Introduction to the Handbook on Gender and Corruption in Democracies

This introduction to the Handbook on Gender and Corruption in Democracies discusses the scholarly origins of questions of gender and corruption and introduces the Handbook, outlining its major conceptual contributions. The discussion begins by considering the effects of women’s democratic representation on corruption. We first discuss research that considers the impact of women as individuals who may reduce corruption - either because of distinct attributes or because of different policy preferences. In this discussion we raise the question of central mechanisms in this causal story - whether women reduce corruption by either refraining from corruption or actively engaging in reform. We also discuss research dealing with the fact that women’s individual attributes often lead them to be perceived as less corrupt - a separate issue from their actual impact on corruption. Continuing to explore this impact, we discuss how institutional and cultural contexts may condition whether and how women in office reduce corruption. The chapter then discusses the impact of corruption on women’s daily lives and the extent to which corruption’s consequences have effects that are distinctly gendered. The chapter concludes with an overview of the major sections of the Handbook and associated chapters.