While numerous studies have been conducted on the subject of political participation, research on how corruption and political trust affect the way citizens participate in politics has yet to produce consistent and clear results. The divide in perspectives surrounds whether these phenomena spur citizens to take action or, on the contrary, render them apathetic and indifferent to political events. Through using the method of regression to analyze individual level data, this study attempts to examine how political trust and perceived corruption impact non- institutionalized political participation in South Korea. While results indicate no statistically significant effects for political trust, perceived corruption is suggested to have a positive effect on non-institutionalized forms of participation.

O objetivo dessa tese é analisar a corrupção republicana em Maquiavel, particularmente nos primeiros dezoito capítulos do livro I dos Discursos sobre a primeira década de Tito Lívio (também conhecido como o \"Pequeno tratado sobre as repúblicas\"), procurando conhecer sua natureza, características, o processo pela qual é engendrada e qual o desfecho possível para a república \"corrompidíssima\". A corrupção republicana, exposta nos capítulos de XVI a XVIII, é precedida por uma exposição sobre os fundamentos políticos republicanos, alvos dessa corrupção política. A conclusão a que se chega é que, nesses capítulos, a corrupção pode atingir um grau máximo obrigando a uma mudança de regime, cuja melhor solução é o governo \"quase régio\", representado pelo principado civil descrito no Príncipe, por manter e conservar a dinâmica dos conflitos políticos, motor para as mudanças e responsável pela conservação dos ordenamentos políticos que garantem as liberdades políticas. / This work intends to investigate the corruption of the republic in Machiavelli, focusing the first eighteenth chapters of the first book of Discourse concerning the First Decade of Titus Livius, looking for its nature, most relevant characteristics, the process it comes to be, and the end of corrupted republic. Along the chapters XVI to XVIII, the notion of corruption is preceded by an exposition on the political principles of the republic. Also, inside this small group of chapter, Machiavelli states that the corruption can achieve the highest level, demanding an alteration of the regime. In such a case, the best solution is a virtually regal government, represented by the civil principate, as described in the Prince. That occur because such civil principate is the best way to keep the dynamics of the political conflicts, the cause of change or conservation of political order and political freedom.

Esta pesquisa pretende estudar como denúncias e evidências de corrupção mobilizam partidos da oposição, eleitores e prefeitos incumbentes levando à punição de prefeitos corruptos durante as campanhas de reeleição. Usando um banco de dados oriundo de relatórios de auditoria aleatórios elaborados pela Controladoria Geral da União que analisam como as transferências federais foram usadas em pequenos municípios brasileiros, nós mostramos que o momento em que os resultados da auditoria são divulgados aos eleitores desempenha um papel importante para saber se prefeitos corruptos serão punidos. Quando os resultados de auditoria produzem provas de corrupção antes da eleição, os prefeitos são menos propensos a concorrer à reeleição. Além disso, os municípios em que as auditorias foram divulgadas antes e durante o período eleitoral tiveram menores taxas de reeleição dos prefeitos. Mostramos isso devido ao aumento da candidatura de candidatos de partidos da oposição como rivais. Nossa análise é restrita a 270 municípios cujos prefeitos estavam em seu primeiro mandato, e cujas administrações foram auditadas entre 2003 e 2004. Nossas conclusões lançam luz sobre os mecanismos que ajudam a explicar os resultados anteriores que mostram que evidências de corrupção punem prefeitos corruptos. Chamamos à atenção para a importância da dinâmica política como ajudar a explicar porque os prefeitos corruptos vão ou não ser punidos. / This research aims to study how corruption allegations and evidence mobilize opposition parties, voter and incumbent mayors leading to the punishment of corrupt mayors during re-election campaigns. Using a database based on random audit reports prepared by the Controladoria Geral da União examining how federal funds were used in small Brazilian municipalities, we show that the timing of when audit findings are disclosed to voters plays an important role in whether corrupt mayors will be punished. When audit records produce evidence of corruption prior to the election, mayors are less likely to run for re-election. Moreover, municipalities where audits were disclosed before and during the election period had lower rates of re-election of the mayors. We show this due to the increase in the candidacy of opposition party candidates as rivals and votes. Our analysis is restricted to 270 municipalities whose mayors were in their first term, and whose administrations were audited by federal accountants between 2003 and 2004. Our findings shed light on the mechanisms which help to explain previous findings showing that random audit corruption evidence punishes corrupt mayors. We draw attention to the importance of political dynamics as helping to explain why corrupt mayors will or will not be punished.

Corruption is an area that has intrigued plenty of political scientists. This thesis is an attempt to examine how corruption is affected by the sheer amount of public outsourcing with a sample of countries used in a qualitative multivariate analysis. The variables used to control the correlation are inspired by previous research on what causes corruption, while the sample of countries used are those countries that had representation in the indexes used between 2012 to 2015. The main findings are that spending more on public outsourcing tend to lead to slightly less corruption. These results are inconclusive since the main findings was a non-statistically significant when introduced to my set of control variables. However, there is a silver-lining to this inconclusiveness, that being to pinpoint a mechanism for outsourcing and/or corruption: civil wages.

The African state has received numerous analyses in academic literature. The vast majority of these studies focus on the essence of the state rather than how it is experienced and lived by its citizens and therefore sacrifice empirical knowledge of state function in favour of abstract conceptualisation. Much academic literature, especially the neopatrimonial approach dominant in political science, examines African states through the prism of Weberian logic and suggests that, because states do not conform to a rational-legal ideal, they must therefore be deficient. These analyses also frequently downplay the impact of colonial rule and postcolonial state formation and politics on the character of contemporary African states, instead stressing the continuities between pre-colonial and modern patterns of rule. This thesis eschews a normative understanding of the state in favour of an approach grounded in everyday action through analysis of the workings of the Nigerian higher education sector. I argue that this sector is a microcosm of broader state-society relations. The thesis draws on primary data collected through ethnographic methods to analyse how providers and users of a university in south-eastern Nigeria negotiate their passage into, and through, a highly complex and flexible institution. The thesis argues that, among both students and staff, achieving success in Nigerian higher education is dependent on a combination of merit, personal connections and money. The importance of these three elements suggests a system in which norms rooted in bureaucracy (merit), patron-clientism (personal connections) and financial corruption (money) intersect. My empirical research suggests that characterisations of African states as wholly captured by society and functioning as little more than vehicles for particularistic advancement, both central elements of much neopatrimonial state literature, are therefore inaccurate. The thesis also places the Nigerian state in historical context, arguing that, while some patterns of pre-colonial behaviour remain important in contemporary Nigeria, they have been fundamentally altered by colonialism and its aftermath. This thesis offers an important corrective to the rather abstract and normative ideas that underpin the theory of the African neopatrimonial state. It argues that a better understanding of the state requires a stronger focus on the routine and real experiences of service providers and users and their daily interactions.

Poverty is a historical development curse in Tanzania, which has incited extensive institutional reforms and policy changes and received numerous analyses in development research literature. Paradoxically, taking actions to study and alleviate poverty have increased with its continuing severity. A substantial body of research on poverty in the country suggests that, the vast majority of these studies focus on the content rather than the context of poverty alleviation processes. Specifically, the focus has been on: ideas, interests and struggles for resources between political leaders and bureaucrats believed to be taking place at the expense of the poor; ill-informed and unrealistic development policies and strategies; anti-development behaviour and tendencies of the peasants and their alleged conservatism and resistance to modernity, and weak incentive structures of the economy. There is little focus on the character and dynamics of the (historical) institutional context in which these economic conditions, struggles and policy initiatives emerge and take place. Motivated by the disappointing results of anti-poverty initiatives and weaknesses of previous studies, this study uses historical institutional impact analysis guided by institutionalist theory to analyse the problem. The central argument is that the existence and functioning character of institutions are necessary conditions for any human development activity. So, acceptance of the crucial importance of historically oriented institutional context analysis in understanding poverty alleviation initiatives and outcomes is imperative. The study draws on primary and secondary data collected through documentary review and interview methods to explain the ways in which institutional reforms result in an institutional order tolerant of poverty and which create conditions that perpetuate it. It does this by exploring the mode of historical institutional development and by examining the functioning character of the institutional order in respect of poverty alleviation. The study argues that achieving success in poverty alleviation related reforms is dependent on proper understanding of institutional realities of Tanzanian society and the functioning character of the existing institutional order. It proposes a reform process in which institutional legacies and their impact on society become the focus of the reform process itself. The findings indicate that, while reforms and policy changes have taken place and new patterns of behaviour introduced, the logics of institutions central to development and poverty alleviation have not, been fundamentally altered and new patterns of behaviour have simply perpetuated it. Specifically, the findings suggest: first, that institutional reforms pursued by the government are inadequate due to misconception of institutional problems of Tanzanian society; second, that the reforms have created new conditions which perpetuate poverty; and, third, that fundamental character of the functioning of the Tanzanian institutional order will need to change before such anti-poverty measures can hope to succeed. Thus, the study offers a correction to ill-informed poverty analysis by providing an alternative account of the root cause of poverty while insisting that a better understanding of the failure of poverty alleviation requires a strong focus on the historical institutional realties of the country.

Os altos índices de corrupção no Brasil levaram a criação de algumas leis com o intuito de combater este mal que corrói a democracia e que preocupa todos os países democráticos. Este trabalho busca verificar as novas ferramentas jurídicas, bem como a responder a uma questão. Há mais alguma reforma necessária? Alguns estudos apontam influência de aspectos do sistema eleitoral no índice de corrupção. Se há, que reforma nesse sentido o Brasil poderia adotar? Foram utilizados método dialético e método comparativo, para análise de doutrina e legislação estrangeiras, comparando-as com as nacionais, e método indutivo para a análise de dados. Foram feitos grandes avanços legislativos, mas há que discutir o que pode ser aprimorado para criar um ambiente menos fértil à corrupção e tornar mais eficazes os mecanismos de controle dos agentes públicos. / The high levels of corruption in Brazil have led to the creation of some laws in order to fight this evil that corrodes democracy and worries all democratic countries. This study aims to verify the new legal tools, as well as to answer a question. Are there any other legal reforms needed? Some studies point out the influence of aspects of the electoral system in the corruption index. If so, what reform in that sense could Brazil adopt? The dialectical method and the comparative method were used to analyze foreign doctrine and legislation, comparing them to the national ones, and the inductive method for data analysis. Major legislative advance has been made, but it must be put into discussion what can be improved as to create a less fertile environment to corruption, in order to make control mechanisms for public officials more efficient.

The vast corpus of works on corruption in Africa focuses almost exclusively on 'grand corruption' and political elites (so-called 'Big Men'), and hardly on 'everyday corruption' and ordinary actors. When everyday corruption appears in the literature, it is frequently explained away as petty and/or normal - something expected and accepted. In this study, I take issue with this predominant narrative, couched in an equally dominant but narrow Weberian notion of corruption. Grounding corruption in the micro-politics of urban public transport in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital and Africa's largest city, I argue that ordinary actors detest the corruption that they encounter daily. At the same time, their power(lessness) in the face of its banality compels them to constantly devise tactics to find a way around it or to make it productive for their ends. Structured into six chapters, the study begins by probing the popular imagination, discourse, and spatiality of corruption. It then shows how corruption is embedded in routine socio-economic relations, how it conditions ordinary lives and social livelihoods, and how everyday actors encounter it, exploit it, resist it, or become its victims each day. The study required eight months of ethnographic fieldwork grounded on the routine experiences and lifeworlds of road transport workers in Lagos, Nigeria. My direct experience of the 'surrounds' of these urban actors, the 'junctions' that constitute the spatial hinge of violent extortion and complicity, and routine participation in the omnipresent 'danfos' (commercial minibus-taxis) enabled access to a sense of how this complex system works.

This thesis examines the way in which corruption discourses are embedded in processes of state formation. It builds on the theoretical premise of social constructionism, namely that ‘corruption’ is not an entity that exists in reality but that it is an agreed-upon classification of certain types of behaviours. These processes of social and political construction are foundational for corruption discourse, conceptualised as a political practice through which the legitimacy of power and authority, of either persons, behaviours or institutions, can be challenged. As a socially and politically constructed entity, corruption discourse is shaped by political processes and in turn also shapes political processes. The comparison of corruption discourses in Britain in the 19th century and in Germany in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries endeavours to demonstrate the different ways in which they were shaped, as well as in turn shaped, contextual state formation processes. The two countries represent two different pathways through which high levels of corruption control were achieved, one democratic, the other authoritarian. While anti-corruption measures in Britain were introduced alongside democratisation processes in the 19th century, various German states implemented measures top-down in their 18th century efforts to modernise state administration. This study looks at the times when corruption discourses became a matter of public interest, and traces their role vis-a-vis subsequent institutional developments. In Britain this starting point is located in the early 19th century, in Germany in the Kaiserreich of the 1870s. Three case studies each exemplify and illustrate the different sequences in which corruption discourse unfolded. In Britain, these are the 1809 Duke of York case, exemplifying a ‘discovery phase’, in which corruption discourse first showed signs of becoming weaponised for political discourse; the 1830 to 32 Electoral Reform discourse exemplifying a ‘contestation phase’ in which corruption allegations were strategically used to undermine the legitimacy of Parliament and the system through which it was elected; and the 1889 Corrupt Practices Act discourse, exemplifying a ‘consolidation phase’ in which anticorruption measures became normalised rather than being subject to contest. In Germany, the 1896/97 Tausch Affair represents a different kind of discovery phase, one that is restrained and corrupted by authoritarian intervention; the Erzberger-Helfferich case of 1919 represents a different kind of contestation phase, one that is characterised by the hyper-mobilisation of corruption discourse that contributed to the eventual failure of the Weimar Republic; and the Spiegel Affair of 1962, in the context of the Spiegel’s role in post-war Germany more broadly, represents a successful consolidation phase in the Bundesrepublik, in which authoritarian intervention failed to corrupt corruption discourse. The cases thus highlight different ways in which corruption discourse was shaped by, and in turn shaped, state formation processes. They showcase a range of different institutional and political framework conditions as well as a variety of institutional outcomes, of reform, consolidation and destruction. The thesis argues that corruption discourse was thus a central driver of state formation processes, and that concepts of corruption were integral to the idea of the modern state.

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