Corruption exists in many parts of the world and has negative impacts. It occurs when legitimate means of obtaining power, influence or other gains are circumvented through illegitimate means like bribery. Some key causes of corruption include poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and weak governance. Effects include lack of quality public services, unemployment, poor health, pollution, and accidents. It also decreases foreign investment and economic growth. Proposed solutions involve creating jobs, increasing wages of public employees, implementing anti-corruption bodies and technology, and reducing drug use to curb related corruption. Corruption is difficult to eliminate and a concerted effort is needed from governments and citizens.

1. In this economical increase rapidly era, money is everything for the person who wants for
the political power and high position in their field. But when they comes to a problem that is
hard to solve or the approval is hard to pass, here comes the corruption to make the things can
solve faster. Corruption can mean different things for different people. In short, corruption
means the practice of obtaining power, influence, or other personal gains through illegitimate
means, often at others' expense. The more widespread and acceptable corrupt methods are in a
given society, the more corrupt that society is said to be. Corruption has resulted to crises in
many parts of the world, and those on top have used it to take advantage of others (HubPages,
2016).
Typically, the word calls to mind political corruption, which could refer to a politician who,
rather than letting the voters decide to elect him, will bribe and steal his way into office. A
corrupt company, for example, may only promote individuals who perform personal favours for
their boss. Corruption in a university setting may take the form of lecturers accepting cash for
higher marks. Corruption exists in any institution where legitimate means of getting ahead are
circumvented by allowing individuals to enhance their personal power with money or favours.
As a result, it becomes harder or impossible for others to operate above board. Why is
corruption bad? If the proper channels to power and influence (working hard, not breaking the
law, doing well on university exams, running a persuasive political campaign, etc.) are closed
off, only those with money and connections will be able to succeed. Those who can neither
afford bribes nor know who to call to get jobs for their children are out of luck. In short,
corruption only benefits those who already have power, money, and influence (HubPages,
2016).
Since a lot of corruption is undetected, it is often measured by the perception of corruption
within a given country. If people believe their country is corrupt, then that is taken as an

2. indication that it is. Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI), most
recently tabulated in 2013, uses polls and third-party assessments to score and rank public-
sector corruption around the world. According to Transparency International's 2013 CPI, the 10
most corrupt countries in the world are: Somalia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Sudan, South
Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Syria, and Uzbekistan. The least corrupt countries according
to Transparency International are: Denmark. New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Norway,
Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, and Canada (HubPages, 2016).
(Source: HubPages, 2016).
What are the causes of corruption? People do not indulge in corrupt practice because they
like doing so; rather, it is often their only option. To an extent, the causes of corruption vary
from place to place. The causes of corruption in a closed dictatorship like North Korea may not
be the same in a large democracy like Kenya. But there are still some general causes:
 Poverty: Poverty not only encourages corruption, but corrupt public institutions in turn
exacerbate poverty. The poor engage in corrupt practices out of desperation, but the only
people who benefit in the long run are those already in power. It's no coincidence that the
most corrupt countries often have the poorest citizens, or are otherwise ravished by war and

3. violence. 80% of Africans live on less than $2 a day. In 2010, the United Nations estimated
that 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were undernourished. When the poor do not
have what they will eat, they are forced to make money through cut-corners which are
corrupt. The countries at the bottom of the corruption rankings, mostly in northern Europe,
are among the wealthiest in the world. While it is difficult to say whether poverty causes
corruption or corruption causes poverty, there is no question that the two are linked.
 Illiteracy and Poor Education: Similar to poverty, the most corrupt countries are often
those with low rates of adult literacy. Literacy can prevent corruption in a number of ways.
First, those who can read well are more likely to read newspapers and online media, and
therefore be able to critically evaluate their own public institutions and politicians.
Corruption feeds off ignorance. Second, basic education makes people more likely to find
stable careers, and therefore they are less desperate. Again, while it's hard to say whether
illiteracy causes corruption, or whether literacy can stop corruption, the table below
illustrates that the countries with low literacy rates are higher up in the corruption ranking
than those with high literacy rates.
 Unemployment. Similar to education and literacy, the unemployed are more likely to
succumb to illegal ways of making money out of desperation. Many internet scammers and
other grifters engage in this type of activity because they lack the opportunity to make
legitimate gains. How do the countries with the highest rates of unemployment fare on the
corruption scale?
 Greed: Greediness is impossible to tabulate, but it is undoubtedly an important cause of
corruption. Corruption continues to exist because the people with the most in a society are
not content with what they have. They more they have, the more they want to acquire. In

4. corrupt societies, politics is an avenue for greed as leaders use their positions to embezzle
vast amounts of public funds meant for the public good.
 Weak Governments: In corrupt societies, governments are unable or unwilling to stop
corruption. They lack strong-willed or impartial anti-corruption agencies, and such agencies
can easily be swallowed into corruption themselves. When such agencies are honest, their
work is slow. In the worst cases, leaders staff anti-corruption agencies with their friends. The
impotence of governments in the face of corruption is mimicked in the private sector.
Corrupt business practices continue because executives are often the beneficiaries of those
practices. A government which is weak cannot fight corruption because he will not in any
way be propelled to take good action.
 Drug Trafficking: Drug use is often practiced by disaffected youth, who in turn create
demand for a drug market that fuels corruption. In countries like the United States, hard
drugs are commonly associated with crime among delinquent youths. The country's demand
for drugs has allowed cartels in Mexico and Central America to flourish, and the Mexican
government is frequently held hostage by the will of powerful drug gangs running supplies
into the United States and elsewhere.
(MindControversy, 2016).
After these causes to make the corruption happen, there are some negative effects of
corruption that impact on different field. First the effect of the corruption on people will be
significant in the citizen’s eyes. There will be a lack of quality in services for the citizen by the
government servant. In a system with corruption there is no quality of service. To demand
quality one might need to pay for it. This is seen in many areas like municipality, electricity,
distribution of relief funds etc. If a person has to purchase a like medicine, due
to corruption in education then the candidate after completion of his course will not like to

5. provide quality health service if there is not enough remuneration for his
service. Further candidates who do not have the ability can also get into the same seat by
purchasing it. So though he becomes a medical practitioner, he may not be competent enough.
Chances of Unemployment: This we can see with an example. The private education and
training institutes are given permits to start providing education. This permit is given based on
the infrastructure and sufficient recruitment of eligible staff. Here there are good chances of
corruption. The institute or college managements try to bribe the quality inspectors so as to get
permits. Though there are no sufficient eligible staff these institutes get permission by the
inspectors leading to unemployment. Instead of 10 faculty a college is run by 5. So, even if well
qualified persons wish to get job there, they will not be offered. If there was no corruption by
inspectors, then there would be chance for more employment.
Poor Health and hygiene: In countries with more corruption one can notice more health
problems among people. There will be no fresh drinking water, proper roads, quality food
grains supply, milk adulteration, etc (MindControversy, 2016).
These low quality services are all done to save money by the contractors and the officials
who are involved. Even the medicines provided in hospitals for the hospitals are of sub-standard
quality. So all these can contribute to ill health of common man.
Pollution: Pollution is mostly emitted in the form of water pollution, air pollution and land
pollution. This pollution is from vehicles and factories. The governments have a monitor on this
pollution by regular check of vehicle emissions and also industrial exhausts (MindControversy,
2016).
Corruption in the government department lets the industry people opt to release of untreated
and harmful waste into rivers and air. If there is no corruption, there can be fair probes. Then the

6. industry personnel will treat the waste such that it is less toxic and harmless to environment and
people in it. So we can mean that corruption is also the main cause of pollution.
Accidents: Sanction of driving license without proper check of driving skills in the driver
leads to accidents and death. Due to corruption, there are countries where one can driving
license without any tests (MindControversy, 2016).
Failure of genuine research: Research by individuals needs government funding. Some of
the funding agencies have corrupt officers. These people sanction the funds for research to those
investigators who are ready to bribe them. In doing so, they do not sanction the funds to genuine
and hardworking investigators. Thus the research and development will be lagging. This seems
to be not a problem to the common public. But if we notice the resistance of microbes to drugs,
we can know that there were no new compounds discovered in the past few decades for efficient
treatment of resistant microbes (MindControversy, 2016).
After explaining the effect of corruption on the citizen, there are some effects of corruption
on society. The corruption will occur the disregard for officials. People start disregarding the
official involved in corruption by talking negatively about him. But when they have work with
him or her, they again approach them by a thought that the work is done if some monetary
benefits are provided. Disregard towards officials will also build distrust. Even lower grade
officer will be disrespectful to higher grade officer. So even he may not obey his orders. There
were even incidents where a lower grade police officer kidnapped higher grade officer for not
offering him leave when asked. Next will be the lack of respect of rulers. Rulers of the nation
like president or prime ministers lose respect among the public. Respect is main criteria in
social life. People go for voting during election not only with the desire to improve their living
standards by the election winner but also with respect for the leader. If the politicians involve in
corruption, people knowing this will lose respect for them and will not like to cast their vote for

7. such politicians. Lack of faith and trust on the governments will be happen on the citizen
thoughts. People vote to a ruler based on their faith in him/ her. But if found to be involved in
corruption people lose faith in them and may not vote next time. Sincere, honest and
hardworking people develop aversion to apply for the post though they like to as they believe
that they also need to be involved in corruption if they get into post (MindControversy, 2016).
Here comes the last part of the effect of the corruption which is the effect on the economy.
As the definition of the corruption is relates to money, therefore the economy is the biggest part
that been affecting in the whole process of the corruption. Decrease in foreign investment:
There are many incidents where in foreign investments which were willing to come to India
have gone back owing to heavy corruption in the government bodies.
Delay in growth: Due to desire to mint money and other unlawful benefits, the official who
need to pass the clearances for projects or industries delay the process. A work which can be
done in few day may be done in months’ time. This leads to delay in investments, starting of
industries and also growth. Even if started, company growth hinders as every work linked to
officials get delayed due to need to provide bribes or other benefits
Lack of development: Many new industries wiling to get started in particular region
change their plans if the region is unsuitable. If there are no proper roads, water and electricity,
the companies do not wish to start up there. This hinders the economic progress of that region.
Differences in trade ratio’s: Some countries have inefficient standard control institutes. Or in
other word these standard control institutes are corrupt that they can approve low quality
products for sale in their country. Hence you can see countries manufacturing cheap products
dump them in big markets. These countries can manufacture cheap quality products but cannot
dump in countries with strict standard control institutes. They can do so only in countries with
chances of corrupt officials in standard control. One best example is China products which can’t

8. be just dumped into Europe and US markets. But can be done in Indian and African markets. So
there arises trade deficit that these countries cannot manufacture their own products at cheaper
price than those exporting to them. So if corruption is minimized than these countries will have
less trade deficits in-terms of exports and imports with other countries and their economies can
prosper. (MindControversy, 2016).
After explaining the effect of the corruption on the different sector of a country, the solution
will also be prepared to cope with the impact that bring by the corruption.
 Employment Creation: The government and powerful individuals should work together to
create jobs for the masses. Those countries that lack technological development should
invite other countries and private companies to help them build their technological
infrastructure. When the masses make money and learn skills as employees of those
companies, they can start their own businesses. This will, in turn, create more jobs for the
citizens of the country. Governments should encourage skill-acquisition programs and
employment seminars. The people that gain those skills will develop their own businesses
with time and start employing others. Within companies, mentorship programs can ensure
that skills and knowledge are passed on to younger employees (HubPages, 2016).
 Pay Public Employees a Living Wage: It may seem counter intuitive to pay corrupt
employees more, but if police officers and low-level bureaucrats make enough money by
working, they won't feel the need to take bribes. In Nigeria, policemen are considered to be
the most corrupt institution in the country, according to the 2003 Nigeria Corruption Survey
Study. In eight of the nine most corrupt nations in 2013, more than 80% of residents
considered the police to be corrupt. Public employees should also undergo anti-corruption
training and education, emphasizing the negative effects of corruption (HubPages, 2016).

9.  Surveillance: Electronic monitors, computer programs, and other technologies can monitor
corruption in government and businesses. In corrupt countries, the use of technology can be
preferable to relying on anti-corruption agencies staffed with friends of corrupt governments.
The installation of these technologies should be done secretly, without the companies’
awareness, or in a way that makes them impossible to be tampered with (HubPages, 2016).
 Anti-Corruption Bodies: Each country should have anti-corruption initiatives. At the same
time, there should be an international body monitoring corruption around the world without
the need to answer to the rich and powerful within corrupt societies. The problem with some
anti-corruption bodies is that many of them do not carry out their functions well. Many of
them are too weak. Any country with strong anti-corruption body will win the war against
corruption, and international cooperation can enhance domestic efforts (HubPages, 2016).
 Curbing Drug Intake: Reducing the corruption that results from the drug trade involves the
efforts of both the government and its people. The drug trade relies on the demand for hard
drugs. Seminars should be held on a regular basis where people will be taught the negative
impact of hard drugs. Governments should also sponsor television programs where doctors
who have good teaching skills will highlight the disadvantages of hard drugs. In institutions
of higher learning, a course on drug use should be integrated into the curriculum. This will
help reduce corrupt practices to some extent (HubPages, 2016).
After analysing the cause, effect and the solution of the corruption, the corruption is not
easily finding out when it is mixed with different relationships in different sector of the
important part in the country, like politic, economy and law. Everyone in the country need to
take notice on the change of the status of the government to prevent the corruption happen on
the government that will damage the citizen rights in the future. By looking at GDP of the
country will not present the country is not under the effect of corruption, it need to be observe

10. from the living pattern of the citizen in a long term life. The number of the citizen having the
rejection on the new policy of the government also can slightly show that the government has
potential corruption between other sides of the power in the country. The citizen need to take
care of their country by avoiding the treats that given by the political person in the field to get
more support on their election.

11. References
1. HubPages (2016), Corruption: Causes and Solutions [Online], available at
http://hubpages.com/politics/corruption-solutionandcuses [Accessed at 15 July 2016].
2. MindControversy (2012), 8 Effects of Corruption| On People, Society & Economy [Online],
available at http://www.mindcontroversy.com/impact-effects-corruption-public-life-india/
[Accessed at 15 July 2016].
3. DOMÈNEC MELÉ (2014), Corruption: 10 Possible Causes [Online], available at
http://blog.iese.edu/ethics/2014/11/06/corruption-10-possible-causes/ [Accessed at 16 July
2016].
4. Anna Kochanova (2015), How does corruption affect economic growth? [Online], available
at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/05/how-does-corruption-affect-economic-growth/
[Accessed at 16 July 2016].
5. Transparency Ethiopia (2016), What are the effects of corruption? [Online], available at
http://transparencyethiopia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17%3A
[Accessed at 17 July 2016].