poli 370 midterm Flashcards
What are some negative consequences of corruption?
Corruption heightens inequalities, harms economic efficiency, decreases trust in institutions, and can lead to loss of life due to unsafe conditions and political violence.
In what sense is corruption a ‘dilemma’?
The cost of engaging or not engaging in corruption varies globally, so you always have a choice, but your ability to morally make that decision is not the same everywhere
In what sense is corruption an ‘equilibrium’?
No actor can make themselves better off by choosing any other action. Since they assume everyone else will also engage, their only best choice is to engage too.
How many different ways has corruption been defined?
Many. Gaining illicit advantage, converting societal goods into personal goods, subverting public interest, perversion of principles, and resources going to the highest bidder.
Is corruption always illegal?
No, some cases may feel like corruption but aren’t strictly illegal, and definitions can vary by country. Most countries have legal codes that prohibit most corrupt acts, but not everything is included.
What are some examples of actions considered corruption?
Bribes, extortion, influence peddling (the intrusion of big business into the public sector), kickbacks (basically bribes, payments for transactions), nepotism, conflict of interest (personal interests), clientelism (goods and services for political support), ghost workers, embezzlement, blackmail, election fraud
What is the principal-agent theory of corruption?
The principal-agent theory suggests that corruption increases when monitoring is low and benefits are high–it is a result of insufficient monitoring of officials that are deciding public services. But also note that many societies with systemic corruption lack a principal making the choices
What is the collective action theory of corruption?
Corruption persists because it is widely perceived to be the norm. Individuals don’t gain anything from not participating
What do Marquette and Peiffer (2017) argue about theories of corruption?
They argue that collective action and principal-agent theories are not mutually exclusive and both fail to recognize that corruption persists because it provides solutions to problems.
Why is measuring corruption considered challenging?
Corruption is often undetectable by design, making it difficult to measure accurately.
Why is it important to measure corruption?
Measuring corruption helps indicate anti-corruption success, identify corrupt countries, and guide resource allocation (where to send aid or invest).
What are the four most common approaches to measuring corruption?
- Perceptions: Surveys asking people about corruption levels (CPI). 2. Revelations: Information from known corruption scandals (scandals and court cases). 3. Institutional evaluation: Assessing accountability institutions (IPI). 4. Forensics: Using statistics on specific acts to identify corruption (audits).
What are the limitations of perception-based measures?
Perception measures can be biased, difficult to compare cross-nationally, and may not accurately reflect actual corruption.
What unintended consequences can arise from perception-based measures?
They can (perception problem) create an illusion of quantitative sophistication, (error problem) measurement errors, and (utility problem) challenges in converting data into actionable solutions.
How are scholars addressing challenges in measuring corruption?
By using experience-based measures or treating perceptions as subjective.
How do scholars argue that development/poverty and corruption are related?
Poverty can lead to corruption due to low income creating bribe incentives and lack of monitoring resources, while corruption can exacerbate poverty by diverting funds from public services and infrastructure necessary for economic development.
What are the limitations of drawing causal conclusions from cross-national research?
Other factors may influence both corruption and poverty, and controlled causal experiments are often impossible.
What difficulties does the endogeneity problem create in studying corruption?
Variables may interact and cause one another, making it hard to establish clear causal relationships.
Where is corruption most pervasive according to cross-national research?
Corruption is often lower in highly developed liberal democracies with strong institutions, women in gov’t, history of open trade, and a free press.
What does Treisman (2007) explore regarding corruption?
economic development- debate on if the quality of institutions can lead to more development and less corruption or if more historical successful development led to less corruption
political institutions - democracies should lead to less corruption perceptions bc more accountability. presidentialism should lead to higher corruption perceptions
rents and market competition - should be higher when there r more rents for gov’t to capture. international competition should reduce monopolies
other factors - women in office = less corruption. inflation makes it harder to monitor public spending
How can political institutions create incentives for corruption?
Autocracies: concentrated power and low electoral accountability can lead to higher corruption, though autocrats may also take anti-corruption measures less seriously.
What is the connection between democracy and corruption?
Elections may not immediately reduce corruption, as many countries have histories of autocracy that influence current power dynamics.
What factors influence the likelihood of voters reelecting corrupt politicians?
Voters may lack clean alternatives, reliable information, or assume all politicians are corrupt, leading them to prioritize other issues.
When are voters more likely to punish corrupt politicians?
When they have clean alternatives, access to good information, and confidence in the potential for change by parties and politicians.
