More Examples of What Works

More Examples of What Works
• Professionalizing the civil service. Because civil servants like tax auditors,
customs officials, and police officers are poorly paid in some countries, they may
be particularly prone to taking bribes. Sometimes, the extra income from a bribe
can mean the difference between being able to feed one’s family, or not. Engaging
in bribery, in other words, may be a survival strategy. In these cases, improving
wages, working conditions, and merit-based promotions may eliminate the need to
engage in corruption, not to mention attracting more qualified personnel. While the
international community has long called for civil service reform in developing
countries, it often remains hard to implement in practice because the capacity for
recruitment, training, and reform of public administration is just not there.19 At the
same time, the government may not have the resources to pay civil servants
sufficient salaries and wages that would help eliminate their financial dependence
on bribery.
• Legal reforms. To name just a few that a state can implement to reduce
corruption, these include: passing freedom of information laws, which enhances
citizen access to information and the transparency of government operations;
requiring public officials to declare their assets and incomes; open and transparent
budgets of government income and expenditures; and ensuring that there are
competitive, open bidding processes for obtaining government contracts.20 These
reforms take time to implement in budding democracies and can reflect how well
the traits of good governance are put into practice.
• Separation of powers. Ensuring that any one branch of government does not
exert too much power and that the branches can check the power of the others
helps to keep corruption in check. A dominant executive branch, for example, can
operate with impunity if there is not strong oversight by a legislative body.
Judiciaries too need independence from the other branches. Judicial
independence is a key element of rule of law efforts everywhere because judges
and prosecutors must be able to decide cases impartially and be free from political