Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Democracy and political corruption: A cross-national comparison

  • Published:
Crime, Law and Social Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Past research on democracy and politicalcorruption produced mixed results becauseof differences in sampling and analyticalmethods. Moreover, an important shortcominghas been researchers' focus on detectinglinear effects alone. In the current study,I statistically controlled for potentiallyconfounding economic factors and usedhierarchical polynomial regression toevaluate the form of thedemocracy-corruption relationship. Resultsshowed that a cubic function best fittedthe data. Despite eruptions of corruptionamong intermediate democracies, theconsolidation of advanced democraticinstitutions eventually reduced corruption.Ultimately, the initial politicalconditions and the final democraticachievements determined the magnitude ofpolitical corruption in a country.

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.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agresti, A. and B. Finlay, Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, 3rd edn. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barro, R.J., Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, N. and J. Katz, “What to Do (and not to Do) with Times-Series Cross-Section Data,” American Political Science Review 1995 (89), 634-647.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boix, C., “Democracy, Development, and the Public Sector,” American Journal of Political Science 2001 (45), 1-17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunce, V., “Comparative Democratization: Big and Bounded Generalizations,” Comparative Political Studies 2000 (33), 703-734.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkhart, R.E., “Comparative Democracy and Income Distribution: Shape and Direction of the Causal Arrow,” Journal of Politics 1997 (59), 148-164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A., Crime and Corruption in Eurasia: A Threat to Democracy and International Security (Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  • da Silva, C.E.L., “Journalism and Corruption in Brazil,” in J.S. Tulchin and R.H. Espach (eds.), Combating Corruption in Latin America (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2000) pp. 173-192.

    Google Scholar 

  • della Porta, D. and A. Vannucci, Corrupt Exchanges: Actors, Resources, and Mechanisms of Political Corruption (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbanks, C.H., Jr., “Disillusionment in the Caucasus and Central Asia,” Journal of Democracy 2001 (12), 49-56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B.S. and A. Stutzer, “Happiness, Economy and Institutions,” The Economic Journal 2001 (110), 918-938.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giglioli, P.P., “Political Corruption and the Media: The Tangentopoli Affair,” International Social Science Journal 1996 (48), 381-394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, A.A., “Democracy, Property Rights, and Economic Growth,” Journal of Development Studies 1995 (32), 157-174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, A.A., “Slapping the Grasping Hand: Correlates of Political Corruption in Emerging Markets,” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 1999 (58), 865-883.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris-White, B. and G. White (eds.), Liberalization and New Forms of Corruption (Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegre, H., T. Ellingsen and S. Gates, “Toward a Democratic Civil Peace? Democracy, Political Change, and Civil War, 1816-1992,” American Political Science Review 2001 (95), 33-48.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Monetary Fund, “The World Economic Outlook Database April 2002,” [On-line database]. 2002, Available http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2002/01/data/index.htm

  • Jamieson, A., The Antimafia: Italy's Fight against Organized Crime (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, M., “Public Officials, Private Interests, and Sustainable Democracy: When Politics and Corruption Meet,” in K.A. Elliot (ed.), Corruption and the Global Economy (Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 1997) pp. 61-82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karatnycky, A. (ed.), Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000-2001 (Somerset, NJ: Transaction, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  • Little,W., “Corruption and Democracy in Latin America,” IDS Bulletin 1996 (27), 64-70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquette, H., “Corruption, Democracy and theWorld Bank,” Crime, Law and Social Change 2001 (36), 395-407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mbaku, J.M., “Post-Independence Opportunism and Democratization in Africa,” Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies 1995 (20), 405-422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montinola, G.R. and R.W. Jackman, “Sources of Corruption: A Cross-National Study,” British Journal of Political Science 2002 (32), 147-170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, J., “Democratic Transitions and Forms of Corruption,” Crime, Law and Social Change 2001 (36), 379-393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrik, D., “Democracies Pay Higher Wages,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 1999 (114), 707-738.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandholtz, W. and W. Koetzle, “Accounting for Corruption: Economic Structure, Democracy, and Trade,” International Studies Quarterly 2000 (44), 31-50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayrs, L.W., Pooled Time Series Analysis, Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences No 70 (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, H., “Surprising Success: The New Eastern European Constitutional Courts,” in A. Scheller, L. Diamond and M.F. Plattner (eds.), The Self-Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999) pp. 195-214.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Economist Intelligence Unit, EIU Country Data [On-line database]. 2001, Available http://www.a1.secure.alacra.com/cgi-bin/eiu.exe?app=eiu&msg=DisplayContent&topic=datatype&product=17

  • Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index [On-line database]. 2002, Available http://www.transparency.org/surveys/index.html#bpi.

  • Treisman, D., “The Causes of Corruption: A Cross-National Study,” Journal of Public Economics 2000 (76), 399-457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Rijckeghem, C. and B. Weder, “Bureaucratic Corruption and the Rate of Temptation: Do Wages in the Civil Service affect Corruption, and by how Much?” Journal of Development Economics 2001 (65), 307-331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weyland, K., “The Politics of Corruption in Latin America,” Journal of Democracy 1998 (9), 108-121.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    H.-E. Sung

Authors
  1. H.-E. Sung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sung, HE. Democracy and political corruption: A cross-national comparison. Crime, Law and Social Change 41, 179–193 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CRIS.0000016225.75792.02

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CRIS.0000016225.75792.02

Keywords

Search

Navigation