Corruption in Small States: Case Studies in Compromise

Both the particular contexts of socioeconomic development, and the unique post‐colonial/post‐indcpendence agendas of small states in the Pacific, present predictable invitations for the creation of corruption relationships. The two case studies discussed in this paper provide scenarios common to this region wherein customary structures of power and influence converge on modern commercial institutions and instruments to produce corrupt consequences. However, the contextual analysis of these as corruption, from a developed or global perspective, is neither straightforward nor uncontested. And the challenge inherent in their regulation is problematic. The integration of such relationships within deeply rooted and accepted customary authority structures qualifies their description as corrupt, and tends towards a process of reinterprctation and denial which prevents the effective intervention of regulation and control processes. The integration of these relationships within otherwise legitimate structures of economic development and promotion makes their perpetuation likely, and even their exposure largely inconsequential in conventional control or sanctioning terms.