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Legal corruption?

Author

Listed:
  • Oguzhan Dincer

    (Professor of Economics, Illinois State University)

  • Michael Johnston

    (Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Colgate University)

Abstract

“Legal corruption” may strike many scholars as a contradiction in terms, but in fact the concept can be essential if we are to understand the sources and consequences of corruption issues in politics. The analytical definition of corruption, as such, is not settled. Legal standards likely are preferred to those based on social values, public opinion, or notions of the public interest. But those conceptions of corruption omit many kinds of activities that, while legal (or not clearly illegal), capitalize on abuses of public trust and official powers to produce outcomes regarded widely as unjust. Those sorts of activities help explain the recent rise of “populism” and its links to diffuse, but intense and broadly shared, senses of unfairness and elite excess. “Legal corruption” as a category has definitional problems of its own, but recent data show that it is worth close study and refinement because it offers critical insights into political issues that—while they may not fit traditional conceptions of corruption—nonetheless increasingly are important aspects of contemporary politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Oguzhan Dincer & Michael Johnston, 2020. "Legal corruption?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 219-233, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:184:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00832-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-020-00832-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Francis Fukuyama, 2013. "What Is Governance?," Working Papers 314, Center for Global Development.
    2. Alessandra Foresta, 2020. "The rise of populist parties in the aftermath of a massive corruption scandal," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 289-306, September.
    3. Mark E. Warren, 2004. "What Does Corruption Mean in a Democracy?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 328-343, April.
    4. Massimo Finocchiaro Castro & Calogero Guccio, 2020. "Birds of a feather flock together: trust in government, political selection and electoral punishment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 263-287, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Oguzhan Dincer & Michael Johnston, 2017. "Political Culture and Corruption Issues in State Politics: A New Measure of Corruption Issues and a Test of Relationships to Political Culture," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 47(1), pages 131-148.
    7. Dobel, J. Patrick, 1978. "The Corruption of a State," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(3), pages 958-973, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Illegal corruption; Legal corruption; American states;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government

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