Corrupt Intermediaries in Post-Socialist Russia: Mutations of Economic Institutions

Using the example of intermediaries in business–state relations, this essay addresses the evolution of corruption in Russia which has been facilitated by the introduction of a neoliberal system of market relations. Based on empirical studies of small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia, the essay demonstrates how intermediaries (which are also present in Western market economies and serve the function of reducing firms' transaction costs) have adapted to the local system in order to serve as providers of both legal and illegal (corrupt) services. Disputing the pervasive claim that neoliberalism and corruption are mutually exclusive phenomena, we argue that in ‘incoherent’ democracies like Russia, where properly functioning democratic institutions and a developed civil society are lacking, neoliberalism has led to the expansion of corruption.     

Effectiveness of Ethics Codes in the Public Sphere: Are They Useful in Controlling Corruption?

This study aims at determining the real effect of the implementation of a code of ethics on the solution of ethical problems in the public sphere, considering corruption as the most important non-ethical behavior. With that aim, 154 national administrations whose information on ethical codes is available on the UN's website are analyzed.

Our findings stress the absence of any influence of codes on corruption problems in the public context, both in developed and developing countries. The level of education is the most important determining factor in the control of corruption, especially in developing countries.     

Corruption and the Mexican political system: Continuity and change

Thanks to the nature of its political system, Mexico has had a long history of political corruption. Yet recent changes in the patterns of corruption and broader political changes have seemingly altered the equation. Anger over rampant corruption under President Carlos Salinas contributed to the stunning electoral defeat of the PRI in July 1997, while the outcome, the PRI's loss of majority control of the Chamber of Deputies, will add to the structural pressures that have mounted in recent years against institutionalised corruption. This article explores these trends. It sets out the historical and theoretical foundations of corruption in Mexico, examines changes in the incidence and patterns of corruption, and discusses the impact of recent political changes on this aspect of the system. Though cautiously optimistic regarding the impact of Mexico's political breakthrough on efforts to deal with the problem of corruption, the essay concludes on a cautious note, highlighting the difficulties other Latin American countries have encountered in strengthening the rule of law and reining in corruption.     

Towards an integrated model of corruption: opportunities and control in China

This article uses a transaction costs approach to synthesize micro- and macro-theories of corruption in an analysis of corruption in post-Mao China. Macro-theories of corruption include functional, political-institutional, revised modernization, and cultural approaches. These approaches are integrated through a micro-model developed from the principal-agent model and a rational choice model of crime. The micro-model focuses on: the frequency of corrupt opportunities and the stakes involved, external control such as legal sanctions, and internal control or moral constraints. Within this context, this study reveals that corruption during the post-Mao China period was caused by the surge of such opportunities and the failure of internal and external control.     

Donors,State Building and Corruption: lessons from Afghanistan and the implications for aid policy

This article critically analyses the state-building agenda from a governance and aid policy perspective, and from an anti-corruption viewpoint in particular, highlighting potential problems with both theoretical and practical applications of state building in a development context. Inconsistencies and contradictions between the state building and anti-corruption work have not been adequately explored or reconciled. In particular, the article explores these tensions using the example of the Performance-Based Governors' Fund (pbgf) in Afghanistan, where some donors are looking to reduce corruption in local government, encouraging often ‘warlord’ governors to run their administrative offices with integrity. The article argues that the pbgf approach—with its themes of being realistic, going for indirect strategies over the long term and building integrity rather than fighting corruption, provide important lessons for the anti-corruption community as a whole, both at the level of theory and practice.     

The Impact of Socio-Political Integration and Press Freedom on Corruption

The analyses in this study demonstrate a more nuanced understanding of a previously understood phenomenon – that openness has a negative relationship with corruption. It is argued that this relationship is substantially influenced by the domestic context, a relationship that has been underdeveloped by previous empirical studies. Focusing on social and political integration, I find that the effect of openness on corruption is conditioned by domestic institutions. The empirical evidence suggests that while political and social openness have a significant impact in combating corruption given a free press, the impact of such international forces are negligible in cases where press freedoms are low.     

Corruption and Popular Support for Democracy and Government in Transitional Contexts: The Case of Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Many studies have argued that corruption undermines perceived democratic legitimacy, trust in state institutions, and government support. However, few prior studies have included transitional or hybrid regimes in their analyses, or simultaneously examined multiple aspects of this relationship. Using focus groups and a nationally representative survey conducted throughout a tumultuous transitional period in Kyrgyzstan, we find evidence for our hypotheses that citizens with greater corruption concerns will be more pro-democratic when evaluating democracy or its institutional components in the abstract; yet, they distrust existing government institutions. Even in a hybrid regime lacking democratic experience, citizens exhibit attributes of distrusting democrats.     

The decisive impact of tax administration practices on firms’ corruption Experience and Perceptions: Evidence from Europe and Central Asia

Two competing conceptualizations of corruption in the literature view it either as efficient or burdensome from firms’ perspective. Using data on the prevalence and the nature of firms’ interactions with tax authorities in twenty-eight Eastern European and Central Asian (ECA) countries, this paper contributes to evaluation of competing ideas in the literature about firms’ experience of corruption in tax administration. Special emphasis is given to examination of taxation-related determinants of corruption prevalence (frequency and magnitude of bribery), as well as the effect of the interaction with tax authorities on perception of tax and overall corruption. Regardless of country context, it appears that perceived corruption in tax administration and actual experiences with bribery during interactions with tax officials more than anything else affect the overall perceptions of corruption, thereby supporting the conceptualization of corruption in tax administration as burdensome, rather than efficient.     

Petty and grand corruption and the conflict dynamics in Northern Uganda

This study explores the relationship between corruption and conflict in northern Uganda, using the perspectives of local business owners as an inroad. The purpose is to highlight how various types of corruption can be related to conflict dynamics in different ways, depending on the context. The article argues that in post-war northern Uganda grand corruption can be seen as related to the conflict dynamics, while petty corruption is generally not seen that way. At the centre of the conflict in northern Uganda lies a deep mutual mistrust between the population in the north and the central government. Therefore corruption in the public sector that occurs at the central level, in particular with regard to funds aimed at the north, tends to be associated with the conflict, whereas the various types of petty corruption encountered by local businesspersons in Gulu, the largest town in northern Uganda, are seen by these actors as normal or as ‘the way things are’.     

Inter-Organizational Coordination and Corruption in Urban Policy Implementation in Bangladesh: A Case of Rajshahi City Corporation

This article provides an overview of the state of inter-organizational coordination and corruption in urban policy implementation in Bangladesh. Based on a study carried out in one of the seven large cities in Bangladesh, the available data illustrate that there are major coordination problems between the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) and other government departments. This is due to a lack of formal coordination mechanisms, partisan leadership, and a fragmented organizational culture of patron-clientage, which dispenses undue favor and involves nepotism. These pathologies breed corruption and seriously impede inter-organizational coordination. Ordinary citizens suffer as a result.     

The spread of famine in Africa: Avoiding the worst

The aim of this article is to provide an evaluation of Uganda's current strategy to fight corruption. Like many countries on the African continent, Uganda has deemed it necessary to make attempts to reduce and control corruption within the public sector. As awareness of the deleterious and debilitating effects of corruption has grown, so too have both internal political factors and external pressures from aid donors increased in order to push for fundamental change in this respect. In terms of the donors, many have stipulated specific conditions relating to a good governance agenda based upon adherence to public integrity and minimum standards of public conduct. Sensitivity to pressure also stems in part, from a wish by government to be seen to be actively responding to donor concerns. Internal pressures stem from a growing desire by the public to demand accountability from those in government.     

Corruption networks as a sphere of investment activities in modern Russia

This paper studies a new phenomenon, the ‘top to bottom’ corruption networks of organized crime, law enforcement and Government officials in Russia. We examine the Soviet roots of corruption and its transformation during transitional period. By focusing on contemporary Russian corruption networks this paper explores the complex of state-run oligarchic structure with established rates, well organized inter-institutional groups incorporated by common ideas of extracting profits. The danger is in the existence of extensive and stable corruption networks, which not only profit by their illegal activities between Organized Crime groups and Law Enforcements, but invest in further corrupt developments to control the government. We argue that corruption in Russia, for a long time, has been imbedded in the system of social relations and, by the majority of citizens, was not considered to be a crime. Presenting arguments against existing simplified understanding of corruption, this study elucidates corruption networks as an expansion of Organized Crime in all spheres of post-totalitarian Russia. It also shows that a magic circle of corruption closely intertwines with the inefficiency of power and the inefficiency of rule of law.     

Administrative ethics in post-MAO China: challenges and chances an introduction

This article provides an introduction to the recent development of administrative ethics in the People's Republic of China, which embarked on the path of reform and opening to the outside world in 1978. The article also summarizes the issues discussed in the following articles. These include Chinese views of corruption since Tiananmen, the issue of whistleblowing, organizational ethics and bureaucratic corruption in Chinese schools, changing administrative ethos and corruption in reform China, and the process of professionalization and rhe resultant rebuilding of administrative ethics in post-Mao China.     

Curbing Corruption in India: An Impossible Dream?

This article analyses the serious problem of corruption in India by examining its causes and the various anti-corruption measures employed by the government from the formation in 1941 of the first anti-corruption agency, the Delhi Special Police Establishment, which was expanded to form the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 1963. India's ineffective anti-corruption strategy can be attributed to the lack of political will of its leaders and its unfavourable policy context, which has hindered the enforcement of the anti-corruption laws. The lack of political will in fighting corruption is manifested in the lowest per capita expenditure and least favourable staff-population ratio of the CBI when compared to those of its counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand. To enhance the CBI's effectiveness, it should be removed from the jurisdiction of the police and be established as an independent agency dedicated solely to curbing corruption. The Constitution of India should also be amended to empower the CBI to investigate corruption cases at the state level without obtaining the consent of the chief minister of the state. In view of the lack of political will, this article concludes that curbing corruption in India remains an impossible dream in the foreseeable future.     

The Effects of Corruption on Satisfaction with Local and National Governments. Does Corruption ‘Grease the Wheels’?

Abstract

A causal association was found between higher levels of corruption and lower levels of satisfaction with local and national governments. However, interaction term analysis provides suggestive evidence that: first, as public service satisfaction increases, the effects of corruption change from negative values to positive values for both local and national governments; second, as political situations improve, the negative effects of corruption diminish for both local and national governments; and, third, as the economic situation improves, the negative effects of corruption diminish for local, but not for national governments.     

Administrators as Deliberative Representatives: A Revised Public Service Role

We suggest a role for public administrators as deliberative representatives. The goal is to apply a re-conceptualization of representation within the context of public administration based on a literature review on the following concepts: 1) representative democracy, (2) representative bureaucracy, and (3) deliberative democracy. We find that dominant models of representative democracy are ill suited for ensuring the true interests of citizens and communities are met and that representative bureaucracy is not satisfactory to address the failings of representative democracy. Finding promise in deliberative democracy models, we consider how the re-conceptualization of representation for the administrative role might shape the advancement of public participation in order to enhance the quality of representation. Specifically, a fourth construction is defined to add to the list of three above: deliberative representation.     

Land and grievances in post-conflict Sri Lanka: exploring the role of corruption complaints

There is a growing academic literature on both land and corruption in relation to post-conflict peace building. This paper aims to understand what role corruption complaints play in the nexus between land and grievances in post-conflict societies. Drawing on field material collected in Sri Lanka, the paper interrogates the role of corruption complaints in relation to a number of highly politicised and ethnicised post-conflict land issues, ranging from the return of idps and alleged new resettlement schemes to land grabbing for military, ‘development’ and/or commercial purposes. The comparatively high visibility of land use, and the fact that land-related corruption is likely to affect a specific set of people who lay claim to the land, makes it a particularly important area to address in research on corruption and post-conflict peace building.     

The North‐South dialogue revisited: Some personal reflections

This article focuses on the experiences of South Korea and the Philippines and examines the relationship of corruption to political and economic development. It argues that corruption is a manifestation of specific sets of state-society relations, political systems, development trajectories and types of external linkages. Corruption in these contexts should not be seen as pathological phenomena but as deeply integrated into the particular path of political and economic development. The article further identifies the context and scope for reform.     

EMERGING FROM POST-COMMUNIST CHAOS: THE CASE OF BULGARIA

This essay provides a historical analysis of how the post-Communist constitutional process has shaped the current governmental system in Bulgaria. History and recent events marking Bulgaria's struggle toward democracy and a free-market economy are examined in the context of possible consequences for the nation's welfare, freedom, and prosperity. The extremely powerful political influence of the central government has led to unprecedented obstacles to reform in both the emerging Bulgarian democracy and its social policies and systems.     

Speaking to the Silences: Do We Need a Sociology for the Post-9-11 World?

Using a sociology of knowledge framing, this essay highlights how and why the sociological imagination presented by leading European and American scholars showcased in this special issue offers a relatively hopeful assessment of recent transformations. It then questions the extent to which the same optimism prevails for scholars – and citizens – of the poorer, less advanced countries of the world. It not only suggests that many of the fundamental sociological transformations associated with the contemporary era – ranging from globalization of economy, the rise of internet technology, the decline of the nation state, and the rise of more cosmopolitan identities – are unevenly distributed around the world. It also argues that their political, social, and economic impact will vary, depending on history and developmental context. The essay further suggests that precisely because of the statist and protectionist legacies of late development, many of the same transformations that bring positive gains in the advanced capitalist world, signal troubles ahead for the developing world and its future. The essay draws to a close with a more focused examination of the dark side of recent transformations, evident in such problems as unchecked violence and regional or ethnic fragmentation across major swathes of the global south. Such developments, the essay concludes, should sustain the call for a more “pluralist” sociological imagination for the new millennium, one that can take into account differences within and between various countries around the globe, while also advancing our normative understanding of what it would take to make “global society” possible.