The Positive Effect Of Ict Infrastructure In Reducing Corruption And Increasing Transparency

ABSTRACT.This paper discusses the major trends in scholarship about the relationship among ICTs and macroeconomic variables, in providing greater government transparency and reducing corruption, the effect of corruption on human development, the role of e-governance in facilitating state-citizen interactions, and the growing power and entrenchment of organized crime and corruption. The theory that I shall seek to elaborate here puts considerable emphasis on the centrality of the anti-corruption principle as a constitutionally important matter, the effectiveness of ICTs as an anti-corruption tool, transparency as a means to reduce corruption, and the phenomena of transnational crime, terrorism and corruption.JEL codes: D73, G34, O16Keywords: ICT infrastructure, corruption, e-governance, transparency, Constitution1. IntroductionI am specifically interested in how previous research investigated the anti-corruption principle as embedded in the Constitution, the societal interest in being free from corruption, the use of e-government to cut corruption, the effectiveness of internal and managerial control over corrupt behaviors, and the linkages between transnational crime, corruption and terrorism. The material gathered in this study provides a rich and diverse context for understanding the Framers' understanding of corruption, ICT-enabled initiatives as transparency and anti-corruption tools, the use of e-government to promote transparency and reduce corruption, and positive changes in public perception of government corruption. Thus, my aim in this paper is to examine the relationships between ICT variables, transparency and corruption, the effects of Internet access on transparency and corruption, the relationship between GDP per capita and corruption, the effect of FDI on corruption, and the impediments to effective control of transnational organized crime and corruption.2. The Anti-Corruption Principle as Embedded in the ConstitutionTeachout emphasizes that the Constitution carries within it an anti-corruption principle. The anti-corruption principle should be treated as a freestanding constitutional principle, embodies a broad principle that can mean different things and apply to different acts over time, is a fundamental, structural commitment embodied in the Constitution (it is both central to the Constitution and has been largely ignored by the Court). The importance of the anticorruption principle is not dependent upon any one mode of constitutional interpretation. The Court ought to weigh the Framers' anti-corruption principle in their decisions about democratic institutions. Anti-corruption principles shaped the Constitution as a legal matter. The anti-corruption principle was explicitly discussed throughout the Constitutional Convention, and was embodied in particular clauses and structures. Some of the strongest anti-corruption provisions in the Constitution are structural commitments, the anti-corruption interest may be best understood as an evolving standard, and inferior courts were established in part due to anti-corruption concerns.We may sum up by saying that the Framers of the Constitution saw the document as a structure to fight corruption (one of the biggest threats to government is corruption), believed that the President could limit the selfcorrupting tendencies of the legislature, wanted to limit Executive corruption of the Judiciary, and could believe that corruption was a mortal threat but that self-interest could be leveraged. Teachout explains that many citizens would be self-serving,1 attempting to design institutions that did not themselves corrupt citizens (the citizen plays a key role in the Framers' concept of corruption). The fight against corruption is a central part of the United States Constitution. The Constitution provides structural encouragements to keep the logic and language of society as a whole from becoming corrupt. The Constitution was intended to fight corruption, and was adopted because of a promise that it would limit corruption. …