Politics of Corruption—The Democratic Angle!

Article first published as Politics of Corruption: The Democratic Angle on Technorati. In a democracy power is always decentralized—from the highest level of the Prime Minister to the grass-root level of a village chieftain. So in a similar way corruption has to get decentralized too specifically at every level. The village chief enjoys lot of powers to take decisions, settle disputes and negotiate for development projects. If, in the process, s/he takes bribes or bribes someone the higher authority at the district level cannot necessarily be implicated criminally in that corruption. A local boss at a town office similarly enjoys absolute discretionary powers in regard to his/her office. Now, if s/he indulges in corrupt deals the town chief or the district collector cannot necessarily be held criminally responsible. Accordingly, the chief minister of a state cannot necessarily be implicated criminally if the collector creates scams and scandals. So, if local au