The government and its decentralized units in the public sector is expected to function according to the expectations of the public. In most incidences, corruption has been reported in various levels. The most affected decentralized units include the police and military, health care system, roads and transit authorities amongst others. These institutions have failed to utilize the allocated funds in a transparent and accountable manner so that they can improve the lives of the citizens. It has been found that individuals are concerned with generating maximum profits rather than offering proper services to the population. The abuse of entrusted power to satisfy selfish interests is becoming very popular in the public sector.
The employees in various government departments are entrusted with power, but they end up abusing it to satisfy their desires. For instance, they obtain bribery by promising people they will act in their favor. The action of receiving bribery is unlawful, unprincipled, and a breach of trust. The employees accept bribes in various forms, and this includes gifts, fees, loans, or in other forms. For example, citizens from various states have admitted that sometimes, they pay a bribe to ensure they are considered first during reconnection to the public water system.
Embezzlement is another form of corruption very popular in public government. It is common for employees to use the resources allocated for the public good to acquire personal enrichment. Other forms of corruption include patronage, nepotism, and conflict of interest. Corruption is a vice that should be condemned and ended because it affects the welfare of the public to a huge extent. Most of the decisions made in the public sector are affected by the levels of corruption among individuals in charge. There is the need for the government to act freely and stop this vice within the public sector.
Lambsdorff, Johann. How corruption in government affects public welfare: A review of theory. No. 9. CeGE Discussion Paper, 2001
In his article, Lambsdorff argues that the objectives of the government are critical towards understanding the various negative impacts of corruption on public welfare (3). The presence of corruption in public government had indicated the inability or unwillingness to uphold social welfare within the society. The author goes ahead to explain how corruption has distorted the decisions made by different agents. Most of them have been forced to make flawed decisions because of the powers of corruption. Moreover, according to Lambsdorff (15), a corrupt principal in the government generates allocative inefficiencies, ad this interferes with the commitment to implement policies according to public expectations. A corrupt government fails its citizens because the system is rotten and lacks the ability to open the door to opportunism. I like the way the article is comprehensive and detailed to the point. The author has succeeded in his plight to illustrate the levels of corruption in the public sector.
Glaeser, Edward L., and Raven E. Saks. "Corruption in america." Journal of public Economics 90.6 (2006): 1053-1072.
Glaeser, Edward, and Raven has provided insight on the levels of corruption in America. The three researchers used a data set obtained from federal corruption convictions in the United States to examine the causes and significances of corruption. It was found that more educated states tend to have lower levels of corruption compared to states with smaller degrees on levels of education. The state of corruption is also correlated with racial fragmentation, income inequality, and the size of the government. The article demonstrates why the relationship between corruption and economic development of the US is weak. According to these findings, the association between economic development and good political outcomes takes place because high levels of education improve efficiency in political institutions (Glaeser, Edward and Raven 1068). In this article, the authors had provided an in-depth analysis of the state of corruption in the United States. The flow of the ideas is coherent and consistent and this makes it attractive and easy to read.
Work cited
Glaeser, Edward L., and Raven E. Saks. "Corruption in america." Journal of public Economics 90.6 (2006): 1053-1072.
Lambsdorff, Johann. How corruption in government affects public welfare: A review of theory. No. 9. CeGE Discussion Paper, 2001
