The Need for Political Reform in Corruption Prevention

In theory, the democratic political system in fact constitutes a concept that minimizes corruption. Why?

The democratic political system that has been developing rapidly since the resignation of President Suharto in 1998 is a product of, among others, widespread public opposition to the practice of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) that was rampant under the New Order authoritarian regime.

After more than two decades, however, instead of seeing a decline, corruption has only been spreading to involve not only those in the government’s ranks, but also the legislature and judiciary at both the central and regional levels. The mounting calls for democracy are directly proportional to the escalating crime of corruption. The question then rises as to why the increasingly open and democratic system has not contributed significantly to the development of clean government and the emergence of public officials that possess high degrees of integrity and accountability.