Democracy and corruption: A complex relationship

Authors/Creators

Shrabani Saha, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Rukmani Gounder, Massey University
Neil Campbell, Bond University
J J. Su, Griffith University

Abstract

We argue that an 'electoral democracy' is not sufficient to reduce corruption. Our contention is that the institutions associated with mature democracy are crucial to successfully deterring corrupt behaviour. At the core of our argument is the idea that with well-functioning institutions, the probability of detection and punishment is sufficiently high to deter most decision makers from choosing to act corruptly. The empirical evidence we present supports this idea. The nonlinearity of democracy variables is tested to confirm that an advanced stage of democracy is crucial for combating corruption.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2014

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

Publisher

Kluwer Academic Publishers

School

School of Business

RAS ID

19181

Comments

Saha S., Gounder R., Campbell N., Su J.J. (2014). Democracy and corruption: A complex relationship. Crime, Law and Social Change, 61(3), 287-308. Available here

Copyright

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