What Forms of Governance Are Likely to Be More Corrupt?

What Forms of Governance Are Likely to Be More Corrupt?

Corruption tends to be more prevalent in autocratic systems (where one person ruleswith unlimited authority), or oligarchies (rule by a small group of elites). As Minxin Peifrom the Carnegie Endowment clarifies, corruption does exist in democracies, but it “isfundamentally different from the massive looting by autocrats in dictatorships. That iswhy the least corrupt countries, with a few exceptions, all happen to be democracies,and the most corrupt countries are overwhelmingly autocracies… That corruption ismore prevalent in autocracies is no mere coincidence. While democracies derive theirlegitimacy and popular support through competitive elections and the rule of law,autocracies depend on the support of a small group of political and social elites, themilitary, the bureaucracy and the secret police.”11


A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government and, historically, there are numerous
examples of corrupt dictatorships. Take Mohamed Suharto, the president of Indonesia
from 1967 to 1998. He reportedly embezzled $15 to 35 billion from state coffers.
Suharto’s rule was very centralized and his government was dominated by the military.
Although he maintained stability over an extensive region and boosted economic growth,
his authoritarian regime was marked by renowned corruption and widespread
discontent. Mobutu Sésé Seko, the president of Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic
of the Congo) from 1965 to1997, also embezzled some $5 billion.12 Mobutu stayed in
power by fostering a broad patronage network, handing foreign-owned firms over to
relatives and associates, and publicly executing political rivals. Centralized systems like
these rely on the support of a cadre of powerful elites, but the majority of the population
has little political influence or other rights.
One-party states may also have higher potential for corruption because of the lack of
“checks and balances” on their rule. Vietnam is an example of where one-party rule has
led to systemic corruption and little accountability, notes Nathanial Heller at Global
Integrity. All political organizations are under the control of the Vietnamese Communist
Party. There is no independent media, or legally recognized opposition parties. In
systems like Vietnam’s, adds Heller, everything goes through the party, which
determines who gets promoted and where contract money goes.13 Without checks on a
highly centralized form of governance and without a strong public voice that applies
pressure on the government, transparency and accountability may be difficult to
accomplish. Vietnam has been moving to a free-market economy. Hence, its
government acknowledges, more work needs to be done to combat corruption in order
to attract foreign investment.