Milking the system: fighting the abuse of public resources for re-election

Abuse of state resources for re-election is a common practice in many countries, yet this issue has received little attention from academics and anti-corruption practitioners. This issue paper draws on research conducted in Bolivia and Mozambique, as well as on other sources of information, and includes examples illustrating the damage that this abuse may cause to public administration and to democracy.

The author notes that the appropriate solutions to address such abuse cannot easily be transferred from one region to another. However, facing the problem requires an integrated reform strategy, and the involvement of many actors, including both local and international stakeholders.

Conclusions include:

• efforts to confront the abuse of state resources by governments in office require attention to the demand side (politicians abusing these assets) and the supply side (the public administration system that supplies such resources)
• regulating politicians’ demands for resources to engage in an electoral contest involves reforming the electoral system, strengthening political parties, and regulating the financing of parties and elections
• at the same time, curbing the supply of resources by the public sector requires strengthening the civil service, building strong state monitoring mechanisms, and enhancing transparency to allow for media and civil society oversight
• donors should reconsider their hands-off stance with respect to these problems; for example, abuse of state resources could be included in memoranda of understanding to minimise the possibility of abuse
• other options include building up local, independent research organisations that carry out advocacy related to abuse of state resources
• in this context, these organisations should monitor implementation of relevant legislation, and use donors’ influence to keep this sensitive issue on national and local political agendas