ABSTRACT
Is poor governance a problem in the island countries of the Pacific Ocean? From all accounts it appears that it is. For example, from an Asian Development Bank (ADB) survey of governance in Pacific islands countries (PICs), Mellor and Jabes (2004) concluded that: ‘Unfortunately, nearly all Pacific island countries today face serious challenges in all areas of governance.’ In their recently announced aid strategies for the Pacific Region, AusAID, NZAID, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank have all given high priority to improving governance as a means of improving economic growth and reducing poverty. The Overview Report of the Transparency International (2003) study of corruption in 16 PICs, concluded that the studies found vagueness and disagreement about what counted as ‘corruption’. There was widespread concern about political corruption, particularly during election campaigns and by governments manoeuvring to sustain support in parliament. Several countries were found to be less corrupt than they had been in the recent past, whereas in Solomon Islands corruption had become endemic since the late 1980s. There were special risks of corruption in small-scale societies, though more opportunities for oversight when ‘everyone knew’ what was going on. Judiciaries were generally regarded as free of corruption. Courts in Kiribati were having some success in distinguishing ‘gifts’ from ‘bribes’. Traditional cultural or familial factors seemed to affect the willingness to act against corruption that people recognised was taking place. Civil society organisations and the private sector were unevenly developed, and faced corruption problems of their own. Most countries had a range of formal institutions in place, but they often worked ineffectively, casting doubt on strategies that involved creating new independent bodies.
