Political Corruption and Democratic Governance

(Hardback)

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Political Corruption and Democratic Governance explores the effects of political corruption on important aspects of democratic governing. Jongseok Woo and Eunjung Choi use a cross-national lens to analyze how political corruption influences different areas of politics and economics, including electoral outcomes, citizens evaluations of democratic norms and values, economic development, distributional justice, and social and political trust in both developed and developing nations. While most works on political corruption focus on the causes of corruption, this book delves into various consequences of it. The discussion in each chapter engages both theoretical and empirical components of political corruption, introducing competing theoretical arguments on a given topic and puts them under rigorous empirical scrutiny. Each chapter involves large-N statistical analysis to make it truly global in scope and to overcome the limits of single (or small-N) case studies on political corruption. This book concludes with critical evaluations about anti-corruption efforts by various IGOs and NGOs and specific policy recommendations to deter corruption.

Reviews

Political Corruption and Democratic Governance makes an important contribution to the growing literature on corruption by offering extensive empirical research demonstrating the ill effects of corruption on economic performance, distributive justice, and social and political trust, and gauging corruptions impact on voting and electoral outcomes. Accessible and useful to both undergraduates and experts, the book provides a solid overview of the sub-field of corruption studies, exploring questions of definition, measurement, and different theoretical approaches. By assessing corruptions impact on the various dimensions of democratic governance, Jongseok Woo and Eunjung Choi highlight the critical role corruption plays in fueling the growing crisis to democracy in developing and developed countries worldwide. -- Stephen Morris, Middle Tennessee State University
Jongseok Woo and Eunjung Choi provide an important contribution to the literature on corruption and government performance. Their analysis of how citizens perceive wrongdoing in politics and the implications of these perceptions for democratic representation is both rigorously executed and accessible. -- James A McCann, Purdue University

Author Bio

Jongseok Woo is assistant professor of political science in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South Florida. Eunjung Choi is associate professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Chonnam National University in South Korea.