Corruption And Norms

This book focuses on the role of norms in the description, explanation, prediction and combat of corruption. It conceives corruption as a ubiquitous problem, constructed by specific traditions, values, norms and institutions. The chapters concentrate on the relationship between corruption and social as well as legal norms, providing comparative perspectives from different academic disciplines, theoretical and methodological backgrounds, and various country-studies. Due to the nature of social norms that are embedded in personal, local, and organizational contexts, the contributions in the volume focus in particular on the individual and institutional level of analysis (micro and meso-mechanisms). The book will be of interest to students and scholars across the fields of political science, public administration, socio-legal studies and psychology.

Building upon the body of existing literature that has established the importance of norms in understanding why genders interact with social phenomena differently, and how gender plays a role in most aspects of corruption, this cutting-edge book expands the fields to explore the nexus between norms, gender and corruption.

This book traces the creation of international anti-corruption norms by States and other actors through four markedly different institutions: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and the Financial Action Task Force. It analyses the international regulation of corruption, assesses the core international instruments governing anti-corruption efforts, and considers the concept of legitimacy as a framework for evaluating anti-corruption norms.

With corruption at the forefront of the international political debate, this timely book analyzes the international regulation of corruption, assesses the core international instruments governing anti-corruption efforts, and considers the concept of legitimacy as a framework for evaluating anti-corruption norms.

This volume together scholars specializing in different parts of the world to give us a comparative understanding of the persistence of corruption in some societies. The reader is privileged to learn from the many global variations that are skilfully presented for further analyses. Corruption is a salient feature of human condition in any organized society. Further, where risks are low and the returns high, corruption is almost inevitable. Apart from this, traditional public behaviour comes precariously close to what in the West might amount to corrupt practices. Bureaucratic corruption should be understood in the light of a clash of morality on the one hand and legality on the other. There is a contradiction between traditional values, which are held in respect and are a part of everyday life of a people, and norms of the larger society which stand out as compelling forces. The idea of the modern division between the public and private office is alien to a traditional culture and corruption finds space when this division is not strictly observed. Seven essays in this volume cover a range of countries which include India, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia. As the essays unfold themselves, the problem of corruption takes on an added dimension, that of a legacy left behind by colonialism. Please note: This title is co-published with Social Science Press, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Much of the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Turkey was the result of widespread corruption between the construction industry and government officials. Corruption is part of everyday public life and we tend to take it for granted. However, preventing corruption helps to raise city revenues, improve service delivery, stimulate public confidence and participation, and win elections. This book is designed to help citizens and public officials diagnose, investigate and prevent various kinds of corrupt and illicit behaviour. It focuses on systematic corruption rather than the free-lance activity of a few law-breakers, and emphasises practical preventive measures rather than purely punitive or moralistic campaigns.

Corruption undermines many outcomes across development sectors, yet little is known about how social norms drive corruption or undermine anticorruption efforts in sector work. The conservation sector is no exception. The current study examined corruption and social norms related to infrastructure investments and site planning decisions and their subsequent effect on conservation outcomes. The study focused on the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, one of four protected areas under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Sustainable Interventions for Biodiversity, Oceans and Landscapes (SIBOL) project in the Philippines, implemented by RTI International. Based on a site visit, key informant interviews, and extensive document analysis, our findings elucidate a unique governance structure that enabled project partners to navigate the significant corruption risks present. Direct social norms were not found to be driving corrupt decision making. However, indirect norms played a role by dictating inaction or silence—powerful behaviors—in the face of abuse of entrusted power for personal gain. Our analysis highlights the challenges and importance of having practitioners clearly define and understand what they mean by “corruption” as well as the importance of undertaking a systems analysis that incorporates the influence of social norms on behaviors within that system.

The problem of corruption, however described, dates back thousands of years. Professionals working in areas such as development studies, economics and political studies, were the first to most actively analyse and publish on the topic of corruption and its negative impacts on economies, societies and politics. There was, at that time, minimal literature available on corruption and the law. The literature and discussion on bribery and corruption, as well as on the negative impact of each and what is required to address them, particularly in the legal context, are now considerable. Corruption and anti-corruption are multifaceted and multi-disciplinary. The focus now on the law and compliance, and perhaps commercial incentives, is relatively easy. However, corruption, anti-corruption and the motivations for them are complex. If we continue to discuss, debate, engage, address corruption and anti-corruption in our own disciplinary silos, we are unlikely to significantly progress the fight against corruption. What do terms such as 'culture of integrity', 'demand accountability', ‘transparency and accountability’ and ‘ethical corporate culture’ dominating the anti-corruption discourse mean, if anything, in other disciplines? If they are meaningless, what approach would practitioners in those other disciplines suggest be adopted to address corruption. What has their experience been in the field? How can the work of each discipline contribute to the work of whole and, as such, improve our work in and understanding of anti-corruption? This book seeks to answer these questions and to understand the phenomenon more comprehensively. It will be of value to researchers, academics, lawyers, legislators and students in the fields of law, anthropology, sociology, international affairs, and business.

This new edition of a 1999 classic shows how institutionalized corruption can be fought through sophisticated political-economic reform.