The Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, organized by the National Endowment for Democracy, is taking place in Turkey this week. The forum brings together hundreds of democracy activists from around the world to share their experiences in strengthening democratic institutions.
This year, as part of the forum, CIPE and the Serbian Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies (CLDS) held a workshop, which focused on the links between corruption and democratic stability, as well as private sector approaches to anti-corruption reform. Emphasis on corruption in debates on democracy is not incidental. Over the past year and a half the issue has been brought to the forefront (yet again) by public protests over corrupt governments. Turmoil in Thailand, political scandals in Kenya, controversy in Brazil, an unprecedented growth in bribery in Russia, and dozens of other events have all clearly shown just how fragile democracies can become when corruption makes its way into the daily lives of citizens, businesses, and government officials top to bottom and erodes support for and beliefs in democratic ideals of equality, fairness, and participation.
The relationship is circular – corruption is often a result of weak democratic institutions, such as weak rule of law and limited freedom of speech, and, at the same time, widespread corruption weakens democracies by, for example, eroding public support for democratic institutions and precipitating mismanagement of public and private funds. Efforts to combat corruption, therefore, cannot be separated from efforts to strengthen democracies in countries across the world.
CIPE has long advocated that to reduce bribery and keep corruption in check, the private sector must become the driving force of anti-corruption reforms – not just its recipient. In that regard, the private sector can not only improve the business environment and support free, competitive markets – in the process of doing so, it can also contribute greatly to the strengthening of democratic institutions.
Getting back to the workshop at the World Movement for Democracy meeting, participants developed the following set of recommendations for the private sector:
- The private sector must introduce and enforce codes of conduct including internal control mechanisms as part of a governance strategy to curb corruption.
- The private sector must advocate for public policies that increase economic freedom, reduce administrative burden and complexity, and thus reducing the opportunity for corruption. Further anti-corruption programs must include diagnosis of the corruption potential of existing and new legislation.
- Strengthening good democratic governance offers a positive approach to reducing corruption by building mechanisms of accountability and transparency within all government branches and agencies, including local government. The private sector needs to be mobilized to press for good governance.
- A free and independent media combined with freedom of information laws are key elements of national anti-corruption strategies. Further, economic education of journalists increases their ability to diagnose and expose corrupt practices. Civic participation can serve to enhance the impact of independent media.
- Developed nations must adhere to the anti-corruption conventions and provide mechanisms to enforce these standards in transactions by their national companies within developing countries.
- Anti-corruption strategies must be adapted to adjust to the realities of fragile states and low income countries. In such cases, building democratic governance and effective institutions must be a priority.
I would particularly call your attention to recommendation #4. Democracies and free markets can’t operate in a vacuum – they require a free flow of information. The importance of having free and independent media that can not only expose corruption but also provide an educated, constructive evaluation of laws and regulations cannot be underestimated. The private sector can go long ways in supporting democratic development, creating opportunities for growth, and limiting widespread corruption by supporting and implementing initiatives in the area of economic journalism and access to information.
Published Date: April 05, 2006