Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding corruption in the twenty-first century: towards a new constructivist research agenda

  • Review Article
  • Published:
French Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

The search for a universally acceptable definition of corruption has been a central element of scholarship on corruption over the last decades, without it ever reaching a consensus in academic circles. Moreover, it is far from certain that citizens share the same understanding of what should be labelled as ‘corruption’ across time, space and social groups. This article traces the journey from the classical conception of corruption, centred around the notions of morals and decay, to the modern understanding of the term focussing on individual actions and practices. It provides an overview of the scholarly struggle over meaning-making and shows how the definition of corruption as the ‘abuse of public/entrusted power for private gain’ became dominant, as corruption was constructed as a global problem by international organizations. Lastly, it advocates for bringing back a more constructivist perspective on the study of corruption which takes the ambiguity and political dimensions of corruption seriously. The article suggests new avenues of research to understand corruption in the changing context of the twenty-first century.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Author’s own translation.

  2. Interestingly, in French, ‘corruption’ also refers to the sexual abuse of youth, reflecting the original polysemy.

  3. Professor of History, Technische Universität Darmstadt (INTEX1). Interview, with author. November 17th 2016.

References

  • Abbott, K. 2001. Rule-making in the WTO: Lessons from the Ce of Bribery and Corruption. Journal of International Economic Law 4(2): 275–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Affaire Penelope Fillon: Plusieurs centaines de manifestants à Paris “contre la corruption des élus” Europe 1, February 19th 2017. https://www.europe1.fr/societe/affaire-penelope-fillon-plusieurs-centaines-de-manifestants-a-paris-contre-la-corruption-des-elus-2982434. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.

  • Alatas, H.S. 1968. The Sociology of Corruption: The Nature, Function, Causes and Prevention of Corruption. Singapore: D. Moore Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreas, P., and K.M. Greenhill. 2010. Sex, Drugs, and Body counts: The Politics of Numbers in Global Crime and Conflict. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, M.M., and M. Mancuso. 1985. Do we Need a Code of Conduct for Politicians? The Search for an Elite Political Culture of Corruption in Canada. Canadian Journal of Political Science 18(3): 459–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, B. 2018. Women Politicians, Institutions, and Perceptions of Corruption. Comparative Political Studies 52(1): 134–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauhr, M., and N. Charron. 2020. Do Men and Women Perceive Corruption Differently? Gender Differences in Perception of Need and Greed Corruption. Politics and Governance 8(2): 92–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker G. S. 1974. Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research: distributed by Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belouezzane, S. 2020. Affaire Fillon: Les Républicains «choqués»par les déclarations de l’ex-chef du Parquet national financier. Le Monde, June 22, 2020. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2020/06/22/les-republicains-choques-par-les-declarations-de-l-ex-cheffe-du-parquet-national-financier-sur-l-affaire-fillon_6043676_823448.html. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.

  • Berti, C., R. Bratu, and S. Wickberg. 2020. Corruption and the Media. In A Research Agenda for Studies of Corruption, ed. A. Mungiu-Pippidi and P. Heywood. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Best, J. 2008. Ambiguity, Uncertainty, and Risk: Rethinking Indeterminacy. International Political Sociology 2(4): 355–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boccon-Gibod, T. Forthcoming. De la corruption des régimes à la confusion des intérêts: pour une histoire politique de la corruption. Revue française d’administration publique 145.

  • Bratu, R., and I. Kažoka. 2018. Metaphors of Corruption in the News Media Coverage of Seven European Countries. European Journal of Communication 33(1): 57–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchan, B., and L. Hill. 2014. An Intellectual History of Political Corruption. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan UK.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bukovansky, M. 2006. The Hollowness of Anti-corruption Discourse. Review of International Political Economy 13(2): 181–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Centre national des ressources textuelles et lexicales. n.d. Corruption. https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/corruption. Accessed 5 Mar 2020.

  • Clarke, J. 2006. What’s Culture Got to Do with It? Deconstructing Welfare, State and Nation. Working Paper n° 136-06, Centre for Cultural Research, University of Aarhus.

  • Clarke, N., W. Jennings, J. Moss, and G. Stoker. 2018. The Good Politician: Folk Theories, Political Interaction, and the Rise of Anti-politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, A., and J. Snyder (eds.). 2015. Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, M. 2015. Post-2008 British Industrial Policy and Constructivist Political Economy: New Directions and New Tensions. New Political Economy 20(1): 107–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggers, V. 2018. Corruption, Accountability, and Gender: Do Female Politicians Face Higher Standards in Public Life? The Journal of politics 80(1): 321–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engler, S. 2020. “Fighting Corruption” or “Fighting the Corrupt Elite”? Politicizing Corruption Within and Beyond the Populist Divide. Democratization 27(4): 643–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Europe 1. Affaire Penelope Fillon: Plusieurs centaines de manifestants à Paris “contre la corruption des élus”. February 19th 2017. Online, available at: https://www.europe1.fr/societe/affaire-penelope-fillon-plusieurs-centaines-de-manifestants-a-paris-contre-la-corruption-des-elus-2982434 Accessed 3 Jan 2021.

  • Fawcett, P., M. Flinders, C. Hay, and M. Wood (eds.). 2017. Anti-politics, Depoliticisation and Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedrich, C. 1972. The Pathology of Politics: Violence, Betrayal, Corruption, Secrecy and Propaganda. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedrich, C. 2002. Corruption Concepts in Historical Perspective. In Political Corruption: Concepts & Contexts. 3rd ed, ed. A.J. Heidenheimer and M. Johnston. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallie, W. B. 1956. IX.—Essentially Contested Concepts. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 56(1): 167–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner, J.A. 1970. The Politics of Corruption. Organised Crime in an American City. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebel, A.C. 2012. Human Nature and Morality in the Anti-corruption Discourse of Transparency International. Public Administration and Development 32: 109–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Génaux, M. 2002. Les mots de la corruption: la déviance publique dans les dictionnaires d’Ancien Régime. Histoire, économie et société 21(4): 513–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Génaux, M. 2004. Social Sciences and the Evolving Concept of Corruption. Crime, Law and Social Change 42(13): 13–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gledhill, J. 2004. Corruption as the Mirror of the State in Latin America. In Between Morality and the Law: Corruption, Anthropology and Comparative Society, ed. I. Pardo. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn, P., S.J. Kobrin, and M. Naìm. 1997. The Globalization of Corruption. In Corruption and the Global Economy, ed. K.A. Elliott. Washington, D.C: Institute of International Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graaf, G. 2007. Causes of Corruption: Towards a Contextual Theory of Corruption. Public administration quarterly 31(1/2): 39–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregg, B. 2011. Human Rights as Social Construction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Guilhot, N. 2005. The Democracy Makers: Human Rights and International Order. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. 1989. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, E. 2006. Unpacking the Anti-corruption Agenda: Dilemmas for Anthropologists. Oxford Development Studies 34(1): 15–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay, C. 2007. Why We Hate Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, C. 2016. Good in a Crisis: The Ontological Institutionalism of Social Constructivism. New Political Economy 21(6): 520–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heeks, R., and H. Mathisen. 2012. Understanding Success and Failure of Anti-corruption Initiatives. Journal of Crime, Law and Social Change 58(5): 533–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heidenheimer, A.J. 1970. Political Corruption: Readings in Comparative Analysis. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidenheimer, Arnold J., and Michael Johnston. 2002. Political Corruption: Concepts & Contexts. 3rd ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidenheimer, A.J., M. Johnston, and V.T. Levine (eds.). 1989. Handbook of Corruption. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellman, O. 2019. The Visual Politics of Corruption. Third World Quarterly 40(12): 2129–2152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heywood, P. 2015. Introduction Scale and Focus in the Study of Corruption. In Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, ed. P. Heywood. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heywood, P. 2017. Rethinking Corruption. Hocus–Pocus, Locus and Focus. The Slavonic and East European Review 95(1): 21–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heywood, P. 2019. 7—Paul Heywood on Which Questions to Ask to Gain New Insights into the Wicked Problem of Corruption. Kickback the Global Anticorruption Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/kickback-gap/7-episode-paul-heywood. Accessed 5 Nov 2020.

  • Heywood, P., and J. Rose. 2014. “Close But No Cigar”: The Measurement of Corruption. Journal of Public Policy 34(3): 507–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, M. 2010. Pour en finir: avec les conflits d’intérêt. Paris: Stock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschman, A.O. 1997. The Passions and the Interests Political Arguments for Capitalism Before its Triumph. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hough, D. 2013. Corruption, Anti-corruption and Governance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan UK.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Huss, O. 2018. Corruption, Crisis, and Change: Use and Misuse of an Empty Signifier. In Crisis and Change in Post-Cold War Global Politics, ed. E. Resende, D. Budrytė, and D. Buhari-Gulmez. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institutet mot mutor. n.d. Brottsbalken. Official website. https://www.institutetmotmutor.se/regelverk/det-svenska-regelverket/brottsbalken/. Accessed 20 Jan 2020.

  • Jakobi, A.P. 2013. The Changing Global norm of Anti-corruption: From Bad Business to Bad Government. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 7(1): 243–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jankowski, P. 2008. Shades of Indignation: Political Scandals in France, Past and Present. New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, M. 1996. The Search for Definitions: The Vitality of Politics and the Issue of Corruption. International Social Science Journal 48(149): 321–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, M. 2014. Corruption, Contention, and Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, M. 2015. Reflection and Reassessment. The Emerging Agenda of Corruption Research. In Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, ed. P. Heywood. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalniņš, V. 2014. Anti-corruption Policies Revisited: D3.2.8. Background paper on Latvia. In Corruption and Governance Improvement in Global and Continental Perspectives, ed. A. Mungiu-Pippidi. Gothenburg: ANTICORRP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katzarova, E. 2019. The Social Construction of Global Corruption: from Utopia to Neoliberalism. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, J.G. 2017. Scorecard Diplomacy Grading States to Influence Their Reputation and Behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, N. 2014. This Changes Everything. New York City: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klitgaard, R. 1998. International Cooperation Against Corruption. Finance & Development 35(1): 3–6.

  • Knights, M. 2018. Explaining Away Corruption in Pre-modern Britain. Social Philosophy and Policy 35(2): 94–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koechlin, L. 2013. Corruption as an Empty Signifier. Politics and Political Order in Africa. Leiden: Brill.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Krastev, I. 2004. Shifting Obsessions: Three Essays on the Politics of Anticorruption. New York: Central European University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroeze, R. 2016. The Rediscovery of Corruption in Western Democracies. In Corruption and Governmental Legitimacy: A Twenty-First Century Perspective, ed. J. Mendilow and I. Peleg. Lexington: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroeze, R., A. Vitória, and G. Geltner (eds.). 2018. Anticorruption in History: From Antiquity to the Modern era. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubbe, I., and A. Engelbert (eds.). 2017. Corruption and Norms: Why Informal Rules Matter. London: Palgrave Macmillan Political Corruption and Governance Series.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubbe, I., and A. Varraich (eds.). 2019. Corruption and Informal Practices in the Middle East and North Africa. Abingdon, New York: Routledge Corruption and Anti-Corruption Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurer, O. 2015. Definitions of Corruption. In Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, ed. P. Heywood. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lascoumes, P. 2010. Favoritisme et corruption à la française Petits arrangements avec la probité. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ledeneva, Alena. 2008. Blat and Guanxi: Informal Practices in Russia and China. Comparative Studies in Society and History 50(1): 118–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefebvre, B. 2017. Rétro 2017. Fillon, une campagne placée sous le signe de la corruption. NPA Revolution permanente, December 28th 2017. https://www.revolutionpermanente.fr/Retro-2017-Fillon-une-campagne-placee-sous-le-signe-de-la-corruption. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.

  • Loli, M., and I. Kubbe. Forthcoming. Add Women and Stir? The Myths About the Gendered Dimension of Anti-corruption. European Journal of Gender Politics.

  • Marquette, H., and C. Peiffer. 2018. Grappling with the “Real Politics” of Systemic Corruption: Theoretical Debates Versus “Real-World” Functions. Governance 31: 499–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, P. 2020. Twenty Years with Anticorruption. Part 4 Evidence on Anti-corruption—The Struggle to Understand What Works. U4 Practitioner Experience Note 2020:4. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazur, A.G. 2020. Feminist Approaches to Concepts and Conceptualization Toward Better Science and Policy. In Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science, ed. S. Crasnow and K. Intemann. Oxford: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendilow, J., and E. Phélippeau (eds.). 2019. Political corruption in a world in transition. Wilmington, Delaware: Vernon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mény, Y. 2013. De la confusion des intérêts au conflit d’intérêts. Pouvoirs 147: 5–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merry, S.E., K.E. Davis, and B. Kingsbury. 2015. The Quiet Power of Indicators: Measuring Governance, Corruption, and the Rule of Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Monier, F. 2016. La corruption, fille de la modernité politique? Revue internationale et stratégique 1(101): 63–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mungiu-Pippidi, A., and P. Heywood (eds.). 2020. A Research Agenda for Studies of Corruption. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naìm, M. 1995. The Corruption Eruption. The Brown Journal of World Affairs 2(2): 245–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Navot, D., and I. Beeri. 2018. The Public’s Conception of Political Corruption: A New Measurement Tool and Preliminary Findings. European Political Science 17(1): 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nay, O. 2014. International Organisations and the Production of Hegemonic Knowledge: How the World Bank and the OECD Helped Invent the Fragile State Concept. Third World Quarterly 35(2): 210–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J. 1967. Corruption and Political Development: A Cost-Benefit Analysis. The American Political Science Review 61(2): 417–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. 2017. Terrorism, Corruption and the Criminal Exploitation of Natural Resources. Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oren, I. 2002. Our Enemies and US: America’s Rivalries and the Making of Political Science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, Z. 2013. An International Human Rights Approach to Corruption. In Corruption and Anti-Corruption, ed. P. Larmour and N. Wolanin. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pecnard, J. 2017. Présidentielle: rechute de complotisme aigu dans l’équipe Fillon. L’Express, March 23rd 2017. https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/elections/presidentielle-rechute-de-complotisme-aigu-dans-l-equipe-fillon_1891811.html. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.

  • Persson, A., B. Rothstein, and J. Teorell. 2013. Why Anticorruption Reforms Fail: Systemic Corruption as a Collective Action Problem. Governance 26(3): 449–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, J.G., and S. Welch. 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? The American Political Science Review 72(3): 972–984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philp, M. 1997. Defining Political Corruption. Political Studies 45(3): 436–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philp, M. 2015. The Definition of Political Corruption. In Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, ed. P. Heywood. Oxford: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philp, M., and E. David-Barrett. 2015. Realism About Political Corruption. Annual Review of Political Science 18: 387–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quah, Jon S.T. 2008. Curbing Corruption in India: An Impossible Dream? Asian Journal of Political Science 16(3): 240–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rittel, H.W.J., and M.M. Webber. 1973. Dilemmas in the General Theory of Planning. Policy Sciences 4: 155–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, J. 2018. The Meaning of Corruption: Testing the Coherence and Adequacy of Corruption Definitions. Public Integrity 20(3): 220–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman, S. 1978. The Economics of Corruption: A Study in Political Economy. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman, S. 1999. Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences, and Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman, S. (ed.). 2006. International Handbook on the Economics of Corruption. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, B., and D. Torsello. 2014. Bribery in Preindustrial Societies: Understanding the Universalism-Particularism Puzzle. Journal of Anthropological Research 70(2): 263–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, B., and A. Varraich. 2017. Making Sense of Corruption. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, A. 2016. La corruption internationale: essai sur la répression d’un phénomène transnational. Ph.D. thesis defended on December 7th 2016 at the University of Aix-Marseille.

  • Schaffer, F.C. 2016. Elucidating Social Science Concepts: An Interpretivist Guide. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sineau, M. 2010. Chapitre 6/Genre et corruption: des perceptions différenciées. In Favoritisme et corruption à la française. Petits arrangements avec la probité, ed. P. Lascoumes, 187–198. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Soroos, M.S. 1990. A Theoretical Framework for Global Policy Studies. International Political Science Review 11(3): 309–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sousa, L., P. Larmour, and B. Hindess. 2009. Governments, NGOs and Anti-corruption: The New Integrity Warriors. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steingrüber, S., M. Kirya, D. Jackson, and S. Mullard. 2020. Corruption in the Time of COVID-19: A Double-Threat for Low Income Countries. U4 Brief 2020:6. Bergen: Michelsen Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, D. 2013. Knowledge Actors and Transnational Governance. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tänzler D., Maras, K. 2012. The Social Construction of Corruption in Europe. Farnham Burlington, Vt: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D.F. 1993. Mediated Corruption: The Case of the Keating Five. American Political Science Review 8(2): 369–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torgler, V. 2010. Gender and Public Attitudes Toward Corruption and Tax Evasion. Contemporary Economic Policy 28(4): 554–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Transparency International. n.d. How Do You Define Corruption? Official website. https://www.transparency.org/what-is-corruption#define. Accessed 5 Mar 2020.

  • Transparency International Sverige. n.d. Vad är korruption? Official website. https://www.transparency.se/korruption. Accessed 20 Jan 2020.

  • United Nations. 2010. Travaux Préparatoires of the negotiations for the elaboration of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Vienna: United Nations Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. 2020. Covid-19: l’ONU appelle à combattre la corruption qui prend de nouvelles forms. ONU Info. https://news.un.org/fr/story/2020/10/1079882. Accessed 10 Nov 2020.

  • Vlassis, D. 2004. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption: Origins and Negotiation Process. Resource Material Series 66: 126–131.

  • Voltolini, B., M. Natorski, and C. Hay. 2020. Introduction: The Politicisation of Permanent Crisis in Europe. Journal of European Integration 42(5): 609–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H., and J.N. Rosenau. 2001. Transparency International and Corruption as an Issue of Global Governance. Global Governance 7(1): 25–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, M.E. 2015. The Meaning of Corruption in Democracies. In Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, ed. P. Heywood. Oxford: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wedel, J.R. 2012. Rethinking Corruption in an Age of Ambiguity. The Annual Review of Law and Social Science 8(1): 453–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wickberg, S. 2018. Corruption. In Dictionnaire d’économie politique, ed. A. Smith and C. Hay. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickberg, S. 2020. Global Instruments, Local Practices. Understanding the ‘Divergent Convergence’ of Anti-corruption Policy in Europe. Ph.D. Thesis, defended on July 2d 2020. Paris: Sciences Po.

  • Williams, R. (ed.). 2000. The Politics of Corruption 1, Explaining Corruption. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 1997. Helping Countries Combat Corruption The Role of the World Bank. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. Washington DC: World Bank.

  • World Bank. 2020. Combating Corruption. Official Website. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance/brief/anti-corruption. Accessed 10 Nov 2020.

  • Zaretysky, R. 2017. Why is France so Corrupt? Foreign Policy, February 1st 2017. https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/01/why-is-france-so-corrupt-fillon-macron-le-pen/. Accessed 3 Dec 2020.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sciences Po, Centre d’études européennes et de politique comparée, Paris, France

    Sofia Wickberg

Authors
  1. Sofia Wickberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sofia Wickberg.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wickberg, S. Understanding corruption in the twenty-first century: towards a new constructivist research agenda. Fr Polit 19, 82–102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-020-00144-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-020-00144-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation