Corruption
Corruption
In one of the opening scenes of a satirical film that enjoyed an enormous success in France a few years back, a seasoned and corrupt police officer describes his philosophy of life to a young and as yet untainted colleague as they stroll through the Paris streets. He explains how he uses his position to extort money from the local tradespeople. The young officer retorts that the police aren't there to break the law, but to enforce it. Taking him gently by the arm, the veteran points out that people all around them are violating the law without even realizing that they are doing so. He concludes that the law cannot be fully enforced without bringing social life to a standstill. An intelligent policeman should accept that this is how things are and why not? profit from it.
This disingenuous episode contains most of the sophistical arguments that are often used to justify corruption: trivialization (a pedestrian crossing a street against a traffic light is placed on the same level as a policeman running a protection racket); the use of non-sequiturs (illegal practices exist, therefore it is impossible to stop them); making a quantum leap from a factual observation to a value judgement ("Corruption is everywhere, long may it prevail!").
This issue of the Courier sets out to show that corruption is not inevitable and that it can and must be countered. We have endeavoured to look at corruption as a historical phenomenon, analysing the reasons for it and the forms it has taken at different times and places; to trace the borderline if there is one between excusable irregularity and unpardonable criminality; to identify ways and means of fighting the latter. We have tried to pinpoint new types of corruption arising from the globalization of the economy, drug trafficking and the formation of transnational mafias. Above all we have paid particular attention to the implications of this gangrene for democracy.
Corruption is an evil that affects all societies to some extent, and is even tending to asphyxiate the more fragile among them. It can be traced back in time as far as the earliest historical record, for a "society without evil" has never existed. Where there is inequality, corruption is not far away. But come what may, people everywhere continue to fight to limit injustice and contain corruption. How do they do this?
Tyrants who present themselves as "incorruptible" and claim to be restoring an ideal polity set up dictatorships where corruption flourishes behind the curtain of state secrecy. Democracies are not, of course, immune to corruption, but they succumb to it when they allow the existence of shadowy areas in which the misuse of power can spread unchecked. In the unending struggle against corruption, it is free citizens in societies based on the rule of law and the separation of powers who play the key role, as vigilant and effective defenders of the common good.
Bahgat El Nadi and Adel Rifaat.