Dissertation

  The conceptual framework needs more work and detail.  Specifically, the discussion needs to include literature and details from more than one author source.  This section needs to be expanded. Please abide by APA standard of not more than 5 year rule literature.   

1.4 Conceptual Framework 

The theory that supports this study is the theory of institutional corruption developed by Dennis (1995). This will be the preferred theory for this study out of the theories discussed. It is developed to explain a phenomenon that he believed the congressional ethics, rules, failed to address. He posited that corruption is not merely of individual wrong doing but of the influence of several general systemic features of the legislative process.
 It views corruption as distinctively integral to an institution in three ways. First, it is equivocal: The corruption benefits the institution while undermining it. Corruption exploits legitimate institutional practices that provide benefits that even an in-corrupt institution needs, and for which alternatives must be found if the institution is to function well.
 Secondly, institutional corruption is impersonal. The individual agents of corruption act in institutional capacity and do not have the corrupt motives that characterize an agreement between two or more parties which there is a reciprocal exchange of goods or services.
 Thirdly, the corruption is generalizable. it is found not only in government, but in many other kinds of contexts such as industries, tertiary institutions, hospitals and banks among other.
This paradigm shift to institutional corruption revives the spirit of traditional concept of corruption, which shifts attention from individuals to a property of institutions.
An institution that is corrupted exerts extraneous influences that distort its decision-making process and thereby impair its capacity to function in line with its fundamental values. However, the interpretation of this general concept form the institution’s conception.