Graft and Corruption in Public Administration

“There’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin’: ‘I seen my opportunities and I took’em’”. – George Washington Plunkitt.

One of the subjects we discussed in class this week was the concept of graft.  What it is? Who does it? Why they do it? Does it still exist? Does it matter? I found the quote above to be an interesting take on what seems to be fairly commonplace in some governments. The study of graft quickly became of great intrigue to me, making me want to focus this week’s blog on the subject.

Graft is defined in the free dictionary (2014) as 1. Unscrupulous use of one's position to derive profit or
advantages, like extortion; 2. Money or an advantage gained or yielded by unscrupulous means; or 3. To gain by or practice unscrupulous use of one's position. (Unknown). Essentially, one who grafts is one who leverages their power or position in the quest to gain something.  Any gain can be as simple as financial gain, or as complex as political gain. Granted, both types of gain generally result in financial reward; while the first is immediate, the latter results in future financial reward based on a rise in power. While I differentiate between graft and corruption in the title of my blog, I probably should not. Graft, pure and simple, is a form of corruption.

The people who graft are those who are in a position of power.  In the public sector, this could be a manager, department head, governing body head, state representative, senator, governor, vice president, or even president. What do each of these positions have in common?  They are leaders, and they have a level of position power afforded to them.  Granted, the position power of a manager is not nearly as great as that of a government body head, and I would assume that the graftability (I do not think this is even a word!) is not as abundant as a result.  Nevertheless, the ability to graft is still very much present.

Now that I have described who can graft, the question that needs to be answered is …why would they do it? The answer is simple: to get more power and more money! Besides the quest to make a better life for those in the constituency (cynicism intended!), these may be the two biggest motivators for most people with position power to graft. Power is seductive and power is addicting. Please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say here. I am not saying that any public servant who has position power as grafters. But there are just so many that do graft; and those who do are doing so in the quest for power, glory, and money.

OK. I have discussed who can graft.  I have discussed why a person with position power might graft. Does it still happen today? Yes, it does!  There are many examples in the news of bribery, coercion, and the heavy influence that those with power place on those with less or no power.  One example is in 2003, in Clark County, Nevada. Commissioners were taking bribes from strip club owners in exchange for the passing strip club friendly legislation.  The case was known as “Operation G-String”. What were the results of the investigation? “Four commissioners were convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud, and extortion.” (Trex, 2008). Graft is not only part of American politics, though.  In 2002, citizens of Turkey grew tired of their corrupt government, electing Recep Tayyip Erdogan,  a member of the “Islamist Justice and Development” (AK) Party, as their prime minister. In Turkish, AK translates to “white”, or “pure”.  Later, it was discovered that over 50 Turkish officials were orchestrating covert gold transfers to Iran, as well as taking bribes. Erdogan’s actions were swift and direct; he reassigned hundreds of Turkish police chiefs and fired the prosecutor who was leading the investigation. In addition, he put laws in place that allowed government to halt corruption investigations against the government.  (Economist, 2014). Graft is alive and thriving!

We have discussed the usual suspects in the arena of grafting; why people with position power would graft; and that grafting is still alive and well today.  Does it matter if public officials graft? You bet it matters.  Even if the grafting is benefiting both them and their agency, it is a dirty, unethical act.  As a taxpayer, how could we trust our representation if they are concerned first about themselves, and then about their citizenry?  In addition, if a public official is participating in graft, there it is more than likely an opportunity that is lost, as the grafting official is taking bribes while foregoing on what could be considered a better option …for less money.

Do you know a public official who has participated in graft?

References

Economist, T. (2014, January 4). Turkish Politics: No longer a shining example. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21592671-turkeys-government-disappoints-because-allegations-sleaze-and-its-increasingly-authoritarian

Riordan, W. (2007). Honest graft and dishonest graft. In W. L. Richter, & F. Burke, Combating corruption, encouraging ethics: a practical guide to management ethics (pp. 89-90). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Trex, E. (2008, December 11). 4 More Examples of American Political Corruption. Retrieved from Mental Floss: http://mentalfloss.com/article/20340/4-more-examples-american-political-corruption

Unknown, O. (2014). The free dictionary: Graft. Retrieved from The free dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/graft