What Causes Bureaucratic Corruption in Africa?
Much research has been done to determine the causes of bureaucratic corruption in Africa. According to David Apter (1963), African civil servants may be obliged to share the proceeds of their public offices with their kinfolk. The African extended family places significant pressure on the civil servant, forcing him to engage in corrupt and nepotic practices. Bureaucrats are believed to exploit their public positions to generate benefits for themselves, their families, and their ethnic or social cleavage. Thus, in studying corruption in Africa, researchers have tended to place emphasis on the structural and individual conditions that contribute to corrupt behavior. Investigators have identified several structural factors that contribute to bureaucratic corruption in Africa. One such structural factor is the “soft state” that is said to embody “a weak or diffuse sense of national interest and the absence of a commitment to public service” (Gould and Mukendi 1989: 434). Many researchers h
