Political corruption - Paul Heywood

Political corruption is one of the central issues facing modern states, be they dictatorships or democracies. Once seen as a problem largely confined to the "developing world", the explosion of scandals in established western democracies over the last decade has demonstrated that no regime is immune to the corrosive impact of political corruption. This volume brings together established scholars and young researchers who approach the issue of political corruption from a variety of different analytical perspectives.

In contrast to surveys based on narrow case–studies of political corruption in particular countries, the chapters in this volume are broad–ranging and comparative. Attention is devoted to such questions as how political corruption can be defined, how it operates in practice, what its impact is on different kinds of political systems, and why it generates such concern amongst both politicians and the public. Drawing on insights from the fields of political science, game theory, economics, sociology and law, this volume provides a rich and nuanced framework for analysis.