Card 29
1.Speaking. Which one is better – public or private transport? Why?
2.Reading
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, to acquire illicit benefit or abuse power for one's private gain. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries.[1] Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain. Corruption is most commonplace in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-states and mafia states.[citation needed]
Corruption and crime are endemic sociological occurrences which appear with regular frequency in virtually all countries on a global scale in varying degree and proportion. Individual nations each allocate domestic resources for the control and regulation of corruption and crime. Strategies to counter corruption are often summarized under the umbrella term anti-corruption. Additionally, global initiative like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 also has a target to substantially reduce corruption of all forms.
Corruption is a matter of “dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people,” including, for instance, government officials or the police; and primary examples of corrupt behavior are bribery and any other inducement by improper or unlawful means.1 The varying forms and expressions of corruption may, in fact, form an unending list, since new, more sophisticated, subtle or covert forms are pretty sure to arise. The more corruption is exposed at any given time and place, the more subtle and covert it tends to become. Partly in consequence, attempts at definition and demarcation of corruption vary and are often problematic or incomplete; “the class of corrupt actions comprise an extremely diverse array of types of moral and legal offences undertaken in a wide variety of institutional contexts including, but by no means restricted to, political and economic institutions.”2
As Lincoln Steffens put a similar point, directly concerned with Gilded Age corruption in St. Louis, Missouri, one had to fear that, “… the exposures by Mr. Folk will result only in the perfection of the corrupt system.”
For the corrupt can learn a lesson when the good citizens cannot. The Tweed regime in New York taught Tammany to organize its boodle business; the police exposure taught it to improve its method of collecting blackmail. And both now are almost perfect and safe. The rascals of St. Louis will learn in like manner; they will concentrate the control of their bribery system, excluding from the profit-sharing the great mass of weak rascals, and carrying on the business as a business in the interest of a trustworthy few.3
In the wake of exposures of corruption in the press, indictments and convictions due to the work of St. Louis public prosecutor Joseph W. Folk, if the good citizens of the city would not or could not take things in hand, then corruption could simply mutate into some as yet unexposed or covert forms. As a general matter, though, in spite of the tendency toward subtler and more sophisticated forms, the old familiar patterns are always being rediscovered and deployed somewhere or other; they never completely die away.
The etymological source of the English word “corruption” is theological Latin,4 which followed traditions of translating ancient Greek moral and political thought. This background is reflected both in the call on moral standards involved in the condemnation and prosecution of corruption and in the broader usages of the word. Corruption, in a secondary sense, is a matter of departure or deviation from an original, or from what is pure, ideal or correct, as in “corruption of a text,” and “corruption of computer files”—where no moral evaluation need be involved. In their original Greek setting, Aristotle’s three “degenerate,” “digressive” or “perverted” (παρεκβάσείς, parekbasis) forms of government, viz., tyranny, oligarchy and (extreme) democracy, are regarded as degenerate precisely because they deviate or “swerve” from proper concern with the common good. They might therefore equally be said to be corrupt forms. As political scientist Samuel Huntington makes a narrower point, “Corruption is behavior of public officials which deviates from accepted norms in order to serve private ends.”5 But not all corruption is political.
3.Answer the question.
What is the difference between formal and informal letters?
Card 30
1.Speaking. Do we really need all four seasons? Why/why not?
2.Reading
We aganst corruption
People have been either fighting corruption or have been victims of it for decades. So, should we accept it as a feature of life and carry on or try to fight it where we can? While developing our global report, which was released last week, we tried to delve deeper into how countries are making progress in addressing corruption. The case studies identified show how reform-minded governments and civil society organizations have contributed to reducing corruption in their specific contexts or laid important foundations that can be built on by others.
Virtually every continent, from Asia to Africa, Europe and the Americas, faces perpetrators who bypass or exploit weaknesses in existing laws and regulations to execute schemes, which have been increasing in scale and sophistication. Corruption undermines the credibility of the public sector, erodes trust in governments and their ability to steer a country to achieve high economic growth and shared prosperity. It often weakens the impact of public service delivery, adversely affecting all citizens especially the poor.
The report comes at a time when the world has changed dramatically due to COVID-19. The spotlight is once again on the capacity and integrity of the public sector -- not just in managing the health crisis but also in dealing with the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.
Emergency responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in huge expenditures by governments, circumventing the standard operating procedures and approval processes. This may create new vulnerabilities and leakages that may only come to light after the initial containment phase has passed. It is at this juncture that the World Bank has undertaken a fresh assessment of the challenges and opportunities faced by governments in tackling corruption in key functions and sectors . We examine the lessons learned from applying selected policy instruments that were designed to mitigate corruption risks, as well as the role and challenges faced by institutions that are intended to promote integrity and accountability.
Drawing lessons from a compendium of case studies from around the world, the report demonstrates that all is not lost and that it is possible to reduce corruption risks even in the most challenging environments. The complex nature of corruption means that technical solutions and added compliance measures will usually be insufficient. A good understanding of the historical origins, social norms, and political culture is often critical to design impactful policies and institutional structures that can support their implementation.
At the same time, one must acknowledge the potential challenges from the forces that benefit from the status quo. There will be resistance owing to the strong inter-play between power, politics, and money. The scope for reformers to make changes will therefore be constrained by the limits of their political influence. It could be a long and frustrating journey with two steps forward and one step backward.
The report presents approaches and policy responses in various country contexts. It reinforces that there is no single formula or magic bullet to address corruption. For example, open government reforms can be effective in promoting an ethos of transparency, inclusiveness, and collaboration and in shifting norms over time by making conditions less conducive to corrupt activity. However, their impact depends on the existence of other enabling factors, such as political will, a free and independent media, a robust civil society, and effective accountability and sanctioning mechanisms.
Case studies featured in the report highlight that multiple factors contribute to the impact of anti-corruption efforts, including political leadership, institutional capacity, incentives, technology, transparency and collaboration. Enhanced collaboration with stakeholders within and outside of government is a critical success factor in overall government effectiveness. Such collaboration involves both the public and private sector, civil society, media, research organizations, think-tanks and citizens. Strengthening the fight against corruption is a collective responsibility!
Editor’s Note: This blog is part of a series that helps unpack our new global report, Enhancing Government Effectiveness and Transparency: The Fight Against Corruption.
3.Answer the question.
What is the structure of a formal letter?
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