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October 25, 2013
Political Parties and Democracy in Theoretical and Practical Perspectives
The abuse of public roles and resources for private benefit, although in many societies terms like “public,” “private,” and “abuse” are matters of considerable political dispute. Much corruption in established democracies involves efforts by business or wealthy individuals to buy or rent influence in government. But in much of the rest of the world, the problem is also, or primarily, that powerful state and political figures plunder the economy. Both contention over key aspects of the definition, and the impunity with which officials enrich themselves in many countries, underline the importance of free and open political contention—in the first instance, to draw key boundaries and distinctions, and in the latter, to check abuses of political power and create alternatives to corrupt governments.
Resource type
Publisher
NDI
Publication year
2005
Print article
The abuse of public roles and resources for private benefit, although in many societies terms like “public,” “private,” and “abuse” are matters of considerable political dispute. Much corruption in established democracies involves efforts by business or wealthy individuals to buy or rent influence in government. But in much of the rest of the world, the problem is also, or primarily, that powerful state and political figures plunder the economy. Both contention over key aspects of the definition, and the impunity with which officials enrich themselves in many countries, underline the importance of free and open political contention—in the first instance, to draw key boundaries and distinctions, and in the latter, to check abuses of political power and create alternatives to corrupt governments.
Resource type
Publisher
NDI
Publication year
2005
