lJessica Wolfe Professor Wolcott Literature Review and Project Proposal 1 November 2013 T e Role of !

orruption in "ifferent Levels of #overnment Introduction: Levels of government in relation to political corruption Political !orruption is t e use of power b$ %overnment officials for ille%itimate private %ain& !orruption in %overnment is somet in% t at as occurred ever since t e Jefferson'(amilton se) scandals of 1*+2& ,an$ researc ers ave devoted t eir entire careers to t e stud$ of %overnmental corruption tr$in% to answer w $ it appens -! arron et all. 2011/ ,un%iu'Pippidi et all. 2013/ ,c#rat et all. 2013/ 0o$er et all. 2011/ 1lavin and Ledet et all. 20132& !orruption is also seen as relative dependin% on t e t$pe and si3e of t e %overnment& 4t is ar%ued t at bi%%er %overnment brin%s bi%%er forms of corruption -5lein et all. 20132& T ese studies ave allowed us to e)amine political corruption on two different levels& T ese two levels are local and national %overnment& 4f t ere is indeed a correlation between t e si3e of %overnment and t e e)tremit$ of corruption in t at %overnment t en would t e ne)t step be t e abilit$ to predict corruption6 T ese findin%s ave proved %round'brea7in% in t e discourse communit$ of political science&

Political corruption in local government Local %overnment is defined as t e administration of a particular town. count$. or district. wit representatives elected b$ t ose w o live t ere& News covera%e on corruption in local %overnment is rarel$ made into national news& (owever. t is fact does not mean t at it is not

appenin%& 4n 2010 t e small cit$ of 0ell. !alifornia. cit$ mana%er Robert Ri33o and constituents were all prosecuted on terms of corruption& Reporters discovered Ri33o ad awarded imself. wit t e elp of ot ers. a 8+9+.:3+ salar$& T is scandal. compared to ot ers t at occurred in 2010. went almost undetected - ,c#rat et all. 20132& ; cit$ mana%er ma7in% almost double t e salar$ of t e President of t e <nited =tates in one of t e smallest cities of !alifornia barel$ made t e news& T is level of corruption on suc a small scale is was apparentl$ not somet in% t at an$one ad predicted& Reporters concluded t e onl$ si%n t e public ad seen was t eir propert$ ta) rate. i% er t an t e rate of 0everl$ (ills& Political =cientists ave $pot esi3ed t at corruption in local %overnment ma$ even s ow more cases of corruption t at state and national& W en $ou are a cit$ mana%er or ma$or. $ou are in less of a spotli% t t an sa$ t e President& T e fact of not bein% as closel$ observed b$ t e public and t e media can pla$ a si%nificant role in ow muc one t in7s t e$ can %et awa$ wit &

Political corruption in national government T e words national %overnment and corruption ave almost become s$non$mous& 4t seems t at no one President. =enate or (ouse of Representatives member can be viewed as politicall$ moral -0o$er et all 20112& W ereas in local %overnment a leader can %et awa$ wit corruption for e)tended periods of time. if t e$ are even cau% t at all. a member of t e <nited =tates National #overnment as all e$es turned towards t em& Websites ave even been dedicated to list all scandals occurrin% in Was in%ton "&!& accordin% to t eir $ear and e)tremit$ of corruption& 5lein et all -20132 discusses w ere t e blame of corruption in t e W ite (ouse falls& >f course t e man w o ta7es t e brunt of all its is t e

President. now 0ara7 >bama& 5lein even su%%ests a ?total over aul@ of t e %overnment. to start from scratc & ; dilemma brou% t up about corruption on a national level s ines a li% t on ow corrupt leaders are %overnin% corrupt citi3ens& -Roberts et all. 20122 T e most common forms of corruption in national %overnment include bribes. ille%al %ratuities. e)tortion. embe33lement. nepotism. and patrona%e s$stems& T ose same con%ressmen passin% jud%ment on civilians w o ave committed crimes suc as t ese ma$ or ave committed t ese same crimes t emselves&

Conclusions Political corruption is a ver$ t orou% l$ studied topic in all t ose associated or interested in t e discourse communit$ of Political =cience& 4t is an interestin% %oal to want to determine t e future actions of our political leaders& 0oo7s. journals. documentaries. and websites are all wa$s people can propose t eir t ou% ts on predictin% corruption in our %overnment& (owever. t e majorit$ of all studied end inconclusivel$& Predictin% ow a man or woman in office will %overn. w et er morall$ or immorall$. is a ver$ difficult t in% to foresee& T us. t e researc continues as does t e corruption opefull$ one da$ leadin% to a better understandin% of w $ politicians do w at t e$ do&

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