1. The Road to Good Governance
Aruba Symposium September 2017
Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Willeke Slingerland

2. Network corruption a perspective from the Netherlands, the EU and beyond

3. As a teenager in the European Youth Parliament 1997
Growing up convinced that government is there to represent our common interests
Trust and belief in international law
Trust and belief that the worst is behind us and the best is yet to come

4. National Integrity System: institutions, laws and practice

5. Presenting Integrity Study @ Press Centre House of Parliament 2012
Formal Integrity System NL on paper ok, but in practice weak spots
Interviewed 42 key figures and an honest picture of NL arose
Decisive moment! This process taught me more than the study of corruption itself.

6. Corruption costs in the EU
As EU Correspondent I exchanged views, experiences, politics, laws and cases for a period of 5 years. Corruption costs the EU 120 billion a year. This is only the amount calculated in financial terms

7. Corruption is not a victimless crime

8. Corruption is not a victimless crime

9. Network corruption
2015: large corruption network among highly ranked officials of FIFA exposed by the US’ Department of Justice 2011/2012:the conflict of interests and bribery between press, police and politicians in the phone-hacking scandal (United Kingdom) 2012: the large-scale corruption in the city of Roermond, the Netherlands.

10. Network Corruption

11. Real-life cases of network corruption
Variations in terms of societal impact, size of bribes and kickbacks and number of individuals involved but same mechanism
Individuals sentenced for or cleared over bribery claims, the overall impression remains that the issue at stake is more complex, involving dense relationships in which bribery and other forms of abuse occurred; the problem surrounding social networks.

12. Networks and norm development
The individuals were: politicians, journalists, police officers, business men, lawyers and notaries public. These networks did not serve the general interest. To the contrary, the norm was to favor the network members (the narrower selves) at the expense of the general interest. These informal networks undermine democracy and the rule of law. Here social capital becomes corruption.

13. Two questions come to mind
How to get a better understanding of corruption in networks?
What to do against network corruption?

14. From network corruption to integrity networks
From homogenous closed inward-looking networks to heterogeneous open networks which embrace those who ask questions and think differently.

15. Window of opportunity
If we as a community have allowed this norm to emerge and corruption to grow, we also have the power to start a movement in the other direction. This is not so much about choosing the current ruling political party or its opponent. It’s about organizing your community in such a way that it becomes a countervailing power.

16. Decisive steps to take
To stop for a moment and think how you contribute to good governance (micro, meso and macro)
How do you, your family and Aruba gain from taking responsibility
With whom can you engage in civil society
Organizing sustainable good governance (Inform, educate, discuss, organize and address)
Community building in order to ensure a broad base of support for progressive change

17. It takes a community to realize Good Governance

18. Thank you for your attention!
THE END
Remarks or questions?
Thank you for your attention!