Skip to main content

Political Corruption

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Law and Economics

Abstract

Political corruption represents a specific type of public-to-public corruption which implies that one participant of corrupt transaction belongs on the State and the other to the private sector: in fact, public corruption is a particular (and illegal) State-society relationship. Political corruption occurs when politicians, who are delegated to make laws and enforce them by the citizens, act themselves in a corrupt way. More precisely, it appears when policymakers exploit their political strength to pursue their own economic benefits and/or maintain their powerful position.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 819.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 1,099.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Argandoña A (2003) Private-to-private corruption. J Bus Ethics 47:253–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austen-Smith D, Wright JR (1994) Counteractive lobbying. Am J Polit Sci 38:25–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campos N, Giovannoni F (2007) Lobbying, corruption and political influence. Public Choice 131:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damania R, Fredricksson PG, Mani M (2004) The persistence of corruption and regulatory compliance failures: theory and evidence. Public Choice 121:363–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • della Porta D (1997) The vicious circles of corruption in Italy. In: della Porta D, Mény Y (eds) Democracy and corruption. Printer, London, pp 35–49

    Google Scholar 

  • della Porta D, Pizzorno A (1996) The business politicians: reflections from a study of political corruption. J Law Soc 23:73–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • della Porta D, Vannucci A (1997) The “perverse effects” of political corruption. Political Stud XLV:516–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • della Porta D, Vannucci A (2016) The hidden order of corruption: An institutional approach. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedrich CJ (1989) Corruption concepts in historical perspective. In: Heidenheimer AJ, Johnston M, LeVine VT (eds) Political corruption. A handbook. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick. (third printing 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman G, Helpman E (1999) Competing for endorsements. Am Econ Rev 89:501–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossman G, Helpman E (2001) Special interest politics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Harstad B, Svensson J (2011) Bribes, lobbying and development. Am Polit Sci Rev 105:46–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington SP (1968) Political order in changing societies. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain A (2001) The political economy of corruption. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Leff NH (1964) Economic development through bureaucratic corruption. Am Behav Sci 8:8–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nye JS (1967) Corruption and political development: a cost-benefit analysis. Am Polit Sci Rev 61:417–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olken BA, Pande R (2012) Corruption in developing countries. Annu Rev Econ 4(1):479–509

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters JG, Welch S (1978) Political corruption in America: a search for definitions and a theory, or if political corruption is in the mainstream of American politics why is it not in the mainstream of American politics research? Am Polit Sci Rev 72:974–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pizzorno A (1992) La corruzione nel sistema politico. Introduction to Della Porta D, Lo scambio occulto. Il Mulino, Bologna

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman S (1978) Corruption. A study in political economy. Academic, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman S (1996) Democracy and ‘grand’ corruption. Int Soc Sci J 48(149):365–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman S (1999) Corruption and government. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roy Cerqueti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Cerqueti, R., Coppier, R. (2019). Political Corruption. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_366

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics