Today the James Wilson Law Society hosted a conversation with Professor Phil Nichols of Wharton's Legal Studies Department on Corruption 101 - Corruption From a Global Perspective. We would like to thank the Penn Government and Politics Association for co-hosting this event.
Professor Nichols is a renowned expert on corruption, having engaged in field studies in Mongolia, France, Singapore, Guatemala, and various other countries across the globe.
At the outset of our discussion, Nichols defined corruption as 'a misuse of a position of power or trust for self-interest (instead of the public interest, or the purpose for which the position was endowed)'. Going from there, Nichols elaborated on the domestic and global anti-corruption regime, the latter being spearheaded by institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, and lately the World Trade Organization.
Professor Nichols went on to discuss corruption in various countries, such as Burma (Myanmar), Ukraine, Russia, and the United States. Unsurprisingly, Western, democratic countries fall prey to corruption as much as non-Western, authoritarian nations do, even though corruption takes manifold forms and different polities. In the United States, Nichols argued, corruption was especially an issue with Congress on the federal level (earmarking), but even more prevalent on the state and city level.
However, Nichols was careful to point out that corruption is highly specific to a country and its history, as well as its political and economic system. Accordingly, anti-corruption measures must be tailored to the specific economic and political circumstances in order to heed success.
Professor Nichols' research and talk showed the importance of tackling issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. To understand a complex phenomenon such as corruption, it is imperative to integrate political, economic and legal thinking into a more holistic approach. This is one of the key lessons participants could take away from this fascinating discussion.
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