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106-510: The Zambian Watchdog is an investigative online media platform that focusses on corruption and other major crimes such as drug trafficking in Zambia . It also contains breaking news on politics and major events in Zambia. The Zambian Watchdog was founded as a newspaper with an online edition, but was forced into exile in 2009 and subsequently closed its printed newspaper. Journalists for

212-665: A Burns Supper , an expensive watch and a day out at the Royal Windsor Horse Show . The Saudi-led coalition was accused of attempting to buy influence in the UK. While the MPs registered the trips and gifts at Westminster as per the rules, critics called it “absolutely shameful” to accept donations from countries with poor human rights records. Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, personal gain, career advancement for

318-485: A Latinization of the Greek πολιτικός ( politikos ) from πολίτης ( polites , 'citizen') and πόλις ( polis , 'city'). There are several ways in which approaching politics has been conceptualized. Adrian Leftwich has differentiated views of politics based on how extensive or limited their perception of what accounts as 'political' is. The extensive view sees politics as present across

424-558: A corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation or other business entity (see vicarious liability and corporate liability ). Some negative behaviours by corporations may not be criminal; laws vary between jurisdictions. For example, some jurisdictions allow insider trading . Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras, more commonly known as simply Petrobras ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌpɛtɾoˈbɾas] ),

530-462: A politician or a crime boss bribes a prosecutor to open investigations and file charges against an opposing politician or a rival crime boss, in order to hurt the competition. Governmental corruption of the judiciary is broadly known in many transitional and developing countries because the budget is almost completely controlled by the executive. The latter critically undermines the separation of powers, because it fosters financial dependence on

636-508: A royal house . A few of the smaller states survived, such as the independent principalities of Liechtenstein , Andorra , Monaco , and the republic of San Marino . Most theories see the nation state as a 19th-century European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy , and mass media . However, historians also note the early emergence of a relatively unified state and identity in Portugal and

742-640: A 2017 survey study, the following factors have been attributed as causes of corruption: It has been noted that in a comparison of the most corrupt with the least corrupt countries, the former group contains nations with huge socio-economic inequalities , and the latter contains nations with a high degree of social and economic justice. Social norms have been posited as an explanation for why some environments are corrupt and others are not. Corruption can occur in many sectors, whether they be public or private industry or even NGOs (especially in public sector). However, only in democratically controlled institutions

848-598: A 2022 speech on "Modern Corruption," USAID Administrator Samantha Power stated: "Corruption is no longer just about individual autocrats pilfering their nation's wealth to live large", but also involves sophisticated transnational networks, including financial institutions hidden in secrecy. Responding to Whyte's book, George Monbiot criticized the CPI for its narrow definition of corruption that surveys mostly only Western executives about bribery. Similarly, others point out that "global metrics systematically under-measure 'corruption of

954-572: A clear lack of university autonomy. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are employed to study education corruption, but the topic remains largely unattended by the scholars. In many societies and international organizations, education corruption remains a taboo. In some countries, such as certain eastern European countries, some Balkan countries and certain Asian countries, corruption occurs frequently in universities. This can include bribes to bypass bureaucratic procedures and bribing faculty for

1060-434: A federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism ). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of either party,

1166-402: A grade. The willingness to engage in corruption such as accepting bribe money in exchange for grades decreases if individuals perceive such behavior as very objectionable, i.e. a violation of social norms and if they fear sanctions regarding the severity and probability of sanctions. Politics Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά ( politiká )  'affairs of

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1272-780: A move perceived as state retribution. This African newspaper-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Zambia -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities like bribery , influence peddling , and embezzlement , as well as practices that are legal in many countries, such as lobbying . Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain. Corruption

1378-672: A newer literature has turned to money politics in wealthy democracies and extreme global inequalities. Simon Weschle at Syracuse University examines the prevalence of campaign finance and its consequences for democracy. Kristin Surak at the London School of Economics explores the controversial practice of millionaires buying "golden passports" with no intention of actually migrating. In her words, "a full-blown citizenship industry that thrives on global inequalities" has arisen." While not necessarily involving bribery, recent research documents

1484-579: A police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing or selectively pursuing an investigation or arrest or aspects of the " thin blue line " itself where force members collude in lies to protect their precincts , unions and/or other law enforcement members from accountability. One common form of police corruption is soliciting or accepting bribes in exchange for not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities. When civilians become witnesses to police brutality , officers are often known to respond by harassing and intimidating

1590-796: A political entity that has monopoly on violence within its territory, while the Montevideo Convention holds that states need to have a defined territory; a permanent population; a government; and a capacity to enter into international relations. A stateless society is a society that is not governed by a state . In stateless societies, there is little concentration of authority ; most positions of authority that do exist are very limited in power and are generally not permanently held positions; and social bodies that resolve disputes through predefined rules tend to be small. Stateless societies are highly variable in economic organization and cultural practices. While stateless societies were

1696-412: A professor of politics , wrote that political corruption is the illegitimate use of public power to benefit a private interest. Economist Ian Senior defined corruption as an action to secretly provide a good or a service to a third party to influence certain actions which benefit the corrupt, a third party, or both in which the corrupt agent has authority. World Bank economist Daniel Kaufmann extended

1802-577: A report claiming the Emirati city, Dubai , of being an enabler of global corruption, crime and illicit financial flows . It stated that the global corrupt and criminal actors either operated through or from Dubai. The city was also called a haven for trade-based money laundering , as it gives space to free trade zones, with minimal regulatory laws and customs enforcement. A report in September 2022 revealed that British Members of Parliament received

1908-532: A result of political campaigns by nationalists , during the 19th century. In both cases, the territory was previously divided among other states, some of them very small. Liberal ideas of free trade played a role in German unification, which was preceded by a customs union , the Zollverein . National self-determination was a key aspect of United States President Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points , leading to

2014-539: A result of some shared rational interest. The theories largely focus on the development of agriculture, and the population and organizational pressure that followed and resulted in state formation. One of the most prominent theories of early and primary state formation is the hydraulic hypothesis , which contends that the state was a result of the need to build and maintain large-scale irrigation projects. Conflict theories of state formation regard conflict and dominance of some population over another population as key to

2120-409: A small number of people (petty corruption), to corruption that affects the government on a large scale (grand corruption), and corruption that is so prevalent that it is part of the everyday structure of society, including corruption as one of the symptoms of organized crime (systemic corruption). "Corruption of the rich" is particularly hard to measure and largely excluded from conventional metrics like

2226-593: A total of £828,211 over a period of eight years from countries of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni Civil War . The money was granted in the form of all-expenses-paid trips to 96 MPs by Saudi Arabia (at least £319,406), Bahrain (£197,985), the United Arab Emirates (£187,251), Egypt (£66,695) and Kuwait (£56,872). MPs also received gifts, including a £500 food hamper, tickets for

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2332-464: A very similar, but more advanced solution for 4,500 euros. Because of the inflated cost of the outdoor toilet, it was nicknamed the "Golden Toilet". Despite the investment, the "Golden Toilet" remained closed for years due to the dysfunctionality and was a subject of a lengthy anti-corruption investigation into those who had created it and the local municipality even considered demolishing the building at one point. The group of public servants involved in

2438-696: Is a privately held Brazilian conglomerate consisting of businesses in the fields of engineering, real estate , construction, chemicals and petrochemicals . The company was founded in 1944 in Salvador da Bahia by Norberto Odebrecht , and the firm is now present in South America, Central America, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Its leading company is Norberto Odebrecht Construtora  [ pt ] . Odebrecht

2544-490: Is a semi-public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . The company's name translates to Brazilian Petroleum Corporation – Petrobras. The company was ranked No. 58 in the 2016 Fortune Global 500 list. From 2014 to 2021, an investigation known as Operation Car Wash examined allegations of corporate and political collusion and corruption by Petrobras. Odebrecht

2650-504: Is a well known and now global form of political corruption, being the unscrupulous and illegal use of a politician's authority for personal gain, when funds intended for public projects are intentionally misdirected in order to maximize the benefits to illegally private interests of the corrupted individual(s) and their cronies. In some cases government institutions are "repurposed" or shifted away from their official mandate to serve other, often corrupt purposes. The Kaunas golden toilet case

2756-417: Is based on the use of power, irrespective of the ends being pursued. Agonism argues that politics essentially comes down to conflict between conflicting interests. Political scientist Elmer Schattschneider argued that "at the root of all politics is the universal language of conflict", while for Carl Schmitt the essence of politics is the distinction of 'friend' from 'foe'. This is in direct contrast to

2862-552: Is closely linked to ethics , and is at its extreme in utopian thinking. For example, according to Hannah Arendt , the view of Aristotle was that, "to be political…meant that everything was decided through words and persuasion and not through violence"; while according to Bernard Crick , "politics is the way in which free societies are governed. Politics is politics, and other forms of rule are something else." In contrast, for realists, represented by those such as Niccolò Machiavelli , Thomas Hobbes , and Harold Lasswell , politics

2968-617: Is continually being written by the legislative and judiciary branch of government; this is just one of those cases in which the nature of the circumstances determines the form of government that is most appropriate. England did set the fashion of written constitutions during the Civil War but after the Restoration abandoned them to be taken up later by the American Colonies after their emancipation and then France after

3074-701: Is difficult to completely eradicate, even in developed countries. Military corruption refers to the abuse of power by members in the armed forces, in order for career advancement or for personal gain by a soldier or soldiers. One form of military corruption in the United States Armed Forces is a military soldier being promoted in rank or being given better treatment than their colleagues by their officers due to their race , sexual orientation , ethnicity , gender , religious beliefs , social class or personal relationships with higher-ranking officers in spite of their merit. In addition to that,

3180-527: Is distinct with widespread bribery, corruption in the US and the UK features a significant amount of fraud. The US is distinct with grey areas and institutional corruption in the higher education sector. Authoritarian regimes, including those in former Soviet republics, encourage educational corruption and control universities, especially during the election campaigns. This is typical for Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asian regimes, among others. The general public

3286-418: Is divided into the legislative, executive and judicial branches in an attempt to provide independent services that are less subject to grand corruption due to their independence from one another. Systemic corruption (or endemic corruption ) is corruption which is primarily due to the weaknesses of an organization or process. It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within

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3392-437: Is embedded in a particular political culture. Lucian Pye 's definition is that, "Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments, which give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system." Trust is a major factor in political culture, as its level determines the capacity of the state to function. Postmaterialism

3498-405: Is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments , companies and institutions up to sovereign states , to the international level . In modern nation states , people often form political parties to represent their ideas. Members of a party often agree to take the same position on many issues and agree to support

3604-624: Is found in acquaintances. Acquaintances are treated with trust and respect—a level of trust that is not found among acquaintances in countries like the United States. This is what permits for corruption in Latin American countries. If there is a strong enough trust within an administration that no one will betray the rest, corruptive policies will take place with ease. While petty, grand, and systemic corruption, described above, are largely found in poor countries with weak institutions,

3710-435: Is less a tax than an investment... making it more sludge than grease." The Unbundled Corruption Index measures the prevalence of these four types of corruption. Whereas corruption with theft and speed money is endemic in poor countries, access money can be found in both poor and rich countries. Petty corruption occurs at a smaller scale and takes place at the implementation end of public services when public officials meet

3816-411: Is methodologically diverse and appropriates many methods originating in psychology , social research , and cognitive neuroscience . Approaches include positivism , interpretivism , rational choice theory , behavioralism , structuralism , post-structuralism , realism , institutionalism , and pluralism . Political science, as one of the social sciences , uses methods and techniques that relate to

3922-572: Is not limited to modern institutions of government . Frans de Waal argued that chimpanzees engage in politics through "social manipulation to secure and maintain influential positions". Early human forms of social organization—bands and tribes—lacked centralized political structures. These are sometimes referred to as stateless societies . In ancient history, civilizations did not have definite boundaries as states have today, and their borders could be more accurately described as frontiers . Early dynastic Sumer , and early dynastic Egypt were

4028-432: Is one of the 25 largest international construction companies and led by Odebrecht family. In 2016, the firm's executives were examined during Operation Car Wash part of an investigation over Odebrecht Organization bribes to executives of Petrobras, in exchange for contracts and influence. Operation Car Wash is an ongoing criminal money laundering and bribes related corporate crime investigation being carried out by

4134-522: Is perceived as most common in kleptocracies , oligarchies , narco-states , and mafia states , however, more recent research and policy statements acknowledge that it also exists in wealthy capitalist economies. In How Corrupt is Britain , David Whyte reveals that corruption exists "across a wide range of venerated institutions" in the UK, ranked as one of the least corrupt countries by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). In

4240-461: Is permitted as a result of the cultural norms of the institution. In countries like the United States, there is a relatively strong sense of trust among strangers, one that is not found in Latin American countries. In Latin American countries, this trust does not exist, whereas the social norms imply that no stranger is responsible for the wellbeing or happiness of another stranger. Instead, the trust

4346-632: Is the degree to which a political culture is concerned with issues which are not of immediate physical or material concern, such as human rights and environmentalism . Religion has also an impact on political culture. Political corruption is the use of powers for illegitimate private gain, conducted by government officials or their network contacts. Forms of political corruption include bribery , cronyism , nepotism , and political patronage . Forms of political patronage, in turn, includes clientelism , earmarking , pork barreling , slush funds , and spoils systems ; as well as political machines , which

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4452-437: Is the kind of corruption associated with the "efficient grease hypothesis," which economists found burdensome to businesses in practice. Ang defines access money as "high-stakes rewards extended by business actors to powerful officials, not just for speed, but to access exclusive, valuable privileges." Most theories about bribery focus on speed money, but neglects access money. "From a businessperson's point of view, access money

4558-418: Is the science of comparison and teaching of different types of constitutions , political actors, legislature and associated fields. International relations deals with the interaction between nation-states as well as intergovernmental and transnational organizations. Political philosophy is more concerned with contributions of various classical and contemporary thinkers and philosophers. Political science

4664-565: Is there an interest of the public (owner) to develop internal mechanisms to fight active or passive corruption, whereas in private industry as well as in NGOs there is no public control. Therefore, the owners' investors' or sponsors' profits are largely decisive. Public corruption includes corruption of the political process and of government agencies such as tax collectors and the police, as well as corruption in processes of allocating public funds for contracts, grants, and hiring. Recent research by

4770-399: Is unambiguously associated with corruption, whereas mineral exports only increased corruption in poorer countries. In wealthier countries, mineral exports such as gold and diamonds are actually associated with reduced corruption. The international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative seeks to create best practices for good governance of gas, oil, and minerals, particularly focusing on

4876-431: Is well aware of the high level of corruption in colleges and universities, including thanks to the media. Doctoral education is no exception, with dissertations and doctoral degrees available for sale, including for politicians. Russian Parliament is notorious for "highly educated" MPs High levels of corruption are a result of universities not being able to break away from their Stalinist past, over bureaucratization, and

4982-488: Is when white supremacist groups, such as Neo-Nazi Skinheads or Neo-Confederates (such as the Ku Klux Klan ), recruit members of law enforcement into their ranks or encourage their members to join local police departments to repress minorities and covertly promote white supremacy. Another example is police officers flouting the police code of conduct in order to secure convictions of suspects—for example, through

5088-717: The Dutch Republic . Scholars such as Steven Weber , David Woodward , Michel Foucault , and Jeremy Black have advanced the hypothesis that the nation state did not arise out of political ingenuity or an unknown undetermined source, nor was it an accident of history or political invention. Rather, the nation state is an inadvertent byproduct of 15th-century intellectual discoveries in political economy , capitalism , mercantilism , political geography , and geography combined with cartography and advances in map-making technologies . Some nation states, such as Germany and Italy , came into existence at least partly as

5194-467: The Federal Police of Brazil , Curitiba Branch, and judicially commanded by Judge Sergio Moro since 17 March 2014. Corruption in education is a worldwide phenomenon. Corruption in admissions to universities is traditionally considered one of the most corrupt areas of the education sector. Recent attempts in some countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, to curb corruption in admissions through

5300-667: The Revolution and the rest of Europe including the European colonies. Constitutions often set out separation of powers , dividing the government into the executive , the legislature , and the judiciary (together referred to as the trias politica), in order to achieve checks and balances within the state. Additional independent branches may also be created, including civil service commissions , election commissions , and supreme audit institutions . Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system

5406-735: The Uruk period and Predynastic Egypt respectively around approximately 3000 BC. Early dynastic Egypt was based around the Nile River in the north-east of Africa , the kingdom's boundaries being based around the Nile and stretching to areas where oases existed. Early dynastic Sumer was located in southern Mesopotamia , with its borders extending from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Egyptians, Romans, and

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5512-512: The World Trade Organization . The study of politics is called political science , It comprises numerous subfields, namely three: Comparative politics , international relations and political philosophy . Political science is related to, and draws upon, the fields of economics , law , sociology , history , philosophy , geography , psychology , psychiatry , anthropology , and neurosciences . Comparative politics

5618-490: The abuse of prisoners . Another form of misconduct is probation officers taking bribes in exchange for allowing paroles to violate the terms of their probation or abusing their paroles. More rarely, police officers may deliberately and systematically participate in organized crime themselves, either while on the job or during off hours. In most major cities, there are internal affairs sections to investigate suspected police corruption or misconduct. Similar entities include

5724-647: The first civilizations to define their borders . Moreover, up to the 12th century, many people lived in non-state societies. These range from relatively egalitarian bands and tribes to complex and highly stratified chiefdoms . There are a number of different theories and hypotheses regarding early state formation that seek generalizations to explain why the state developed in some places but not others. Other scholars believe that generalizations are unhelpful and that each case of early state formation should be treated on its own. Voluntary theories contend that diverse groups of people came together to form states as

5830-481: The leaders of criminal enterprises as well as their criminal organizations , with the use of unethical and/or illegal conduct such as making false or misleading statements, hiding evidence from prosecutors, failing to disclose all relevant facts about the case, or even giving clients advice on how to commit crimes in ways that would make prosecution more difficult for any investigating authorities. In criminology , corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by

5936-489: The post-Soviet states both types occur. Some scholars argue that there is a negative duty of western governments to protect against systematic corruption of underdeveloped governments. Corruption has been a major issue in China, where society depends heavily on personal relationships. By the late 20th century that combined with the new lust for wealth, produced escalating corruption. Historian Keith Schoppa says that bribery

6042-965: The 18th century, the classic non-national states were the multinational empires : the Austrian Empire , Kingdom of France , Kingdom of Hungary , the Russian Empire , the Spanish Empire , the Ottoman Empire , and the British Empire . Such empires also existed in Asia, Africa, and the Americas; in the Muslim world , immediately after the death of Muhammad in 632, Caliphates were established, which developed into multi-ethnic transnational empires. The multinational empire

6148-575: The 4th century granted citizenship rights to their free population; in Athens these rights were combined with a directly democratic form of government that was to have a long afterlife in political thought and history. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) is considered by political scientists to be the beginning of the modern international system, in which external powers should avoid interfering in another country's domestic affairs. The principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs

6254-559: The British Independent Police Complaints Commission . Private sector corruption occurs when any institution, entity or person that is not controlled by the public sector company, household and institution that is not controlled by the public sector engages in corrupt acts. Private sector corruption may overlap with public sector corruption, for example when a private entity operates in conjunction with corrupt government officials, or where

6360-736: The CPI. A number of indicators and tools have been developed which can measure different forms of corruption with increasing accuracy; but when those are impractical, one study suggests looking at bodyfat as a rough guide after finding that obesity of cabinet ministers in post-Soviet states was highly correlated with more accurate measures of corruption. Political economist Yuen Yuen Ang "unbundles corruption" into four types, encompassing both petty and grand corruption as well as legal and illegal versions: petty theft, grand theft, speed money, access money. According to her definition, speed money "means petty bribes that businesses or citizens pay to bureaucrats to get around hurdles or speed things up." This

6466-577: The Greeks were the first people known to have explicitly formulated a political philosophy of the state, and to have rationally analyzed political institutions. Prior to this, states were described and justified in terms of religious myths. Several important political innovations of classical antiquity came from the Greek city-states ( polis ) and the Roman Republic . The Greek city-states before

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6572-657: The UK is a developed economy with a robust democracy, and yet London is a hub for money laundering. In a critique of the failures and politics leading up to the US financial crisis, a Stanford financial economist noted, "In the real world, it turned out, important economic outcomes are often the consequences of political forces. During 2010, people within regulatory bodies told me privately that false and misleading claims were affecting key policy decisions... I saw confusion, willful blindness, political forces, various and sometimes subtle forms of corruption, and moral disengagement, first hand." Per R. Klitgaard corruption will occur if

6678-517: The US military has also had many instances of officers sexually assaulting fellow officers and in many cases, there were allegations that many of the attacks were covered up and victims were coerced to remain silent by officers of the same rank or of higher rank. Another example of military corruption, is a military officer or officers using the power of their positions to commit activities that are illegal, such as skimming logistical supplies such as food, medicine, fuel, body armor or weapons to sell on

6784-646: The World Bank suggests that who makes policy decisions (elected officials or bureaucrats) can be critical in determining the level of corruption because of the incentives different policy-makers face. Judicial corruption refers to the corruption-related misconduct of judges , through the receiving or giving of bribes, the improper sentencing of convicted criminals, bias in the hearing and judgement of arguments and other forms of misconduct. Judicial corruption can also be conducted by prosecutors and defense attorneys. An example of prosecutorial misconduct , occurs when

6890-510: The abolition of university entrance examinations and introduction of standardized computer-graded tests have met backlash from part of society, while others appreciate the changes. Vouchers for university entrants have never materialized. The cost of corruption is that it impedes sustainable economic growth. Endemic corruption in educational institutions leads to the formation of sustainable corrupt hierarchies. While higher education in Russia

6996-587: The adaptation of measures to combat climate change . Political corruption is the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected government officials for personal gain, by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes. It can also take the form of office holders maintaining themselves in office by purchasing votes by enacting laws which use taxpayers' money. Evidence suggests that corruption can have political consequences- with citizens being asked for bribes becoming less likely to identify with their country or region. The political act of "graft" (American English),

7102-484: The cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups , or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources . The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science . Politics may be used positively in the context of a "political solution" which is compromising and non-violent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but

7208-424: The concept to include "legal corruption" in which power is abused within the confines of the law—as those with power often have the ability to make laws for their protection. The effect of corruption in infrastructure is to increase costs and construction time, lower the quality and decrease the benefit. Corruption is a complex phenomenon and can occur on different scales. Corruption ranges from small favors between

7314-660: The corrupt gain is greater than the penalty multiplied by the likelihood of being caught and prosecuted. Since a high degree of monopoly and discretion accompanied by a low degree of transparency does not automatically lead to corruption, a fourth variable of "morality" or "integrity" has been introduced by others. The moral dimension has an intrinsic component and refers to a "mentality problem", and an extrinsic component referring to circumstances like poverty, inadequate remuneration, inappropriate work conditions and inoperable or over-complicated procedures which demoralize people and let them search for "alternative" solutions. According to

7420-430: The degree of horizontal integration between the legislature , the executive , the judiciary , and other independent institutions. The source of power determines the difference between democracies , oligarchies , and autocracies . In a democracy, political legitimacy is based on popular sovereignty . Forms of democracy include representative democracy , direct democracy , and demarchy . These are separated by

7526-632: The deterrence of crime. Strategies undertaken to counter corruption are often summarized under the umbrella term anti-corruption . Additionally, global initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 also have a targeted goal which is supposed to reduce corruption in all of its forms substantially. Recent initiatives like the Tax Justice Network go beyond bribery and theft and bring attention to tax abuses. Stephen D. Morris,

7632-770: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the First World War , while the Russian Empire became the Soviet Union after the Russian Civil War . Decolonization lead to the creation of new nation states in place of multinational empires in the Third World . Political globalization began in the 20th century through intergovernmental organizations and supranational unions . The League of Nations

7738-438: The emergence of "a particular kind of large, non-state business group" that is akin to a mafia system in China. In this situation, the boundary between public and private actors blurs. Much of existing literature focuses on explicit corrupt actions like bribery and embezzlement, endemic in poor countries (see below). For "money in politics," the causes are very different and largely ignored in conventional literature. For example,

7844-427: The formation of states. In contrast with voluntary theories, these arguments believe that people do not voluntarily agree to create a state to maximize benefits, but that states form due to some form of oppression by one group over others. Some theories in turn argue that warfare was critical for state formation. The first states of sorts were those of early dynastic Sumer and early dynastic Egypt , which arose from

7950-426: The government involves itself in activity normally performed by private entities. Corruption facilitated by lawyers is a well known form of judicial misconduct. Such abuse is called Attorney misconduct . Attorney misconduct can be either conducted by individuals acting on their own accord or by entire law firms . A well known example of such corruption are mob lawyers . Mob lawyers are attorneys who seek to protect

8056-597: The interactions through which values are authoritatively allocated for a society." Each political system is embedded in a society with its own political culture, and they in turn shape their societies through public policy . The interactions between different political systems are the basis for global politics . Forms of government can be classified by several ways. In terms of the structure of power , there are monarchies (including constitutional monarchies ) and republics (usually presidential , semi-presidential , or parliamentary ). The separation of powers describes

8162-424: The judiciary. The proper distribution of a nation's wealth, including its government's spending on the judiciary, is subject to constitutional economics . The judiciary may be corrupted by acts of the government, such as through budget planning and various privileges, and by private acts. Corruption in judiciary may also involve the government using its judicial arm to oppress opposition parties. Judicial corruption

8268-524: The kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such as historical documents and official records, secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey research, statistical analysis , case studies , experimental research , and model building. The political system defines the process for making official government decisions. It is usually compared to the legal system , economic system , cultural system , and other social systems . According to David Easton , "A political system can be designated as

8374-407: The local black market . There have also been instances of military officials, providing equipment and combat support to criminal syndicates , private military companies and terrorist groups , without approval from their superiors. As a result, many countries have a military police force to ensure that the military officers follow the laws and conduct of their respective countries but sometimes

8480-413: The military police have levels of corruption themselves. Within less democratic countries, the presence of resources such as diamonds, gold, oil, and forestry increases the prevalence of corruption. Corruption includes industrial corruption, consisting of large bribes, as well as petty corruption such as a poacher paying off a park ranger to ignore poaching . The presence of fuel extraction and export

8586-445: The more co-operative views of politics by Aristotle and Crick. However, a more mixed view between these extremes is provided by Irish political scientist Michael Laver, who noted that: Politics is about the characteristic blend of conflict and co-operation that can be found so often in human interactions. Pure conflict is war. Pure co-operation is true love. Politics is a mixture of both. The history of politics spans human history and

8692-738: The name of Aristotle 's classic work, Politiká , which introduced the Ancient Greek term politiká ( Πολιτικά , 'affairs of the cities') . In the mid-15th century, Aristotle's composition would be rendered in Early Modern English as Polettiques [ sic ], which would become Politics in Modern English . The singular politic first attested in English in 1430, coming from Middle French politique —itself taking from politicus ,

8798-571: The newspaper operate undercover and anonymously in Zambia, but the editors lived in exile due to threats on their lives . Its official site and multiple linking pages to the posts have been censored inside Zambia by the government, restricting the human right of freedom of speech . After the controversial 2016 presidential elections, the Zambian Watchdog Facebook page was blocked by the Face Book citing its rules similar to

8904-413: The norm in human prehistory, few stateless societies exist today; almost the entire global population resides within the jurisdiction of a sovereign state . In some regions nominal state authorities may be very weak and wield little or no actual power . Over the course of history most stateless peoples have been integrated into the state-based societies around them . Some political philosophies consider

9010-591: The ones used to block Donald Trumps page . This was done after claims by the government that the Watchdog was inciting violence in the country through false and unprofessional reports, particularly claiming it supported the opposition UPND . Journalists writing for the Zambian Watchdog frequently face state-sponsored persecution. Some are currently attending court trials on what human rights bodies and local media associations claim are trumped up charges in

9116-464: The personal is political ", which disputes the distinction between private and public issues. Politics may also be defined by the use of power, as has been argued by Robert A. Dahl . Some perspectives on politics view it empirically as an exercise of power, while others see it as a social function with a normative basis. This distinction has been called the difference between political moralism and political realism . For moralists, politics

9222-588: The political, legal and economic systems. Such corruption is commonly found in countries with authoritarian or dictatorial governments but also in those without adequate policing of corruption. Still, it can also occur in democracies lacking effective corruption oversight . This type of corruption typically involves large-scale embezzlement, bribery, or fraud that affects national policies and governance, hindering development and eroding public trust. combatting it requires robust institutions, transparency, and accountability measures. The government system in many countries

9328-402: The public. For example, in many small places such as registration offices, police stations, state licensing boards, and many other private and government sectors. It may seem minor, but it erodes trust in institutions and fosters a culture of dishonesty. Grand corruption is defined as corruption occurring at the highest levels of government in a way that requires significant subversion of

9434-431: The rich' - which tends to be legalized, institutionalized, and ambiguously unethical - as opposed to 'corruption of the poor'". Corruption and crime are endemic sociological occurrences that appear regularly in virtually all countries on a global scale in varying degrees and proportions. Recent data suggests corruption is on the rise. Each nation allocates domestic resources for the control and regulation of corruption and

9540-482: The same changes to law and the same leaders. An election is usually a competition between different parties. A political system is a framework which defines acceptable political methods within a society. The history of political thought can be traced back to early antiquity, with seminal works such as Plato 's Republic , Aristotle 's Politics , Confucius 's political manuscripts and Chanakya 's Arthashastra . The English word politics has its roots in

9646-400: The sphere of human social relations, while the limited view restricts it to certain contexts. For example, in a more restrictive way, politics may be viewed as primarily about governance , while a feminist perspective could argue that sites which have been viewed traditionally as non-political, should indeed be viewed as political as well. This latter position is encapsulated in the slogan "

9752-582: The state management of revenue from these resources. Any valued natural resource can be affected by corruption, including water for irrigation , land for livestock grazing, forests for hunting and logging, and fisheries. The presence or perception of corruption also undermines environmental initiatives. In Kenya, farmers blame poor agricultural productivity on corruption, and thus are less likely to undertake soil conservation measures to prevent soil erosion and loss of nutrients. In Benin, mistrust of government due to perceived corruption led small farmers to reject

9858-423: The state undesirable, and thus consider the formation of a stateless society a goal to be achieved. A central tenet of anarchism is the advocacy of society without states. The type of society sought for varies significantly between anarchist schools of thought , ranging from extreme individualism to complete collectivism . In Marxism , Marx's theory of the state considers that in a post-capitalist society

9964-441: The state, an undesirable institution, would be unnecessary and wither away . A related concept is that of stateless communism , a phrase sometimes used to describe Marx's anticipated post-capitalist society. Constitutions are written documents that specify and limit the powers of the different branches of government. Although a constitution is a written document, there is also an unwritten constitution. The unwritten constitution

10070-580: The states or the federal political body. Federations were formed first in Switzerland, then in the United States in 1776, in Canada in 1867 and in Germany in 1871 and in 1901, Australia . Compared to a federation , a confederation has less centralized power. All the above forms of government are variations of the same basic polity , the sovereign state . The state has been defined by Max Weber as

10176-525: The system. Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives , discretionary powers ; monopolistic powers ; lack of transparency ; low pay; and a culture of impunity . Specific acts of corruption include "bribery, extortion, and embezzlement" in a system where "corruption becomes the rule rather than the exception." Scholars distinguish between centralized and decentralized systemic corruption, depending on which level of state or government corruption takes place; in countries such as

10282-492: The toilet's procurement received various prison sentences for recklessness, malfeasance, misuse of power and document falsifications in a 2012 court case, but were cleared of their corruption charges and received compensation, which pushed the total construction cost and subsequent related financial losses to 352,000 euros. On 7 July 2020, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , a global think tank, released

10388-431: The use of surveillance abuse , false confessions , police perjury and/or falsified evidence . Police officers have also been known to sell forms of contraband that were taken during seizers (such as confiscated drugs , stolen property or weapons ). Corruption and misconduct can also be done by prison officers, such as the smuggling of contraband (such as drugs or electronics) into jails and prisons for inmates or

10494-776: The way decisions are made, whether by elected representatives, referendums , or by citizen juries . Democracies can be either republics or constitutional monarchies. Oligarchy is a power structure where a minority rules. These may be in the form of anocracy , aristocracy , ergatocracy , geniocracy , gerontocracy , kakistocracy , kleptocracy , meritocracy , noocracy , particracy , plutocracy , stratocracy , technocracy , theocracy , or timocracy . Autocracies are either dictatorships (including military dictatorships ) or absolute monarchies . In terms of level of vertical integration, political systems can be divided into (from least to most integrated) confederations , federations , and unitary states . A federation (also known as

10600-535: The witnesses as retribution for reporting the misconduct. Whistleblowing is not common in law enforcement in part because officers who do so normally face reprisal by being fired, being forced to transfer to another department, being demoted, being shunned, losing friends, not being given back-up during emergencies, receiving professional or even physical threats as well as having threats be made against friends or relatives of theirs or having their own misconduct exposed. In America another common form of police corruption

10706-587: The word often also carries a negative connotation. The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or in a limited way, empirically or normatively, and on whether conflict or co-operation is more essential to it. A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws , and exercising internal and external force , including warfare against adversaries. Politics

10812-402: Was a major Lithuanian scandal. In 2009, the municipality of Kaunas (led by mayor Andrius Kupčinskas) ordered that a shipping container was to be converted into an outdoor toilet at a cost of 500,000 litai (around 150,000 euros). It was to also require 5,000 litai (1,500 euros) in monthly maintenance costs. At the same time when Kaunas's "Golden Toilet" was built, Kėdainiai tennis club acquired

10918-437: Was an absolute monarchy ruled by a king, emperor or sultan . The population belonged to many ethnic groups, and they spoke many languages. The empire was dominated by one ethnic group, and their language was usually the language of public administration. The ruling dynasty was usually, but not always, from that group. Some of the smaller European states were not so ethnically diverse, but were also dynastic states, ruled by

11024-768: Was founded after World War I , and after World War II it was replaced by the United Nations . Various international treaties have been signed through it. Regional integration has been pursued by the African Union , ASEAN , the European Union , and Mercosur . International political institutions on the international level include the International Criminal Court , the International Monetary Fund , and

11130-540: Was laid out in the mid-18th century by Swiss jurist Emer de Vattel . States became the primary institutional agents in an interstate system of relations. The Peace of Westphalia is said to have ended attempts to impose supranational authority on European states. The "Westphalian" doctrine of states as independent agents was bolstered by the rise in 19th century thought of nationalism , under which legitimate states were assumed to correspond to nations —groups of people united by language and culture. In Europe , during

11236-438: Was only one of the tools of Chinese corruption, which also included, "embezzlement, nepotism, smuggling, extortion, cronyism, kickbacks, deception, fraud, squandering of public money, illegal business transactions, stock manipulation and real estate fraud." Given the repeated anti-corruption campaigns it was a prudent precaution to move as much of the fraudulent money as possible overseas. In Latin American countries , corruption

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