
Democracy and Corruption
Resistance and Regime Decline
Edward Elgar Publishing
Published on 15. August 2025
Book
Hardback
236 pages
978-1-0353-4910-4 (ISBN)
Description
This prescient book explores corruption in democracies, emphasizing how a society's definition of the concept can change in different contexts and periods. Contributors examine both occurrences of corruption and resistance to it, as well as the democratic decline that can transpire when there is an absence of such resistance.
Expert authors discuss key situations that aid our understanding of corruption, including instances of reform generated due to external demands, and corruption that takes place without provoking resistance or inciting immediate danger of democratic decline. Chapters delve into detailed case studies from around the world such as the Europeanization of anti-corruption policies in Spain following the COVID-19 pandemic; clientelism and democratic decline in Cyprus; and the rise of online political communities in India and China. The book also offers methodological perspectives on future studies of the dynamic relations between corruption, resistance, and democratic decline.
Students and scholars of political science, sociology, law and public administration, and management will greatly benefit from this book. It is also a vital resource for policymakers and practitioners in the fields of regulation, governance, and anti-corruption.
Expert authors discuss key situations that aid our understanding of corruption, including instances of reform generated due to external demands, and corruption that takes place without provoking resistance or inciting immediate danger of democratic decline. Chapters delve into detailed case studies from around the world such as the Europeanization of anti-corruption policies in Spain following the COVID-19 pandemic; clientelism and democratic decline in Cyprus; and the rise of online political communities in India and China. The book also offers methodological perspectives on future studies of the dynamic relations between corruption, resistance, and democratic decline.
Students and scholars of political science, sociology, law and public administration, and management will greatly benefit from this book. It is also a vital resource for policymakers and practitioners in the fields of regulation, governance, and anti-corruption.
Reviews / Votes
'This book combines the talents of two internationally recognized political scientists to explore whether the decline of democracy can be linked to corruption. lts provocative micro-level national and macro-level global approaches provide a unique combination of comparative and international politics that scholars will find engaging.' -- Frank Rusciano, Rider University, USA 'While corruption is undermining democracies around the world, this book is most welcome to understand the stakes and decisions to be made by governments. The chapters prepared by a group of high profile scholars cover key issues brought up by corruption - like populism, clientelism, state capture and political finances - and provide examples of successful reforms and effective tools to resist.' -- Guillaume Fontaine, Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences, Ecuador 'Even in democracy, mobilizing or taking action against corruption cannot be taken for granted. Felicity conditions have to be met. Neither the political elites nor "civil society" are naturally predisposed to lead these fights. This book explores the tensions and resistance that undermine these struggles. The studies gathered take the reader from Europe, to India and China, with a diversion to Trump's America. They allow them to revisit the whole range of offences against probity, without neglecting other legal forms of corruption, and in so doing, to gain a better understanding of the unstable balance between corruption and the possible resistance it may or may not provoke, and its consequences for the delicate functioning of the democratic political order.' -- Eric Phelippeau, Paris Nanterre University, FranceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-4910-4 (9781035349104)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Jonathan Mendilow, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Rider University, USA and Chair of IPSA RC20, the Research Committee on Political Finance and Political Corruption (2009-2024) and Ilan Peleg, Professor of Government and
Law, Lafayette College, USA
Law, Lafayette College, USA
Content
Contents
1 Introduction: exceptions, justified exceptions, and corruption 1
Jonathan Mendilow
PART I "EXTERNAL" CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEFINITION OF CORRUPTION
2 Towards an Europeanization of the resistance and fight against corruption? The case of Spain 17
Manuel Villoria and Fernando Jimenez Sanchez
PART II CAN DEMOCRACY PERSIST WHERE NO RESISTANCE TO CORRUPTION IS OFFERED?
3 Satisfaction with government's pandemic response: does gratitude breed tolerance towards COVID-19-related corruption? An exploratory study 41
Luis de Sousa, Felippe Clemente and Filipe Grilo
4 Clientelism and the new generation of political parties: a case study of the Czech Republic 61
Michal Klima
5 Political clientelism, corruption, and democratic decline in divided Cyprus 87
Sertac Sonan and Hubert Faustmann
PART III CORRUPTION AND COMMUNITIES OF THE MIND
6 Resisting corruption through information and communication technology (ICT) tools in India and China 107
Paulina Alvarado-Goldman
7 International aid, power, corruption, and the limits of democracy 134
Maria Delmar Bermudez
PART IV SOME AMBIGUITIES
8 Corruption and resistance: the finance of new populist parties in the European contest 161
Danielle May, Manuela Blumenberg and Karl-Heinz Nassmacher
9 The populist rejection of the 'liberal democratic' concept of corruption: on witch hunts, the perversion of justice, and the case(s) of Donald Trump 184
Shawn Rosenberg
PART V THE PATH AHEAD
10 The way forward: some methodological considerations 199
Ina Kubbe and Ilan Peleg
1 Introduction: exceptions, justified exceptions, and corruption 1
Jonathan Mendilow
PART I "EXTERNAL" CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEFINITION OF CORRUPTION
2 Towards an Europeanization of the resistance and fight against corruption? The case of Spain 17
Manuel Villoria and Fernando Jimenez Sanchez
PART II CAN DEMOCRACY PERSIST WHERE NO RESISTANCE TO CORRUPTION IS OFFERED?
3 Satisfaction with government's pandemic response: does gratitude breed tolerance towards COVID-19-related corruption? An exploratory study 41
Luis de Sousa, Felippe Clemente and Filipe Grilo
4 Clientelism and the new generation of political parties: a case study of the Czech Republic 61
Michal Klima
5 Political clientelism, corruption, and democratic decline in divided Cyprus 87
Sertac Sonan and Hubert Faustmann
PART III CORRUPTION AND COMMUNITIES OF THE MIND
6 Resisting corruption through information and communication technology (ICT) tools in India and China 107
Paulina Alvarado-Goldman
7 International aid, power, corruption, and the limits of democracy 134
Maria Delmar Bermudez
PART IV SOME AMBIGUITIES
8 Corruption and resistance: the finance of new populist parties in the European contest 161
Danielle May, Manuela Blumenberg and Karl-Heinz Nassmacher
9 The populist rejection of the 'liberal democratic' concept of corruption: on witch hunts, the perversion of justice, and the case(s) of Donald Trump 184
Shawn Rosenberg
PART V THE PATH AHEAD
10 The way forward: some methodological considerations 199
Ina Kubbe and Ilan Peleg