Conceptualization of Political Corruption, Perceptions of Corruption, and Political Participation in Democracies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4335/15.2.199-219(2017)Keywords:
political corruption, conception of corruption, perceptions of corruption, political participation, public opinionAbstract
This study empirically examines relationships between conceptions of political corruption, perceived levels of corruption, and political participation among members of the public. Based on a field study of 298 Israelis, we show that the effects of perceived levels of corruption on participation are significantly influenced by how citizens conceptualize corruption. The public's conceptions of corruption influence whether and how they will participate. The findings provide strong evidence that while the perceived extent of political corruption is a powerful determinant of participation, the public's conception of corruption must not be overlooked. Rather, both factors should be considered as important indicators of participation.
References
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Nye J. S. (1967) Corruption and Political Development: A cost-Benefit Analysis, American Political Science Review, 36(2), pp. 417-427, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1953254.
Philp, M. (1997) Defining political corruption, Political Studies, 45, 436-462, doi: 10.1111/1467-9248.00090.
Rose-Ackerman, S. (1978) Corruption: a Study in Political Economy (New York, San Francisco and London: Academic Press).
Rothstein, B. (2011) The quality of Government: Corruption, social trust, and inequality in international perspective (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
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Scott J. (1972) Comparative Public Corruption (New-Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. and Englewood Cliffs).
Skrbec, J., & Dobovsek, B. (2013) Corruption capture of local self-governments in Slovenia, Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 11(3), pp. 615-630, doi: 10.4335/11.3.615-630(2013).
Thompson, D., F. (1993) Mediated Corruption: The Case of the Keating Five, American Political Science Review, 87(2), pp. 369-381, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2939047.
Uslaner, E. M. (2008) Corruption, inequality, and the rule of law: The bulging pocket makes the easy life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
van Stekelenburg, J., Klandermans, B. & van Dijk, W. W. (2009) Context Matters: Explaining How and Why Mobilizing Context Influences Motivational Dynamics, Journal of Social Issues, 65(4), pp. 815-838, doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01626.x.
Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L. & Brady, H. E. (1995) Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in american politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press)..
Warren M. E. (2004) What Does Corruption Mean in a Democracy?, American Journal of Political Science, 48(2): pp. 328-343, doi: 10.2307/1519886.
Warren, M. E. (2010) Low Trust in Democratic Institutions, In: Genovese, M. A. & Farrar-Myers, V. A. (eds.) Corruption and American Politics (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press), pp.37-64.
Wroe, A., Allen, N. & Birch, S. (2013) The role of political trust in conditioning perceptions of corruption, European Political Science Review, 5(2), pp. 175-195, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755773912000094.
Zechmeister, E. & Zizumbo-Colunga, D. (2013) The varying political toll of concerns about corruption in good versus bad economic times, Comparative Political Studies, 46(10), pp. 1190-1218 , doi: 10.1177/0010414012472468.
Anechiarico F. & Jacobs, J. B. (1996) The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity (Chicago, IL & London: The University of Chicago Press).
Anderson, C. J. & Tverdova Y. V. (2003) Corruption, political allegiances, and attitudes toward government in contemporary democracies, American Journal of Political Science, 47(1), 91-109, doi: 10.1111/1540-5907.00007.
Andersson S. & Heywood P. M. (2009) The Politics of Perception: Use and Abuse of Transparency International's Approach to Measuring Corruption, Political Studies 74(4), 746-767, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2008.00758.x.
Armstrong, A., A. & Bernstein, M. (2008). Culture, Power, and Institutions: A Multi-Institutional Politics Approach to Social Movement, Sociological Theory, 26(1), 74-99, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9558.2008.00319.x.
Bateson, R. (2012) Crime victimization and political participation, American Political Science Review, 106(3), 570-587, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003055412000299.
Beeri, I. & Navot, D. (2013) Local political corruption: Potential structural malfunctions at the central-local, local-local and intra-local levels, Public Management Review, 15(5), 712-732, doi: 10.1080/14719037.2012.707682.
Bennett, E. A., Cordner, A. and Klein, P. T., Savell, S. & Baiocchi, G. (2013). Disavowing Politics: Civic Engagement in an Era of Political Skepticism, American Journal of Sociology, 119(2), 518-548, doi: 10.1086/674006.
Berkowitz, L. & Harmon-Jones, E. (2004) Toward an understanding of the determinants of anger. Emotion, 4(2), pp. 107–130.
Buchan, B. & Hill, L. (2014) An Intellectual History of Political Corruption (New York: Palgrave, Macmillan).
Doorn, J. van M. & Zeelenberg Breugelmans S. M. (2014) Anger and Prosocial Behavior, Emotion Review, 6(3), pp. 261- 268, doi: 10.1177/1754073914523794.
Field, A. (2005) Discovering statistics using SPSS (London: Sage).
Fukuyama, F. (2013) What is Governance?, Governance, 26(3), 347-368, doi: 10.1111/gove.12035.
Johnston, M. (1991) Right & wrong in british politics: "Fits of morality" in comparative perspective, Polity, 24(1), pp. 1-25, doi: 10.2307/3234982.
Johnston, M. (2010) Democracy without Politics? Hidden Costs of Corruption and Reform in America, In: Genovese, M. A. & Farrer-Myers, V. A. (eds.) Corruption and American Politics (Amherst, New York: Cambria Press), pp. 9-36.
Johnston, M. (2014) Corruption, Contention and Reform (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Julnes, P. d. L. & Villoria, M. (2014) Understanding and addressing citizens’ perceptions of corruption: the case of Spain, International Review of Public Administration, 19(1), 23-43, doi: 10.1080/12294659.2014.887295.
Klandermans, B., van der Toorn, J. & van Stekelenburg, J. (2008) Embeddedness and Identity: How Immigrants Turn Grievances into Action, American Sociological Review, 73(6), pp. 992-1012, doi: 10.1177/000312240807300606.
McManus-Czubinska, C., Miller, W. L., Markowski, R. & Wasilewski, J. (2004) Why is corruption in Poland "a Serious Cause for Concern"? Crime, Law and Social Change, 41, 107-132, doi: 10.1023/B:CRIS.0000016222.40146.4e.
Miller, D. T. (2001) Disrespect and the Experience of Injustice, Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 527–53, doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.527.
Moreno, A. (2002). Corruption and Democracy: A Cultural Assessment. Comparative Sociology, 1(3-4), 495-507, doi: 10.1163/156913302100418556.
Morris, S. D. & Blake, C. H. (2010) Corruption & politics in Latin America, In: Morris, S. D. & Blake, C. H. (eds.), Corruption & Politics in Latin America: National and Regional Dynamics (pp.1-28). London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, ISBN: 1588267180.
Morris, S. D. & Klesner, J. L. (2010). Corruption and trust: Theoretical considerations and evidence from Mexico. Comparative Political Studies, 43(10), 1258-1285, doi: 10.1177/0010414010369072.
Muldoon, P. (2008) The Moral Legitimacy of Anger. European Journal of Social Theory, 11(3), pp. 299-314, doi: 10.1177/1368431008092564.
Neuhouser, F. (2000) Foundations of Hegel's Social Theory: Actualizing Freedom (Boston, MA: Harvard University Press).
Norris, P. (2011) Democratic deficit: Critical citizens revisited (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Nye J. S. (1967) Corruption and Political Development: A cost-Benefit Analysis, American Political Science Review, 36(2), pp. 417-427, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1953254.
Philp, M. (1997) Defining political corruption, Political Studies, 45, 436-462, doi: 10.1111/1467-9248.00090.
Rose-Ackerman, S. (1978) Corruption: a Study in Political Economy (New York, San Francisco and London: Academic Press).
Rothstein, B. (2011) The quality of Government: Corruption, social trust, and inequality in international perspective (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
Rothstein, B. (2014) What is the Opposite of Corruption?, Third World Quarterly, 35(5), 737-752, doi: 10.1080/01436597.2014.921424.
Scott J. (1972) Comparative Public Corruption (New-Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. and Englewood Cliffs).
Skrbec, J., & Dobovsek, B. (2013) Corruption capture of local self-governments in Slovenia, Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 11(3), pp. 615-630, doi: 10.4335/11.3.615-630(2013).
Thompson, D., F. (1993) Mediated Corruption: The Case of the Keating Five, American Political Science Review, 87(2), pp. 369-381, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2939047.
Uslaner, E. M. (2008) Corruption, inequality, and the rule of law: The bulging pocket makes the easy life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
van Stekelenburg, J., Klandermans, B. & van Dijk, W. W. (2009) Context Matters: Explaining How and Why Mobilizing Context Influences Motivational Dynamics, Journal of Social Issues, 65(4), pp. 815-838, doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01626.x.
Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L. & Brady, H. E. (1995) Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in american politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press)..
Warren M. E. (2004) What Does Corruption Mean in a Democracy?, American Journal of Political Science, 48(2): pp. 328-343, doi: 10.2307/1519886.
Warren, M. E. (2010) Low Trust in Democratic Institutions, In: Genovese, M. A. & Farrar-Myers, V. A. (eds.) Corruption and American Politics (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press), pp.37-64.
Wroe, A., Allen, N. & Birch, S. (2013) The role of political trust in conditioning perceptions of corruption, European Political Science Review, 5(2), pp. 175-195, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755773912000094.
Zechmeister, E. & Zizumbo-Colunga, D. (2013) The varying political toll of concerns about corruption in good versus bad economic times, Comparative Political Studies, 46(10), pp. 1190-1218 , doi: 10.1177/0010414012472468.
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2017-04-30
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