The Effects of Corruption in a Developing Nation

While this is an old study of corruption, it is useful for a number of reasons: first, it is majorly cited in both old and recent literature on political corruption, and it alludes to the ways in which the impact of corruption was dealt with in the literature. The article stems from a trend arguing that corruption does not necessarily have a negative impact. While the author does exert a clear dichotomy between “western” and “non-western” states, these arguments are important given their continued influence on understanding political corruption. By focusing on the Indian experience, the author postulates a number of harmful effects of corruption that include: representing a failure to achieve the objectives sought by governments; representing a rise in the price of administration; diminishing the total amount expended for public purposes; exerting a corrupting influence on other members of administrative apparatus; and causing blackmail and litigation. Some of the positive effects of corruption mentioned include the increased allocation of resources away from consumption towards investment; increasing the quality of the work of public servants; providing a means of giving persons excluded from power a stake in the system; and reducing the harshness of an elite conceived plan for economic and social development.