative corruption) on the other hand, often involves small amounts of money, such as a civil servant collecting £40 pounds in bribes to process a file (UN 2004). The various forms of corruption as discussed above are common in most parts of the world (UN 2004) but some types of corruption seem to be more common in some parts of the world, or more prevalent amongst specific sectors and social groups in society. Some forms of corruption like extortion and robbery for instance, are perhaps possibly more common in the South, with some scholars (such as Uslaner 2008 and Tanzi 1998) drawing a link between these phenomena and poverty, which, as we shall see in later discussions, has been argued to be a major cause and consequence of corruption. In fact, it is the consequences of corruption that have continued to generate a lot of controversy, although increasingly, there appears to be consensus amongst governments and development practitioners that corruption, not only undermines good governance, but also exacerbates poverty and inequality (see: Adebanwi and Obadare 2011). The debates surrounding the consequences of corruption are explored in a little more detail in the next section.