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Corruption: An Alternative Approach to Its Definition and Measurement

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  • Oskar Kurer

Abstract

Discussion of the definition of corruption has progressed little since Heidenheimer's groundbreaking distinction between definitions centred on public opinion, public office and public interest. All these definitions have been severely criticised. I suggest that underneath these traditional concepts of corruption lurks a much older one based on distributive justice – namely the ‘impartiality principle’, whereby a state ought to treat equally those who deserve equally. This principle provides a much more plausible reason for why the public condemns corruption than alternative approaches, and, moreover, it is recognised fairly universally: the implicit distinction between ‘public’ and ‘private’ is certainly neither as ‘modern’ nor as ‘Western’ as many have claimed. The universality of the principle of impartiality does not imply universality of its content: who deserves equally, or, alternatively, on which grounds discrimination is ruled out, will be answered differently at different periods in time and will vary from society to society. The impartiality principle provides a starting point for the discussion of both corruption in ‘traditional’ societies and contemporary political corruption – corruption involving violations of specific non‐discrimination norms governing the access to the political process and the allocation of rights and resources. The impartiality principle calls for rule‐bound administration and thus underpins the public office definition of corruption. A central element of the analysis of corruption is the study of specific non‐discrimination norms and their comparison across time and place. This approach leads to a significant enrichment of the concept of corruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Oskar Kurer, 2005. "Corruption: An Alternative Approach to Its Definition and Measurement," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 53(1), pages 222-239, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:53:y:2005:i:1:p:222-239
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00525.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mark Philp, 1997. "Defining Political Corruption," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 45(3), pages 436-462, August.
    2. Roberta Gatti & Stefano Paternostro & Jamele Rigolini, 2003. "Individual attitudes toward corruption: do social effects matter?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3122, The World Bank.
    3. Nye, J. S., 1967. "Corruption and Political Development: A Cost-Benefit Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(2), pages 417-427, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vanja Bajovic & Savo Manojlovic, 2013. "Corruption and Financing of Political Parties - Case of Serbia," OBEGEF Working Papers 021, OBEGEF - Observatório de Economia e Gestão de Fraude;OBEGEF Working Papers on Fraud and Corruption.
    2. Atindra Dahal, 2018. "An Appalling Scenario Growing Corruption and Its Obnoxious Impacts on Public Lives -With Special Reference of South-Asian Stigma," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(5), pages 74-85, May.
    3. Forson, Joseph Ato, 2014. "A “Recursive Framework” of Corruption and Development: Comparison between Economic and Sustainable outcomes," MPRA Paper 102211, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Nov 2016.
    4. Saad Al‐Mutairi & Ian Connerton & Robert Dingwall, 2019. "Understanding “corruption” in regulatory agencies: The case of food inspection in Saudi Arabia," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(4), pages 507-519, December.
    5. Pethe, Abhay & Tandel, Vaidehi & Gandhi, Sahil, 2012. "Unravelling the anatomy of legal corruption in India: Focusing on the ‘honest graft’ by the politicians," MPRA Paper 39306, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Emanuela Ceva & Maria Paola Ferretti, 2018. "Political corruption, individual behaviour and the quality of institutions," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 17(2), pages 216-231, May.
    7. Cooke, Fang Lee & Wang, Jingtian & Wood, Geoffrey, 2022. "A vulnerable victim or a tacit participant? Extending the field of multinationals and corruption research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).
    8. T. Piumi Madushani, 2023. "The Impact of Corruption on International Human Rights Standards," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(6), pages 981-987, June.
    9. Norman Bishara & Cindy Schipani, 2009. "Strengthening the Ties that Bind: Preventing Corruption in the Executive Suite," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 765-780, October.
    10. João Martins & Linda Veiga & Bruno Fernandes, 2023. "Are electronic government innovations helpful to deter corruption? Evidence from across the world," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 1177-1203, November.
    11. Marina Nistotskaya & Nicholas Charron & Victor Lapuente, 2015. "The wealth of regions: quality of government and SMEs in 172 European regions," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(5), pages 1125-1155, October.
    12. Hermann Pythagore Pierre Donfouet & P. Wilner Jeanty & Eric Malin, 2013. "A Spatial Dynamic Panel Analysis of Corruption," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 201324, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    13. Staffan Andersson & Paul M. Heywood, 2009. "The Politics of Perception: Use and Abuse of Transparency International's Approach to Measuring Corruption," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 57(4), pages 746-767, December.
    14. Juan Carlos Henao & Carolina Isaza Espinosa, 2018. "Corrupción en Colombia Tomo 1 Corrupción, política y sociedad," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 1024.

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