Strengthening the Anti-Corruption Willingness

in Iran Executive Bodies

By Reza Aref

PhD in Philosophy

2021

A look at the works and resources available in the field of anti-corruption shows some evidences of a kind of poverty and deprivation in the subject of anti-corruption willingness in Persian language; This means that if a researcher or an inspector of Iran General Inspection Organization (GIO) wants to know what are anti-corruption willingness, indicators of anti-corruption willingness, the causes of lack of anti-corruption willingness, Ways to create anti-corruption willingness, and ways to strengthen anti-corruption willingness, there are few scientific sources, all of them are translations made by the author of these lines.

The GIO"s “Center for Development of Knowledge and Researches on Administrative Integrity and Anti-Corruption”, after preparing two translations of the author entitled ""Building Political Will" and What is it like to be Willingness?", now presents a study that, if we do not say it is the first, at least, it is one of the first written about anti-corruption Willingness in Persian.

The main question of this research is the following:

How can the anti-corruption Willingness be strengthened in the executive bodies?

This issue becomes important when we see a situation in which knowledge, facilities, tools and conditions for combating corruption are available in Iran executive bodies, but no anti-corruption measure is taken. In such a situation, the question arises

"Why do the actors of some Iran executive bodies, despite having the knowledge, facilities, tools and conditions to fight corruption, not take remarkable action?"

The author, as an implication of entering into the discussion, first clarifies the meaning of executive bodies, according to the article 5 of the Civil Service Management Law(approved in 2007), the article 46 of the Law Regulating Part of the Government"s Financial Regulations (approved in 2001), and the article 117 of the Civil Service Management Law, then examines the different definitions of anti-corruption willingness; Finally explicitly states that:

The anti-corruption willingness is insistent committed permanent desire of human individually which forces him/ her to perform a set of anti-corruption actions to the best of his/her ability and to accept and endure the costs of those actions.

By adopting the above definition and considering that willingness has different hierarchies, the next step is to determine what are those characteristics if an active human being, in the executive bodies has, can be considered as indicators of his willingness to fight corruption?

According to experts, the actors of the executive bodies cannot claim anti-corruption willingness and at the same time not be a pioneer and initiator in fighting against corruption; do not measure costs and benefits; do not call on stakeholders to fight corruption; do not openly express their commitment to fight corruption; and do not allocate resources in this way; do not apply deterrent punishments and incentive rewards; do not apply their knowledge and experience; do not show flexibility in adapting to the situation and ultimately do not continue to adhere to the above criteria; because these are indicators of the willingness to fight corruption.

Once it is clear what is the willingness to fight corruption and what are the indicators of willingness to fight corruption, the next step is to answer the question of how the Iran General Inspection Organization can create and strengthen anti-corruption willingness in Iran executive bodies? In this regard, two important measures are possible and desirable; one is the common measures that are possible and necessary in all bodies; the second is the transfer of methods to the bodies themselves and instead demanding the desired results and evaluating them (the results).

In other words, Iran General Inspection Organization manages to create and strengthen anti- corruption willingness in the executive bodies, but the selection of methods and tools will be the responsibility of the bodies themselves. This approach is based on the fact that in order to fight corruption, Iran General Inspection Organization should include the following measures in its list of insistent committed permanent demands from the executive bodies as much as possible and accept the costs of these demands and endure its difficulties, as far as possible.

These measures include correct use of the appropriate human resources; education and culture building; improvement of organizational tasks and procedures; mobilization, education and participation of employees and clients; determination and increase of executive guarantees; interaction with critics; interaction with media; creation and strengthening of information circulation channels.

Based on the mentioned measures, the insistent committed permanent demands of the Iran General Inspection Organization from the executive bodies will be as follows:

·     The executive body must answer on which basis confirms its employees being corruption fighter?

·     What the body has done, what it is doing and What it is going to do, in the field of education and culture building to fight corruption?

·     The executive body must accurately base the tasks of its processes and procedures on scientific and transparent methods; accuracy, Methodism and transparency that affect the evaluation, demanding, accountability, delivery of information and information circulation process; centralize the law and, if possible and as much as possible, decentralize management.

·     The GIO should ask the executive body to mobilize staffs and clients with the aim of fighting corruption and creating anti-corruption demands and after the necessary training, involve them in executive body activities.

·     Iran General Inspection Organization should ask the executive body what they have done, what they are doing and what they are going to do to increase corrupting costs, reduce corrupting benefits and to increase the booster encouragers of office integration incentives?

·     Iran Inspection Organization should demand from the actors of the executive body a clearly defined and binding mechanism to interact with the critics, listen to them and support them.

·     The inspectorate should demand from the executive bodies to interact with the media and create and strengthen information circulation channels between the executive body and the society.

If the collection of thesementioned demands is pursued insistently, persistently and permanently, it will lead to creation of anti-corruption will and strengthen it in executive body.