2014_05_30_ICS_En EE. UU., el Gobierno federal premia a los denunciantes de los casos de corrupción verificados
"The US federal government awards those denouncing verified corruption cases"
William English, researcher at Harvard University, states that the guarantee against abuse of power is a free press
"In the United States, when the federal Government verifies a corruption case in a company or a public institution, the informant is generously rewarded for his/her contribution. There are administrative procedures which facilitate the denouncing of bad practices on the part of citizens." William English, researcher at Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, University of Harvard (EE. UU.), pronounced these words at the Congress ‘The Ethics of the Citizenship in the 21st Century', organized by the project ‘Religion and Civil society' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS).
The expert, who has researched during the last four years on topics concerning institutional corruption, stated that when corruption is general "it is very difficult to attribute it to a particular person or to ask someone to change when he/she forms part of a system that encourages this type of behavior."
A leader to break the vicious circleTo escape the vicious circle, he proposed the figure of a leader "to create a break with the past and be able to communicate with the citizens. " In this sense, he said that incentives are crucial, although it is often difficult to choose the positive or negative. "Economists and politicians should look back and see how the professional advantages of certain persons, certain rewards and some penalties just do not work".
William English stressed that free press is one of the allies that a strong civil society has when facing the abuse of power. "When something goes wrong, the journalists put it in the spotlight, allowing people to find out and thereby giving them the chance demand an explanation from the highest authorities. They create public dialogue which demands change," he pointed out.
William English was one of the speakers at the ICS Conference ‘The Ethics of the Citizenship in the 21st Century', which joined approximately thirty experts from academic centers in the Netherlands, USA, Italy, New Zealand and Spain, as well as Harvard University and the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore.
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