Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing

Canada and the New Challenges Posed by Corruption in the New World Order: A Literature Review

by

Fernando Acosta, Ph.D.
Department of Criminology
University of Ottawa

Research and Evaluation Branch
Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services Directorate
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Ottawa, April 2003

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Government of Canada.

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Models of Analysis and Conceptual Difficulties
  Attempts at Definition
  The Essential Elements of Corruption
• The Causes and Cost of Corruption: An Open-ended Question
  Open Season on Corruption
• The Cause of Corruption
  Difficulties in This Area
  Causal Analysis and Economic Approach
• The Cost of Corruption
  Estimating the Cost
  What Is The Price of Corruption?
• The Legal Framework of Corruption
  The Legal Polysemy of Corruption
• Normative Instruments
  Internationally
  Nationally
• Means of Action
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Bibliography
• Appendices

Executive Summary

Traditionally seen as an individual behaviour or the sum of individual behaviours related to carrying out routine tasks in public affairs (awarding of contracts, awarding of grants, administration of public accounts, decision-making by agencies responsible for exercising executive power, etc.), corruption today more resembles a nebula, the components of which, while hiding the relationships that bind them together, encompass increasingly large areas: that of the complex machinery of the state, of course, but particularly that of corporate activities that, due to current economic reality, must go well beyond national borders. In very simple terms, although the era of “village corruption”—the work of crooked civil servants who could not see the line between their personal business and public affairs—is certainly far from being resolved, it is no less true that, in terms of economic, political, social and even moral impact, such corruption no longer compares to increasing corruption in the very mechanisms of governance.

In Canada, the main issues raised by this problem can be formulated as follows. Are those responsible for formulating criminal policies sufficiently aware of the challenges created by these new issues? Do the legal tools at our disposal to deal with this reality reflect the changes in this area? Furthermore, are they the most effective means of attaining their goals? In the field—i.e., where the action takes place—can we really say that those responsible for implementing these means have the necessary resources and expertise?

The answers to these questions obviously require the creation of a serious, long-range research program. The objective that we set for this study was the completion of the initial study of all initiatives in this area, i.e., analysis of all written documents (books, articles, research reports, institutional reports) over the last 10 to 15 years, in Canada and abroad, in the field of political-administrative corruption. We thus sought to identify the main theoretical orientations adopted, the most recent results regarding the causes and cost of corruption and the possible identification of emerging trends in this area. During this exercise, a number of conclusions and recommendations were formulated. They can be summarized as follows:

(i) Currently, there is disagreement as to the exact meaning of the term corruption, confusion that is further increased, on the one hand, by its conflicting definitions and, on the other, by it being downplayed in the news media. The relative stabilization (in the sense acquired over the last few years, as part of the economic and econometric orientation research that now dominates knowledge market research in this field) came about at the expense of the triumph of an idea of corruption in terms of its costs and benefits, which overshadows most of its significant sociopolitical and sociojudicial dimensions.

(ii) If, as a reference point, we examine the concerted efforts of international institutions that have, for at least ten years, been on a veritable crusade, the most disturbing and worrisome corruption is, first and foremost, that which occurs in developing countries. Corruption that exists, and has always existed, in central countries is of no particular interest, with the exception of the attention given it by Transparency International in its annual ranking published since 1995 (see Appendix 1 of this report).

(iii) As a result, research into the causes and cost of corruption—directly related to the economic analysis model of today’s dominant reality—has no immediate and direct interest in countries like Canada. Such research can nonetheless provide important opportunities for the exchange of ideas on the matter, an exchange that is unfortunately uncommon in this country.

(iv) Contrary to the well-established tendency to see corruption as simply an issue of criminal law—that is, a series of actions that can only be identified and understood using logic and the conceptual tools of criminal law—we could and should develop an approach that sees it as a two-edged legal phenomenon. In effect, corruption is no more criminal than it is a part of worlds as different as those that govern administrative law or, even more likely, those that govern the operation of certain parts of government apparatus. “Corruption,” it must be said once and for all, is in fact only the name that a normative system (in this case criminal law) gives to certain practices that other normative systems name and treat differently.

(v) The proliferation of international instruments for fighting corruption (Canada has subscribed to the most important of these) does not gauge effectiveness. Everything seems to indicate that their main value is primarily symbolic and, as such, they demonstrate a common, shared willingness (more or less) to recognize the existence of a problem that very distinctly affects the members of the international community.

(vi) One of the most important findings of this study is the political and legal impact of the emergence, over the last 10 to 15 years, of a new world order. The proliferation of international legal instruments and international and regional bodies in charge of a truly permanent “legal lobbying” operation are signs of a broadening of legal borders throughout the world, the impact of which on national prescriptive orders, particularly that of Canada, are still far from being clearly assessed.

The extreme lack of data regarding the many facets of political-administrative corruption in Canada is undeniable. This shortage increases each year, thus deepening the gulf of knowledge in this area, a gulf that separates and distances us from continually accumulating information of international institutions that regularly demand that we sign on to proposals and action programs that they put forth. To fill this gulf, at least partially, we are proposing the creation of a multidisciplinary corruption research program composed of a number of separate studies; the results will eventually be integrated into a substantial and detailed report on the state of corruption in Canada.

To obtain an electronic copy of the complete report (PDF), please send a request by e-mail to the Research and Evaluation Section (Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services) of the RCMP research_evaluation@rcmp-grc.gc.ca