Corruption: A Very Short Introduction by Leslie Holmes

Author:Leslie Holmes [Holmes, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780199689699
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2015-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

the use of personal networks and informal contacts to obtain goods and services in short supply and to find a way around formal procedures. The word is virtually impossible to translate directly into English.

Another reason why citizens in the USSR and other Communist societies developed sophisticated ways of circumventing the system was that it was such a closed one. In line with Lenin’s view of Communist parties as comprising the politically most aware (the ‘vanguard’ of society), they were in theory highly selective in their admissions; yet securing advancement in the system almost always necessitated joining the Party. Hence, many people were prepared to cultivate overly cosy ties to others they believed could help their careers.

Many contemporary states that were never under Communist rule but were or still are authoritarian also share features conducive to the development of a culture of corruption. Most are former colonies, and the impact of the colonial legacy has already been considered. But in addition, the very fact of an authoritarian system, in which elites typically set a bad example by creaming off a country’s wealth and stashing it in opaque offshore bank accounts, while denying citizens the right to investigate and openly criticize such practices, reduces the populace’s trust in the system and hence that system’s legitimacy. Citizens and officials thus feel less compunction about breaking the system’s rules and taking advantage of that system when the opportunity arises.

One of the more imaginative examples of empirical research into corruption conducted in recent years endorses the notion that officials from some countries are much more corrupt than their counterparts elsewhere. Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel examined illegal parking by diplomats in New York City between 1997 and 2005, and concluded that ‘There is a strong correlation between illegal parking and existing measures of home country corruption. Even when stationed thousands of miles away, diplomats behave in a manner highly reminiscent of officials in the home country.’ This certainly constitutes a cultural interpretation of corruption.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.