Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2011
Abstract
Efforts to explain corruption have increased dramatically in recent years. The interest stems from the increasing weight economists assign to corruption when explaining economic growth. Much research focuses on how political institutions influence perceptions of corruption. We move this debate in a new direction by addressing a previously ignored dimension: ideological polarization. We contend perceptions of corruption are determined not only by specific institutional features of the political system–such as elements of voting systems, ballot structures, or separation of powers–but by who sits at the controls. We employ panel data from a broad variety of countries to test our theoretical argument. Contrary to recent findings by both economists and political scientists, we show that ideological polarization predicts perceptions of corruption.
Copyright Statement
This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. © 2009, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). The final, definitive version of this document can be found online at World Development, doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.02.006
Publication Information
Brown, David S.; Touchton, Michael; and Whitford, Andrew. (2011). "Political Polarization as a Constraint on Corruption: A Cross-National Comparison". World Development, 39(9), 1516-1529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.02.006