Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption

Since the early 1990s, a series of major scandals in both the financial and most especially the political worlds has resulted in close attention being paid to the issue of corruption and its links to political legitimacy and stability. Indeed, in many countries - in both the developed as well as the developing world - corruption seems to have become almost an obsession. Concern about corruption has become a powerful policy narrative: the explanation of last resort for a whole range of failures and disappointments in the fields of politics, economics and culture. In the more established democracies, worries about corruption have become enmeshed in a wider debate about trust in the political class. Corruption remains as widespread today, possibly even more so, as it did when concerted international attention started being devoted to the issue following the end of the Cold War. This Handbook provides a showcase to the most innovative and exciting research being conducted in the field of political corruption, as well as providing a new point of reference for all who are interested in the topic. The Handbook is structured around six core issues in the study of corruption in the contemporary world. Each section consistsof a signpost introductory chapter written by a leading international expert in the field, followed by a series of focused chapters dealing with different levels of analysis (for instance global, regional, or local); methodologies (for instance large-n or case-study based); analytic approaches (political, sociological, anthropological, legal, economic); and perspectives (academic, NGO activist, citizen/victim).