1. Conceptualizing Procurement, Corruption, and Governance

This chapter conceptualizes procurement, corruption, and governance, indicating how corruption in the public procurement system facilitates the crisis of governance. Having identified the primacy of institution in state administration, the authors note that effective oversight of the procurement system was essential to safeguard the interests of the public. The weakness of the oversight institution makes procurement a source of corruption that endangers governance. Thus, when political actors compromise procurement system, its impacts extend to weaken the constitutional responsibilities to tame the corruption monster. It gives the actors the leverage to exploit the structural deficiencies to advance personal interests. The central position of the chapter is that any society whose procurement system is fraught with corruption would not only slow down governance but would facilitate a cycle of dysfunctional government process that retards growth and development.