Systems Thinking Case Study #18:
Systemic structures that has made corruption resistant to changes
HOW COME CORRUPTION DOES NOT SEEM TO ABATE AND INSTEAD CONTINUE
TO SPREAD DESPITE AWARENESS, VIGILANCE AND ENFORCEMNENT EFFORTS?
Short-notes / stories heard at dialogue:


  • People who at one time vehemently against corruption, over time inextricably becomes involved in corruption.
  • "They just want money and no amount will ever make them happy enough."
  • "They look down on me, and say that "I must be mad" not to accept a job that allows me to make money through
    corruption."
  • "Corruption is so blatant yet we do not notice it as it has become a way of life for us - we just do it - unintentionally."
  • "If I stayed on the job, I hate it when I have to get up every morning to go to the job.  So I decided to quit."
  • "If I did not bribe for the job, I would be assigned to a post that would need me to travel very far from home."
  • "The passport is already made and is 'sitting' in the office for the past two weeks.  Just to get the passport out of
    the room, I had to pay 1 million baht.  Otherwise, I would not have been able to attend this conference in time.  I
    hated that I had to pay the bribe.  But I had no choice!!"
  • "Since I did not take bribes, my colleagues threatened me and I was left with no choice but to quit my job."
  • "Why would one need to work so hard in our studies to do well if it only mattered to offer bribes to get into the
    job.  Where's the incentive to learn?"
  • "The (people in the) government is very rich.  The rich is very rich and the poor is very poor."
  • "Yes, I hate the government!"
  • "Corruption is too big to be managed.  There is no way out!  Why bother?"
  • "We did not hear the other side of this story!"
  • "When a wife learned that her husband took bribes, she felt ashamed to live on money that had been taken away
    from other people.  So she divorced her husband."
  • "There is a joke, a funny story of a woman who detested (and wanted everyone to know how much she disliked)
    custom officials as she needed to pay them bribe every time she needed to import or export goods out of the
    country.  However, when she found out her prospective son-in-law was a customs officer she promptly agreed to
    the marriage!"


Short-notes on the structure:
  • Corruption and bribery is a function of the relationship between people and government.  As the quality of the
    relationship between the two worsens, bribery and corruption escalates
  • There is an 'invisible' line drawn between the two yet in reality the people and the government are the same (the
    people are also the very ones that become government officials)
  • When people are involved in corruption, either being asked to pay bribes or offer bribes to get what they want,
    then it is possible that the people do not have enough money left to pay taxes.  Besides, it looks like I have already
    been paying the government.  But in reality there is no money in the coffers of the government (the people in the
    government may be rich) to develop and implement administrative processes and systems (beyond the basics) to
    support the needs (and wants) of the people.
  • Corruption increases with perceived sense of impoverishment or poverty in the country.
  • When corruption increases, the perceived sense of confidence in one's voice and reasoning is lost and people lose
    confidence in their personal abilities to make significant achievements.
  • The trick is not to work on corruption per se but at improving the relationship between the two parties and watch
    corruption go away by itself.


Short-notes on the intervention:

  • Long-term: Begin to ask the question, if we wiped out corruption, what do we need to evolve in its place?  What
    does that mean in terms of quality of the administrative process, what new skills and capabilities are required to
    make these possible?  How do we help our people learn the requisite skills needed?  What could we do to increase
    people's confidence to do this?  What is needed today in terms of resources, time, effort and our willingness to work
    together to make that happen?  What is the order in which this happens?

  • Medium-term: Build up the willingness and the capacity to pay taxes.  What could be done to attract investments
    that reach the private sector and thereby increase people's ability to pay taxes.  Restore the quality of relationship
    between people and government (NOT by proving how 'right' one is) by helping the group to stand back and
    understand the big picture and forces at play that is creating corruption.  What could we do in the short-term to
    stop the destructive nature of the relationship between the two sides?  What is the role we are playing that is
    contributing to the problem.  Actions to stop, start and continue.

  • Building a greater sense of confidence and equality by sharing stories of ways one can learn to avoid
    corruption (and therefore not subordinating oneself to the bribee and recognize continuing to do so, would
    only increase one's level of frustration within the system).  Reachout through networks.

  • As the confidence improves, consider involving the people in gaining a deeper systemic appreciation of why
    corruption occurs in societies (see causal loop above) and to begin to develop systemic solutions.  Reachout
    through workshops, dialogues and publicity programmes.  Be wary of tendencies to reach solutions that
    increases the aggression between the people and government.

  • Think of small community projects that help wipe poverty off the streets and / or any other signs of poverty,
    i.e. cleanliness, health, fostering environmental protection (more greenery and nature).  This helps improve
    one's sense of personal achievement.
Some useful links:

Corruption in the spotlight as Russia hosts G8 summit:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/europe/view/219338/1/.html

Corruption Fighter's Toolkit:  
http://www.transparency.org/tools/e_toolkit/corruption_fighters_tool_kit_special_edition_2004

Transparency International - the global coalition against corruption: http://www.transparency.org/
WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF WE LEARN TO APPLY THESE STRATEGIES?

WHAT MIGHT MAKE IT DIFFICULT OR GET IN THE WAY OF MAKING THESE HAPPEN?

WHAT KEEPS OUR CONVERSATIONS LIKE THESE AND IS MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THESE
STRUCTURES?

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INHERENT SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE: REINFORCING LOOP (ESCALATION)
To download the picture to print, click here
To download the dialogue process, click here:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/LOPN/files/Learning%20Organization%20Projects/Economic%20Sustainability/
Corruption%20Project/