Perspective Chapter: From Ancient Times to Modern World – Corruptus

Abstract

From ancient times to modern times, corruption has been ingrained in human society and is still a powerful issue in the contemporary world. According to The Oxford Dictionary, corruption is defined as “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.” However, this word comes from a Latin word: corruptus, and it means “man, bribe, and destroy.” As mentioned, the act of corruption is as old as ancient human history and still ingrained in human history. Because the global economy expanded significantly during the twentieth century, it is far from a problem that cannot be solved. It is difficult to estimate the global magnitude and extent of corruption, since these activities are carried out in secret. This paper is a summary of the modern world and searches the impact of the globe.

1. Introduction

Corruption has been ingrained in human society from ancient times to the present and still it continues to be a significant problem in the world. “Corruption” is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries as “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.” This word, however, is derived from the Latin word “Corruptus,” which means “to corrupt and destroy man” [1]. The difficulty faced with the meaning of this word is to define and analyze it. The problem has caused by different people interpret it differently and there is no direct definition. It is typically defined as the use of public office for private gain. However, defining corruption is a social and political process, despite the universal condemnation of certain lines and behaviors. The World Bank defines corruption as the misuse of public authority for private gain. This is the most common and straightforward form of this word.

As previously stated, corruption is as ancient as human history itself and remains deeply ingrained in human history. Between 3100 and 2600 B.C., the first dynasty of ancient Egypt was notorious for corruption in its judiciary. The ancient Greeks gave the term “corruption” multiple connotations. Corruption is associated with the loss of physical form, integrity, or moral virtue. The ancient Greeks gave “corruption” a variety of interpretations. It also refers to a loss of physical form, integrity, or moral excellence. However, there is a significant conceptual gap, for example, between Aristophanes’ emphasis on the corruption of words in the context of the need for language purity and attacks on Socrates as corrupting the young. However, Polybius¹, a Greek historian, defined corruption as the natural transition from one form of government to another.

From ancient times to the present, corruption has been an insurmountable obstacle. The accusations of conflict of interest and dishonesty leveled against the price matter a great deal, but it is not simply a matter of morality and virtue. Corruption that was prevalent in the Greek civilization of the fifth century was the cradle of democracy. The greatest Greek poets appear to teach in the Odyssey that one should never appear at a royal or aristocratic court without a gift, and that it is imprudent to refuse a gift. There were laws in Athens that punished those who accepted earnings for private interests at the expense of the collective interest, but it is important to remember that these private interests included slavery and clientelism, as well as a political system that required unpaid public office, which did little to encourage proper officer conduct.

2. Brief History of Corruption and Analysis

In ancient Rome, the term “corruption” first appeared on the scene. The term derives from the Latin “corrumpere,” which means, in legal terms, the manumission of a judicial document in exchange for compensation and, in a broader sense, an unsavory action, a system in decline and deterioration.

In the political life of ancient Rome, corruption had already reached a significant level by that time. However, the structures of the Roman state remained stable for centuries until they were weakened. Julius Caesar, who lived from 100 to 44 B.C., is notorious for employing any means, including violence and money, to obtain the consulate, eliminate the corrupt Senate, and found a new Rome. During the Middle Ages, no specific notions of political corruption were established. The altered social conditions contributed to the transformation of corruption into a more complex configuration of man’s moral, spiritual, and corporeal vices, which Adam’s original sin unleashed upon the world. In the Early Middle Ages, between the fifth and tenth centuries, an economic system is based on exchange corresponding to social bonds “legalized in the custom if not in public documents.” The period of the Protestant Reformation, with its explicit condemnation of corruption at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, contributed to the separation of simony from the civil buying and selling of the favors of public officials. It was a transition that would not be completed until the commercial revolution and the beginning of the industrial age, a time when conflicts of interest between rulers and entrepreneurs increased. Consequently, it became evident that greater regulation of business, trade, and free enterprise endeavors was necessary. When individuals in positions of public trust began to view corruption as a modern crime, corruption was considered a full-fledged offense.

Corruption is a global problem that is unrelated to culture and religion. According to the article written by Çoşgel et al. (2013), in Ottoman times, to prevent corruption, the personnel responsible for adjudicating criminals were not also responsible for punishing them, and periodically these public officials rotated between regions. Their compensation consisted of shares of criminal fines and local taxes. Insights from recent literature about law and economics reveal the details of how this system deployed fines to deter crime and how it served to control corruption. However, by the late seventh and eighteenth centuries, the system changes over time, and the collapse of the system caused to peter out of an Empire.

In the article A Case of Corruption within the Ottoman Bureaucracy written by Barkey [2] gives an example of how to corrupt Ottoman Empire in the sixteen century. The study indicates that around 1590, the issue of corruption in the relations between Ragusans² and Ottoman officials was not concealed at the time and was only revealed ex post in modern research. As in other instances, Ragusan documents contain multiple accounts of various forms of extortion employed by Ottoman officials, especially in trade-related matters. The issue of Ottoman officials’ corruption and misuse of wealth was so prevalent in Ragusan society that it even appeared in contemporary dramaturgy. Ivan Gunduli’s epic poem Osman is the most notable example in this regard. The story takes place after the battle of Chocim (1621), in which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth decisively defeated the Ottoman army. Another research [3] shows that is similarly, the ancient Ottoman warriors are described with an emphasis on their uncomplaining disposition and Spartan way of life (I, 117–188). Gunduli portrays contemporary Ottoman officials as unfaithful, corrupt, spoiled, effeminate, lustful, and fearful (I, 189–252), passing a harsh moral judgment on their debauchery and venality. In short, they portrayed as having all the worst characteristics that a government official and a warrior could possess. In the plot, the young sultan accepts full historical responsibility for the situation (I, 269–272), stating, “We who, to increase our wealth, /Care for nothing else, /and what was once the hero’s reward/is now the emperor’s trade.”

Similar scenes has also depicted during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in history. Gunduli’s notions of justice and good governance are intricately intertwined with procedural concepts, and the ruling class’s unfaithfulness is an exclusive characteristic of the “other.”

Corruption is a challenging historical phenomenon to discuss. In the late 1980s and 1990s, after decades of relative neglect, it became an important subject in political science. In 1997, the guest editors of a special issue on corruption in the journal Crime, Law, and Social Change noted “the paradox of an inconclusive debate about definitions and a consensus on the severity of the phenomenon” – a statement that is still valid. There have been discussions about the pros and cons of many ways to define corruption, which cannot be exhaustively covered in this paper.

The initial collapse of the Soviet Union put an end to the political hypocrisy that had led the leaders of industrialized nations to ignore political corruption in certain nations. If they were in the correct political camp, evident instances of high-level corruption were frequently ignored. It is now widely acknowledged that centrally planned economies, such as the Soviet Union, or those that imitated them through highly regimented economic activities, such as Nicaragua and Tanzania, were rife with corruption. However, something has begun to change. Those who had already rejected this realpolitik development in the Old World on a commercial basis, with all the attendant cynicism, decided to sever ties with the past and establish a new order in the New World at this precise historical moment. Recent European history shows that the decline in corruption is frequently attributed to economic expansion.

The phenomenon known as corruption has drawn considerable attention, especially in the 1990s. Governments in developed and developing countries, large and small, market-oriented, or otherwise, have fallen because of corruption allegations; prominent politicians, including presidents and prime ministers, have lost their official positions; and in some instances, entire political classes have been replaced. The number, variety, and importance of countries experiencing scandals demonstrate the complexity and global significance of the phenomenon. When widespread and unchecked, corruption stifles economic development and undermines political legitimacy. Or less frequent variants of corruption are waste of resources, increase inequity in resource distribution, diminished political competition, and increased mistrust of the government. Teapot Dome Scandals is one of the best examples of how corruption stifles the economy. To cut a long story short, The Teapot Dome Scandal was the largest of scandals in the United States during Warren Harding’s presidency. Teapot Dome is an oil field in Wyoming that the US Navy has reserved for emergency use. Oil companies and politicians claimed that the reserves were unnecessary and that the oil companies could supply the Navy on their own in the event of a shortage.

Considering the aforementioned information, the effects of corruption extend beyond the corrupt individuals, the innocent coworkers who are implicated, and the organizations for which they work.

In the twentieth century, as the global economy expanded significantly, corruption increased. Because these activities have conducted in secret, it is difficult to estimate the global magnitude and scope of corruption. Today, the World Bank estimates that international bribery exceeds US$1.5 trillion per year, which is equivalent to 2% of the global GDP and 10 times the total global aid budget. Other estimates range from 2 to 5% of the global GDP. Corruption permeates all levels of society, from low-level government workers who accept bribes to national leaders who steal millions of dollars. Over $1 trillion has paid annually in bribes across the globe, enriching the corrupt and robbing future generations of a future.

Corruption is a global phenomenon that leads to poverty, impedes development, and discourages investment. In addition, it undermines the political and judicial systems, which are supposed to serve the public interest. As the rule of law deteriorates and the people’s voices have stifled, it is unsurprising that public confidence in government officials and national institutions declines. In contrast, corruption has fallen much more broadly and directly in developing nations. According to the transparency index of transparency.org (202), South Sudan listed the most corrupted country in the world. Also, South Sudan, poverty is widespread, with at least 80% of the population classified as low income According to the data of World Bank between the years of 2009–2016, poverty headcount ratio is only 1.9 USD a day. In the line of World data Info In Turkey, the “Corruption Perceptions Index” for the public sector showed 62 points for 2021. The scale runs from 0 to 100, with the higher the number indicating greater corruption. Turkey was ranked 100th because of this result. As a result, it is slightly below average when compared to other countries. In 2021, the level of corruption increased slightly over the previous year. Long term, it has also increased moderately in recent years. Economic indicators in Turkey have also changed proportionally with the level of corruption.

According to the news of [4], President Dilma Rousseff has impeached following allegations of government account manipulation, drawing even more attention to Brazil because of a high-profile corruption scandal. The developing world faces numerous obstacles that the developed world does not, corruption being one of them.

The Panama Papers revealed how wealthy individuals around the world were able to avoid paying taxes by storing their funds in offshore accounts. By transferring profits across borders and exploiting legal loopholes, multinational corporations such as Facebook, Google, and Starbucks have been able to keep more of their money out of the hands of their respective governments.

On the other hand, corruption must also be examined from an economic standpoint because macroeconomic impact of corruption is massive. In South Sudan case, people cannot meet their vital needs such as food and clean water. People in developed nations, which have historically spent a great deal of money to help other nations grow and acquire power, are increasingly critical of foreign aid. However, all these aids are unsuccessful to solve this matter. Because if the countries receiving aid continue to face corruption issues, it will continue to grow. By keeping the corrupt in power, foreign aid to corrupt governments harms rather than helps the population. Corruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and the most vulnerable, increasing costs and restricting access to services such as health, education, and justice. The human cost of counterfeit drugs and vaccinations on health outcomes, as well as the long-term consequences for children, far exceed the financial costs. The poor can be particularly harmed by unofficial payments for services.

Moreover, numerous economists view corruption as a problem whenever a utility-maximizing agent is bribed to disobey the instructions of a principal. In this circumstance, the agent’s utility is diminished. This strategy has led to the creation of policies that monitor behavior, criminalize bribery, and provide incentives for complying with instructions. But corruption is a problem between principals and agents? Individual agents may view corruption as undesirable and desire its eradication, but when corruption is pervasive, there are few incentives to behave honorably and avoid corrupt agreements. Because corruption is profitable, it is widespread. The entire system must be altered to reach a point where there is less corruption, moral standards are higher, and avoiding and condemning corruption is the norm.

This demonstrates how crucial it is for there to be shifts in the prevalent morality. The prevalence of utilitarian and incentive-based approaches has harmed both the notion that moral forces are required to combat corruption and the way corruption is treated as an ethical problem.

Unfortunately, corruption erodes public confidence and imperils the social contract. Moreover, corruption causes and maintains the inequality and discontent that lead to instability, violent extremism, and war throughout the world, but particularly in fragile and violent regions. Another negative impact is that it impedes economic growth and the creation of jobs. According to empirical studies, the poorest individuals pay the greatest proportion of their income in bribes. Again, in some studies, the poor may be preyed upon because they are perceived as being incapable of complaining. Each dollar, euro and all currencies that are misappropriated or stolen, deprives the poor of an equal opportunity in life and prevents governments from investing in their human resources.

Therefore, the question would be how can the world fight against the corruption or what can we (as the humanity) done to solve this matter? It turns out that education is the most effective means of mitigating the risks posed by graft. While many people in the developed world could identify corruption, this is not the case in other regions. Children in developing nations will view corruption as a threat that must be addressed immediately if more emphasis is placed on educating the youth about corrupt and noncorrupt conduct.

The paper written by [5] underlines a similar dynamic between historical levels of education (in 1870) and contemporary (2010) levels of corruption across 78 countries, and they focused on historical levels of education because:

1. Education has been one of the few factors that have been linked to lower levels of corruption;

2. Education leads to other factors that promote honesty, such as generalized trust and a sense of identity with the entire country rather than with specific sects or groups;

3. Higher levels of education lead to greater levels of wealth and equality for countries, both of which are linked to lower levels of corruption.

According to the study, more corrupt countries [6] are less likely to invest in higher education. However, investigating this is outside of our agenda—and data. It makes no sense to “predict” 1870 education levels based on current corruption perceptions, and there are no measures of corruption for the nineteenth century.

The article written by Dridi [7] underlined the relationship between the education and corruption with analyzing the cross-country regression analysis, and it shows that corruption strongly linked with education. This paper is also emphasized that increased poverty and income inequalities are another way that corruption can affect education.

On the other hand, achieving success in the fight against corruption requires concerted efforts to overcome entrenched interests. Transparency and open governance comprise a portion of the narrative in most cases, but rarely the entire narrative. When public outrage over cronyism and corruption reaches a tipping point, it may be more politically advantageous to address the issue than to offend special interests. Even if there are few efforts to change the system, it is still possible to make progress by implementing more effective and transparent procedures, implementing professional accountability systems, and utilizing the most recent and cutting-edge technologies to collect, analyze, and share data to identify and punish corrupt behavior.

Many of the world’s most costly forms of corruption would not be possible without the institutions in wealthy nations: the private sector companies that give large bribes, the financial institutions that accept corrupt proceeds, and the lawyers, bankers, and accountants who facilitate corrupt transactions. According to the findings of research on international financial flows, the transfer of funds from impoverished to wealthy nations is fundamentally detrimental to development. Countries that successfully combat corruption could make better use of their human and financial resources, attract more investment, and experience faster economic growth overall.

The World Bank estimates that the average annual income of individuals living in developing nations would quadruple over the course of many decades if these nations were able to successfully combat corruption and institutionalize the rule of law. On average, the commercial sector could expand by an additional 3% points. Foreign direct investments incur a de facto tax of approximately 20 percent when corruption is tolerated. Controlling corruption has the potential to improve several socioeconomic indicators, including a 75% reduction in infant mortality.

3. Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper tries to identify and discuss the definition of corruption with historical perspective. Also, this paper tries to emphasize the negative impact of corruption throughout the world with comparing different countries with giving examples. Because the problem of corruption has been ingrained the humanity since the ancient times and it became unsolved global problem, and it would be a necessitate solution that can be implemented on a global scale. Corruption is easily spread and has no regard for geographical or professional boundaries. The impact is so harmful in many ways. However, people pay a great deal of attention to the global issue of corruption. It is impossible to quantify corruption, but it is possible to quantify how people feel about it. Several institutions have created many corruption indices, which have been utilized by numerous researchers. Even though there are things that can be done to reduce corruption, the fight against it cannot be separated from the need to reform the state’s functions. This is since certain government actions almost always foster an environment conducive to corruption. Globalization, in all its manifestations, has brought people from countries with low levels of corruption into contact with those from countries where corruption is pervasive. Therefore, globalization has a great role to fight against corruption. In recent years, nongovernmental organizations such as Transparency International have played an increasingly vital role, and in recent years, international financial institutions and organizations have gained increasing significance in the fight against corruption. Yet, it is not enough… In 2019, Transparency International estimates that corruption will cost the developing nations of the world a total of $1.26 trillion per year; however, the EMEA continues to view corruption as acceptable. Given the significant expansion of the global economy during the twentieth century, this is by no means an insurmountable obstacle. Because these kinds of operations are conducted in private, it is difficult to obtain an accurate estimate of the scale and scope of global corruption.

To sum up, this study provides an overview of the contemporary world and an analysis of the pursuit of global influence. Undoubtedly, public or state enterprises have been a significant source of corruption, particularly political corruption. Today, this problem remains unsolved, but people have become conscious to the impact of it. This gives a hope to create a better world.