Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

Defining Conflict of Interest 19A Comparative PerspectiveGreat BritainFor most of Britain’s history, conflict of interest among rulers andtheir officials was endemic. Until the 18th century, no one expectedthe king or his courtiers not to take advantage of their position toenrich themselves. There were exceptions who served the Crownrelatively altruistically in the interests of the nation. A well-knownexample is Samuel Pepys, the diarist but also great reformer of theNavy in the 1660s. But even he was not averse to using his positionto earn some money on the side through smuggling.In the early 1700s, the administrative apparatus was a mixtureof the medieval and the modern. In some ministries, there wasgross nepotism, corruption, incompetence, and negligible salariessupplemented by handsome fees; in other ministries, civil servantsworked long hours, were reasonably honest, and were reasonablypaid. Gradually, the honest professionals supplanted the corruptand the incompetent, and the quality of administration across governmentimproved. Several factors contributed:• Recognition by the King’s ministers of the need for efficiencyin the collection of taxes if Britain was to be successful in itsincreasingly expensive foreign wars.• Growing strength of Parliament: After the “GloriousRevolution” of 1688 when King James ll lost his throne andWilliam of Orange was invited to take his place, the Parliament—thoughrepresenting only the nobility and the landedgentry—became much more powerful in relation to theKing and his ministers. It gained control over the collectionof taxes, it gained control of the army, and it was reluctant todisburse moneys without good reason—and this reluctancein turn created a degree of accountability that acted as apowerful constraint on administrative malpractice.• Increased public awareness through the press and lobbyists:There was a growing band of lobbyists, and a flourishing press,which published information on matters of state; together,they began to act as a check on secrecy and malfeasance.• Independent judiciary’s check on executive powers: Therewas an independent judiciary, which could enforce limits onthe executive’s power and on its abuse.ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific