Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Reform in an imperfect world
- 2 “Deep democratization” and the control of corruption
- 3 First, do no harm – then, build trust: reform in fragile and post-conflict societies
- 4 Official Moguls: power, protection . . . and profits
- 5 Oligarchs and Clans: high stakes and insecurity
- 6 Elite Cartels: hanging on with a little help from my friends
- 7 Influence Market corruption: wealth and power versus justice
- 8 Staying power: building and sustaining citizen engagement
- Appendix Recognizing the syndromes of corruption
- References
- Index
2 - “Deep democratization” and the control of corruption
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Reform in an imperfect world
- 2 “Deep democratization” and the control of corruption
- 3 First, do no harm – then, build trust: reform in fragile and post-conflict societies
- 4 Official Moguls: power, protection . . . and profits
- 5 Oligarchs and Clans: high stakes and insecurity
- 6 Elite Cartels: hanging on with a little help from my friends
- 7 Influence Market corruption: wealth and power versus justice
- 8 Staying power: building and sustaining citizen engagement
- Appendix Recognizing the syndromes of corruption
- References
- Index
Summary
Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
– Thucydides, the Melian dialogueWhy isn’t there more corruption?
Corruption is often portrayed in terms of infection, deterioration, or plague, spreading relentlessly and threatening societies with collapse. We are told that it is on the rise around the world, even though we have no real way of showing that that is true, and often it is implied that there was a time when there was far less of it – or maybe even none.
But maybe the real question is not why there is so much corruption, but rather why there is not much more of it? Maybe we should ask how it was that the powerful and wealthy were ever brought within limits, and how the idea that rulers should be answerable to others took root and became credible. After all, politics and government did not originate in a civic Eden. For centuries, governing consisted of swinging the biggest stick. Power and its rewards justified more or less any action, to the extent that justification was needed at all, and notions of a “public” – much less, one with any rights overriding the personal interests of rulers – were illusory. The remarkable thing may not be that elites stray from the straight and narrow, but rather that anyone has ever been able to call them to account.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Corruption, Contention, and ReformThe Power of Deep Democratization, pp. 29 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013