Suchergebnisse

This article attempts to explain the failure of the civilian administration inaugurated in 1999 to address the longstanding Niger Delta crisis. It suggests that the entrenchment of clientelist and patronage politics has led to a situation where resources that should have been used for development have been frittered away in the appeasement of vocal interest groups. The radical rhetoric of local elites championing the resource control agenda has been highly inflammatory. The counter-narrative of good governance, which has been associated with exposure of corrupt practices among local elites, has contributed to overmobilization and radicalization of the Niger Delta peoples. (Pol afr/GIGA)

Political Parties and Corruption.
Donatella Délia Porta [61-75].
Based on the (recently available to researchers) large documentation produced by judges' inquiries on political corruption in Italy, the author shows that, at least from the eighties, the «corrupt exchanges» have transformed the organizational structure of political parties (especially DC and PSI) as well as their major political functions. The development of secret political activities have influenced the ways the political personnel is selected, weakened some of political parties main functions. The logics of political decision have therefore resulted more from «invisible» politics than from «visible» politics. This phenomenon may explain the current legitimacy crisis of Italy's «historical parties.

Since coming to power in 1999, President Olussegun Obasanjo of Nigeria has taking important steps aimed at reducing corruption in Africa?s most populous nation. One of them is the establishment of some specialised anti-corruption bodies like the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged with detecting and prosecuting corrupt people, aside from a comprehensive reform of the public sector (notably the civil service and the judiciary) and a global campaign aimed at recovering looted funds starched away in foreign banks. But despite their unprecedented powers, the effectiveness of these organs remains doubtful. Corruption in their diverse forms remains widespread, notwithstanding the efforts of these institutions. As the fourth republic runs to a close, Obasanjo?s anti-corruption crusade is proving more and more intractable. Among the most obvious challenges is the weak capacities of these institutions, engendered by inadequate finance, limited human resources, legal lacunas, ineffective criminal justice system and most notably lack of commitment by the political class (at federal, state, local government and civil society levels), who rather than support the war against graft, have opted to politicise the anti-corruption policy, suggesting a glaring absence of an internal political coalition against corruption. ; Depuis son accession au pouvoir en 1999, le régime du Président Olusegun Obasanjo s'était engagé incontestablement dans une lutte déterminée contre la corruption qui retardait le développement du "géant de l'Afrique" depuis des années. Ce combat est axé autour d'une politique globale contre la corruption, qui inclut, la mise en œuvre des institutions de régulation comme la commission indépendante contre la corruption (ICPC) et la Commission pour les crimes économiques (EFCC) ; la réforme globale du secteur public (les institutions de la justice et les services publics) et une campagne internationale en vue de la restitution des fonds ...

Reflection on the Politics and Administration Nexus in Africa
This paper reviews the problems posed at the interface between politicians and higher civil servants in Sub-Saharan African countries since independence. It argues that there has been more continuity than change in the patterns of relationships. Although the attempts to promote "unified" politico-administrative elites minimised conflicts in some countries during the single party era, it was at the expense of adequate development and utilisation of technical competence. In the other countries where separate domains of "political judgement" and "technical expertise" were recognised, neither was adequately developed in most cases, and the phenomenon of collusion in corrupt practices was widespread. Some of these problems have persisted while some changes are beginning to take root because of the emphasis on sound economic policies, political pluralism, and citizen empowerment.

Igor Kaliapin is becoming one of the most respected public figures in Russia. Trained as a physicist, he founded a small company in his native city of Nizhny Novgorod in the 1990s. He was immediately confronted with untamed racketeering by corrupt civil servants. In response, he helped found the Nizhny Novgorod Human Rights Society to protect the weaker members of society. This new NGO quickly specialized in the fight against a far more terrible evil than corruption: the virtually systematic use of torture in police stations and detention cells. Renamed the Committee Against Torture, the organization is developing internationally as well. In this Interview Mr. Kaliapin spotlights one of the darker sides of contemporary Russia and explains that given the increasingly authoritarian environment that came with Vladimir Putin's third presidential term in March 2012, fighting to protect human rights is more necessary than ever. Adapted from the source document.