NCJ Number
206842
Date Published
2004
Length
82 pages
Annotation
This report is the product of an audit of Australia's strengths and weaknesses as a democracy, conducted by the Political Science Program in the Australian National University's Research School of Social Sciences.
Abstract
The first section of the report addresses the definition and identification of corruption. It notes that there is no authoritative consensus on the definition of corruption, because it is inevitably linked to subjective perceptions of what is in the public interest. Further, the report advises that however corruption might be defined, its actual incidence is difficult to determine empirically because its perpetrators are often adept at keeping it hidden or promoting its acceptance in public opinion. The section on the definition of corruption concludes with a discussion of the dangers of having unelected public servants become politicized to the point that they are more loyal to the party in power than to the public they are expected to serve. A case study of corruption perceptions in Australia is presented (the Metherell case). The second major section of the report addresses the topic of democracy and the public interest. Issues discussed are the misplaced enthusiasms of the majority and popular control and political equality. The discussion focuses on the importance of a democracy's ability to maintain political equality for all segments of the population, even against the "misplaced enthusiasms of the majority." The third section of the report notes the dangers of the development of a corrupt culture in which the parties and persons in power serve their own constituencies and interests without regard to the interests of those out of power. The report offers nine recommendations designed to restrain corruption so that the public interest has the highest priority and advantage in government structures, procedures, and operations. 9 tables and 44 references