It is the most significant change of the 21st century that society is governed by economic principles. The economic principles are implemented without regard to nations and doctrine. The nation is asked to establish its credibility in order to make th...
It is the most significant change of the 21st century that society is governed by economic principles. The economic principles are implemented without regard to nations and doctrine. The nation is asked to establish its credibility in order to make the nation flourish. However, widespread corruption in the society becomes the major factor which has a negative impact on a nation's credibility. Even though previous Korean governments made an effort to fight corruption, the desired results were not achieved. Corruption seems to be a serious problem even in the present government, what is called, “the government for the people.”
This study aims at providing helpful suggestions to NGO and looking for effective ways to deter corruption by analyzing the activities of NGO. After realizing the importance of deterring corruption and the lack government's ability. NGO takes the place of the government based on historical background and Korean circumstances.
My study examines the activities of the two leading groups; Peoples' Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ). PSPD is regarded as the outstanding anti-corruption organization among NGO and CCEJ works to deter corruption. The activities of the organizations were investigated from the foundation of organizations to the first half of the 20th century. Generally, internal and external factors of the two organizations require consideration from all aspects because of their close connection with deterring corruption. Among PSPD and CCEJ, two independent organizations play an important role in deterring corruption. One is the organization for making society clean and the other is the organization for rooting out illegality and corruption. The results of my thesis show that PSPD and CCEJ have common problems in relation to deterring corruption regarding the internal factors of the organizations. In the view of human resources the absence of members, uneven distribution of staff and lack of specified manpower are the main problems. Regarding material resources these groups are operated with insufficient financial funds and limited chances, which makes it difficult for the public and group members to express their opinions when decisions are made.
Regarding the external factors of the organization, PSPD and CCEJ showed the same problems after analyzing their relationship with the government. The two organizations didn't put much effort on examining the legal and structural measures of the government for solid financial aids. These groups were busy restraining the government corruption so that opinions from other organizations were rarely applied to the government policy.
Both PSPD and CCEJ have difficulty in deterring corruption because they put too much emphasis on increasing their budget to invest in corruption cases. The two organizations neglect the duties of decreasing the number of investigations against corruption and considering moral conscience and responsibility. The rallies of both organizations were small, isolated and decentralized to deter corruption. Also, these organizations failed to make their rallies nationwide event. and include the public because their activities were conducted by a distinguished family.
After considering the problems, it is required to find some self-help programs from civic groups and some support from the government in order for the civic groups to carry out effective corruption deterrent programs. First of all, the following refers to the self-help programs of civic groups. These are some plans concerning internal factors of organizations; plans for human and material resources, and plans for democratic decision making. Regarding external factors of organizations' civic groups should have a close relationship with the government, keeping self regulation and identity. When civic groups build up goals and plans, various strategies should be considered for comprehensive corruption deterring. Specific activity plans which tie the public together should be examined.
After the government takes poor financial conditions of civic groups into consideration the indirect support plan from the government should be provided rather than direct financial fund. It is necessary to eliminate the major obstacles which do not allow charitable funds from the public to be absorbed into the civic groups. Regarding the activities deterring corruption, it is urgent to think over the possible suggestions to deter corruption within the condition of not destroying self regulation and identity of civic groups.