When we hear the word corruption, we automatically think of scandals linked to the government. But why do we already associate acts of corruption with rulers? The concept of corruption is old and is linked to the verb to corrupt, but initially it was about something that lost its original characteristics. For example, if a work of art is worn or broken, we can say that it is corrupted, losing its capacity to be appreciated. The meaning of moral corruption is more modern and is used to characterize unexpected behavior, that is, when someone acts differently than they should, especially agents of the State.
According to historians, the city of Rome, founded in the 8th century BC, was one of the first civilizations to write the first laws against corruption. In view of this, we can say that corruption has a history that is latvia mobile database complemented as governments began to realize that they had the possibility of using the power entrusted to the State for their own purposes, which had nothing to do with serving the public interest, generating a multitude of problems for the running of society.
In Brazil, it is common to hear that corruption began during the colonial period. And, although Brazilian history is much older, it was during colonization that the Portuguese empire began to impose an administrative model based on the experience of the Roman Empire, which was responsible for influencing the constitution of the legal bodies of many European countries.
However, what we can see is that the corruption that has developed throughout history, and which continues to this day, goes far beyond the corruption practiced by governments and spreads across all sectors and social classes. In other words, we can say that corruption is a structural element. This is because many economic sectors have found corruption to be a tool for their development.
Historically, segments such as the oil and arms industries have benefited from competing unequally, creating a dependency on continuing to operate in a corrupt manner. Therefore, we are seeing an increase in studies and methodologies aimed at understanding structural corruption and, consequently, controlling it to eliminate the practice in all environments.
And although corruption is one of the greatest evils identified in Brazil, it is important to identify the factors that make corrupt acts happen so frequently. Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world, and social inequality, for example, is one of the causes that most aggravate corruption. With elections approaching, we can highlight one of the most common forms of corruption, which is electoral corruption. As long as a large portion of the population continues to live in precarious conditions and experience extreme poverty, cases of vote buying will be difficult to eradicate.