Corruption is a systemic and adaptive thing that requires comprehensive and multidimensional approaches for its effective prevention and results. However, traditional approaches lack the professional tools to handle the structural and dynamical aspects that characterize modern social, political and technological systems where corruption takes place. On this matter, complex systems science has emerged as a comprehensive framework to study highly adaptive phenomena from natural to socio-technical settings.
In this article we present an empirical approach to model corruption using the concepts and tools of complexity science, mainly, complex networks science. Under this framework, we describe a major corruption scandal that took place in Mexico involving a network of hundreds of shell companies used to embezzle billions of dollars. We describe the structure and dynamics of this corporate network using available information related to their personnel and the date of the companies’ creation. We measured some global parameters, such as density, diameter, average path length, and average degree in order to provide systematic evidence on which corporate characteristics are likely to signal corruption.
The purpose of modern governments is to establish and maintain the rules that guarantee social cohesion, personal freedom, and collective well-being. In contrast, corruption comprises everything that distracts from that purpose by distorting the goal for which all socio-political structures are created, sacrificing the well-being of the collective for the benefit of the few.
Corruption is closely intertwined with geopolitical instability. Countries experiencing violent conflict show significantly higher rates of corruption, and corruption also makes countries more vulnerable to malign foreign. Corrosive capital and strategic corruption differ from other forms of corruption in that they are backed, and sometimes orchestrated, by a state power for political rather than economic goals.”
Corruption can occur in many sectors, whether they be public or private industry or even NGO’s especially in public sector. However, only in democratically controlled institutions is there an interest of the public to develop internal mechanisms to fight active or passive corruption, whereas in private industry as well as in NGOs there is no public control. Therefore, the owners’ investors’ or sponsors’ profits are largely decisive.
That’s why the entire world is sinking in this system more rapidly and cannot help but to just keep following what their leaders are doing and on one has the courage to speak for the right thing and end this system from the whole World!