This report was published at OECD.org in 2011, this is a summary and the title is above.
Life may not be fair, but we all need to believe that the rules governing our lives are fair, and that corruption will be rooted out. That mean ensuring that the spirit of the law is respected, and that we have the right set of rules governing our societies. Tackling corruption and abuse of the system is vital to restoring people`s trust. Public sector corruption result in poorer public service.
This is not just about big bribes to high-ranking officials to win contracts, it is also about ordinary taxpayers who end up with shoddy bridges, roads and buildings as a result.
Sometimes, monitoring systems are not enough. Corruption is by its very nature secretive and often it takes someone inside to expose corruption and any good citizen wanting to warn somebody, but what if this person do not know who inside should complain to, or if the last person who did so lost their job or was accused of breaking confident rules.
Whistleblowers acting from the best of motives often find that they are seen as the problem, not the solution. Losing their jobs, being discredited and even ending up in jail for speaking out, enough to discourage anyone from doing the right thing. Civil society groups such as Transparency International have long campaigned to protect whistleblowers.
At the same time, people are asking whether some of the rules themselves also need revising. Should bankers` contracts allow them a full bonus even when profits have plummeted and taxpayers has paid for a bailout?
One thing is clear. Having clear rules and ensuring that they are respected are key to rebuilding trust and better trust leads to better policies, which leads to better lives.
