Reflections on Political Corruption in a Global Perspective

Abstract

This article presents several reflections on corruption as a phenomenon on a global scale, without setting the emphasis either in a geographical domain or in a unique field of law. The decisive analysis is the adjective of the phenomenon – it is the political corruption that matters. One tries to delimit this concept by considering different criteria but always taking the political environment as the reference. Some of its causes are asked and mechanisms to combat it are searched for. The rationalization of the phenomenon takes into account data from international institutions, namely Transparency International, and an attempt to look at corruption regardless of the State in which it occurs. With regard to the methodology, it is chosen the one that should preside over an analysis of public law in the 21st Century: a dialogical perspective, considering the multilevel structure, as well as the importance of comparative law. Within political corruption, a special focus is given to electoral corruption, perhaps because it is a more common phenomenon in this field of investigation and easier to describe objectively. In short, the approach is conceptual and the analysis is done above concrete legal systems.