The disease of corruption: views on how to fight corruption to advance 21st century global health goals

Corruption has been described as a disease. When corruption infiltrates global health, it can be particularly devastating, threatening hard gained improvements in human and economic development, international security, and population health. Yet, the multifaceted and complex nature of global health corruption makes it extremely difficult to tackle, despite its enormous costs, which have been estimated in the billions of dollars. In this forum article, we asked anti-corruption experts to identify key priority areas that urgently need global attention in order to advance the fight against global health corruption. The views shared by this multidisciplinary group of contributors reveal several fundamental challenges and allow us to explore potential solutions to address the unique risks posed by health-related corruption. Collectively, these perspectives also provide a roadmap that can be used in support of global health anti-corruption efforts in the post-2015 development agenda

Increasing Policy Success through the Use of Social Media Cross-Channels for Citizen Political Engagement

In the ubiquitous digitization era, governments increasingly adopt multi-social media channels for the purpose of facilitating citizen engagement towards enhanced government transparency, external political efficacy and policy success. However, little is known about the use of social media cross-channel information-sharing mechanisms for promoting citizen political engagement. We draw on theories of citizen interaction and citizen-centric e-governance to examine the central research question: How can citizens’ become politically engaged through the use of social media cross communication channels? Specifically, we examine and explain YouTube-enabled government-to-citizens interactions and YouTube-Twitter cross-channel information-sharing behaviors among citizens in response to Jakarta, Indonesia’s use of YouTube to inform citizens of the government transparency initiative. We applied social network analysis to examine the structure of and information flows within Twitter social networks formed through the use of cross-channel information-sharing mechanism by YouTube users to tweet the promotion of the YouTube-enabled government transparency videos to their Twitter followers

Ending poverty in Mongolia: From socialism to social development

While recent literature on social welfare has included Asian countries, less is known about low-income and former socialist countries in Central Asia. This article combines a documentary-historical method with a value-critical approach to analyze Mongolia’s social policy response to poverty. Mongolia is unique in Asia because it transformed from nomadic pastoralism to socialism without a phase of capitalist industrial development. The case study found that Mongolia lost social welfare when it transitioned from socialism, a statist model, to market liberalism and multiparty democracy. In the 21st century, Mongolia has been aspiring to promote social development by redirecting mining revenues to a human development fund. Mongolia is potentially an exemplar of social development strategies affirmed at the United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development (Rio+20) regarding a green economy for inclusive growth and poverty elimination. Future social welfare research should consider the importance of sustainability. Key Practitioner Message: Global standards for tracking poverty alleviation will be integrated with sustainability measures beginning in 2015. Mongolia hopes to foster social development and sustainable livelihoods by reinvesting revenues from mining into human capital and health care. To sustain future generations, social policy needs to consider the relationship between natural capital, social capital, and financial capital

Coordination for Policy in Transition Countries: Case of Croatia

The formulation and implementation of public policy depends on the coordination capacities. In recent decades the need for coordination has increased due to the fragmentation caused by NPM reforms, decentralisation processes, the proliferation of the cross-cutting issues, as well as increased globalisation, Europeanisation, and professionalization. The coordination problem in Croatian administration, similarly to other transition countries, is critically important but understudied. This paper is based on a preliminary research on coordination in Croatian public administration with regard to policy formulation and implementation of three policies – regional development policy, anticorruption policy and e-government policy, based on the interviews conducted with higher civil servants and public officials. A special emphasis is given to the role which various actors play in coordination, as well as the structures Government employs in order to coordinate. The research shows that the development of coordination instruments in Croatia suffers from inefficiencies and is greatly influenced by politically driven considerations

The Contribution of Digital Technology to Citizenship, Accountability and Rights: An Evidence Review

The use of digital technologies has risen dramatically in the past century, building excitement among governments and technology experts about applying technology to improve accountability, transparency and the effectiveness of authorities. All 193 member states of the United Nations now have, for example, national websites. Among these, 101 have enabled citizens to create personal online accounts; 73 to file income taxes; and 60 to register a business. For the most common core government administrative systems, 190 member states have automated financial management, 179 have used such systems for customs processing, and 159 for tax management. This readiness is the result of a change in the dynamics of citizenship, accountability and rights (CAR), which demands a rethinking of the roles and relationship between governments and citizens. The use of technology in development, and specifically its potential to close the gap between citizen voice and state responsiveness, holds great promise. Emergent conceptions such as e-governance are considered to have the power to inspire new tools and practices for citizenship, as well as to make existing practices more effective. While the use of digital technologies has made communication with citizens much easier, an increased and empowered citizen participation, by which citizens are able to hold governments accountable, remains still a distant dream. This report is an attempt to see the extent to which digital technologies can enable citizens and state agencies to increase the flow of information, challenge powerful interests, increase levels of institutional responsiveness and protect citizens’ rights, therefore making it imperative to examine the connection between the role of citizen participation in monitoring the enforcement of rights and in demanding public scrutiny and transparency. Furthermore, the questions that this report attempts to answer are: (a) What is the contribution of digital technologies to CAR?; (b) How can the use of technology influence the structuring, restructuring, shaping and reshaping of the relationship between citizens and governments?UK Department for International Developmen

Prevention of Corruption in the Procurement Process of Government Goods and Services in The Digital Era

The purpose of this research is to undertake a legal analysis of the anti-corruption procurement process for government goods and services through the use of good governance. The research approach employed in this study is a normative juridical one, which involves studying legislative rules and examining corrupt activities that occur in the sphere of procurement of goods and services. The sources of law in this study are material law sources and traditional legal sources. Based on the analysis of legal authorities, it can be concluded that the criminal act of corruption in the procurement of government goods and services has violated the regulations in Article 2 paragraph (1) of Law No. 31 of 1999 and Law No. 20 of 2001 on Corruption. The implementation of good governance in preventing corruption in the procurement of goods and services is seen from two aspects, namely internal and external aspects. Internal elements include improving the quality of internal resources in government organizations and increasing accountability and transparency. In contrast, external elements increase community participation, legitimacy, and anti-corruption socialization through various media

What Does Closing Civic Space Mean for Development? A Literature Review and Proposed Conceptual Framework

What does closing civic space mean for development? Aid donors are concerned about the implications of restrictions on civil society for their partners and programmes, but to date there has been little clarity about what this means for development. This paper summarises the findings of a literature review in support of research on this issue. It concludes that: (a) civic space has changed more than shrunk, although new restrictions affect aid-supported groups disproportionately; (b) new regulations are not all unwelcome, but nonetheless shift power from civic to political actors; (c) how that power shift shapes development outcomes depends on how political elites deploy that power, and in whose interests; (d) while there are instances where civil society has been curtailed to advance ‘developmentalist’ agendas, it more often enables land and natural resource grabbing, or the abuse of labour or other rights of marginalised and disempowered groups; (e) while short-term economic growth is unlikely to be adversely affected, economic crises are more likely in settings where civic space is closed, and it is highly improbable that development has any chance of producing equitable, sustainable, or inclusive outcomes under conditions where civic space is restricted or closing

Leadership and Corruption in Governance: A Case Study of Liberia

Writers like Mutasa (2009) and Ebegbulem (2012) argues that Africa is both the poorest continent in the world and one of the richest in terms of natural resources. Consistent with this observation the history of Liberia indicates that corrupt leadership deprives the general population of its fair access to Africa’s rich resources while exacerbating ineffective government bureaucracy and underdevelopment. The bureaucratized central government in turn entrenches corrupt practices which give rise to more serious underdevelopment as well as insurgencies and a possible state failure. Given this background, this study examines how leadership and corruption in governance affects socioeconomic development. To this end it explores the effect of leadership and corruption on development in Liberia. It also identifies possible ways to curb corruption in public office. Relevant review of literature in the field of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation along with extensive research into the history of governance in Liberia to develop inclusive appreciation of key elements that hinder development and growth in Africa. This paper employs qualitative analysis of literature to clarify the complexities of the effect of corruption and leadership in development. The United States Agency for International Development Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP) in Liberia is used to develop an understanding of key elements that hinder development and growth. It is hoped that this study will enable program developers and advocates to better understand some of the reasons for the sustained underdevelopment in Africa. It is also hoped that the recommendations will aid decision-makers and legislators in their effort to create more effective development policies and ensure state stability

The relationship between e-government system and government operation excellence in the Sultanate of Oman

Every government is seeking to provide the best services to demonstrate efficiency and excellence of performance. This goal could be achieved by improving the service performance of entire sectors in society. The government of Sultanate of Oman has realized the importance of moving towards information technology. Therefore, e-Government initiatives were launched in Oman as a part of overall country information technology in 1998. It was first established under the name “Digital Oman”. Every government sector has since upgraded the performance by having its own websites and e-services application. However, there are gaps and loose connections exist among the sectors, which has consequently tarnished the image of Omani E-government. This has led to important questions about the requirement of modification and improvement of such service. Hence, the purpose of this research is to investigate and explore the factors that drive the e-government implementation and affect the government performance as well as the government-citizen relationship in Sultanate of Oman. A survey was conducted among Omani citizens in order to have their feedback and overview of the current e-government in the Sultanate, their technological and behavioral intention in using the e-government system and the governmental operation excellence (GOE) of the system. The outcomes of the study indicate that the e-government system has a direct effect towards GOE. The ‘technology intention to use’ is found to have a mediating effect, while the ‘behavioral intention to use’ has a partially mediating effect on the e-government project approach from citizen's point of view. The study outcomes should offer guidance to conduct e-government projects, especially for the policy makers in the Sultanate of Oman for future researchers. It also can provide a foundation for future researches related to the issues of the government-citizen relationship