Wednesday, 1:30-4:30 p.m.                                                        Office Tel. 1501/1280/Home 243-2552
Office Hours.: Tuesday and Friday, 3-5                                       Denny 207/ruhl@dickinson.edu
 

                                          "A politicial who is poor is a poor politician."

                                                         Carlos Hank González (Mexico)

                                    "...do not steal too much at a time...steal cleverly...."

                                                         Mobutu Sese Seko  (Congo)

        Political corruption is a global phenomenon that has drawn increasing attention from scholars and policy-makers in the Post-Cold War period.  The World Bank recently made fighting corruption one of its highest priorities, and new NGOs like Transparency International have begun to publicize cases of bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, and other abuses around the world.  This seminar will examine political corrruption in depth.  We will consider alternative definitions of the concept and competing approaches to measuring the extent of corruption in different countries.  In addition, we will debate political corruption's economic and political consequences and analyze seven case studies of nations with varying levels of corruption (United States, Israel, Italy, China, Russia, India, Angola).  The course will conclude by attempting to answer two critical questions: (1) Why is political corruption endemic in some political systems but relatively uncommon in others? (2) What reforms could help reduce corruption in countries where it is widespread?

Required Books:

Lorretta Graziano Breuning.  Greaseless: How to Thrive Without Bribes in Developing Countries (Oakland: System Integrity Press, 2004).

Chinua Achebe. No Longer at Ease (New York: Anchor, 1960).

Roberta Ann Johnson (ed.). The Struggle Against Corruption: A Comparative Study (New York: Palgrave, 2004).

Arnold J. Heidenheimer and Michael Johnston (eds.). Political Corruption: Concepts and Contexts (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2002).

Robert Klitgaard.  Controlling Corruption (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988).

Course Requirements:

 1.    Attendance: Since this course meets only once a week, attendance is expected at all meetings unless the student is excused in advance by the instructor because of illness.  A heavy workload in other courses or vacation travel plans are not acceptable reasons for missing a seminar session.  Only one unexcused cut will be permitted without a reduction in grade.   Students who miss class for any reason (excused or unexcused) will be required to submit a four-page paper discussing in detail the reading assignment covered while they were absent.

 2.    Class Participation: The seminar is essentially an organized, extended class discussion so one-third of the final grade will be determined on the basis of class participation.  There will be some short unannounced quizzes on the reading. 

 3.    Examination: One-third of the final course grade will be based on an in-class examination on the assigned reading material (April 12).  There will be no final exam in May.

 4.    Research Paper: The remaining third of the final grade will be based on the revised version of the research paper presented in class on April 26 or May 3.  Papers will compare political corruption in two contemporary countries or on one country overtime and explain differences in observed levels of corruption.  All topics must be approved by the instructor in advance.  Papers will be evaluated in terms of research depth, analytical sophistication, and writing quality.  The due date for the final revised paper is May 10. 

The TI Global Corruption Report website listed below and the Center for Public Integrity website are useful research sources. 

 Course Outline and Assigned Readings:

January 25                    Introduction and Organization

    Leiken Foreign Policy (Winter 1996-1997), 55-73
    Handouts on Serpico and Ragghianti Cases, 10 pp.
    Film Segments: "Serpico" and "Marie"

February 1                    Global Corruption in Government: Motivations

    The Economist handouts
    Moroff in Heidenheimer and Johnston (H&J), 687-697
    Achebe No Longer at Ease (entire) 194 pp.

February 8                    Defining Political Corruption

    Johnson and Sharma in Johnson, 1-8
    Williams Third World Quarterly (June 1999), 503-507
    Nye in H&J, 284
    Heidenheimer and Johnston in H&J, 3-14
    Gardiner in H&J, 25-39
    Pinto-Duschinsky Journal of Democracy (October 2002), 69-85
    Peters and Welch in H&J, 155-171
    Johnston in H&J, 173-183, 189-190

February 15                    Measuring Political Corruption

   Seligson Journal of Politics (May 2002), 414-421
   Schlesinger and Meier in H&J, 628-631
   Pharr in H&J, 849-850
   Internet Center, Corruption Perceptions Index Questions, 7 pp.
   Transparency International, CPI Data Sources, 3 pp.
   Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2006, Part 3, Research 1, Lambsdorff, CPI 2005, 298-303
   Johnston in H&J, 865-877
   Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2005, 2, 11, 16-17, 23
   Latinobarómetro Survey Data handout
   Camerer Journal of Democracy (January 2006), 152-165
   Skim 2004 Global Integrity Report on South Africa 

February 22                    Coping with Corruption and Debating its Consequences

   Johnson, 8-16, 161-163
   Leff in H&J, 307-319
   Huntington in H&J, 253-263
   Leys in H&J, 59-66   
   Nye in H&J, 281-298
   Kaufman Foreign Policy (Summer 1997), 114-120
   Seligson Journal of Politics (May 2002), 408-414
   Bruening, 1-54

March 1                        Case Studies:  United States

   Summers handout, 90-95
   Scott in H&J, 221-223, 228-230
   Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Preface and Chapters 1 and 7
   Hofstadter handout, 174-178, 215-218
   Johnson, 21-47
   2004 Global Integrity Report on the USA, Dininio and Lewis, 1-8, and IV-2 section
   Sabato handout
   Tommy Boggs Video
   McCain-Feingold handout

                            <<Research Paper Topics Due>>

March 8                        Israel and Italy

   Werner in H&J, 201-217
   Kalchheim in Johnson, 53-66, 69-77
   Professor Neil Diamant on Israel
   Italian Cases handout, 14 pp.
   Alexander Global Corruption Report 2005, 26-27 (Costs of Corruption) handout
   Della Porta and Vanucci in H&J, 717-735
   Pujas and Rhodes in H&J, 745-747
   The Economist and Jones handouts, 8 pp.
   2004 Global Integrity Report on Italy, Segato and Sisti, 1-7, and II-3, IV-1, IV-2 sections                       

                                     <<Spring Vacation>>       

March 22                      China and Russia

   Hao and Johnston in H&J, 583-601
   Martirossian in Johnson, 81-106
   Professor Phil Grier on Russia
   2004 Global Integrity Report on Russia, Demidov and Albats, 1-9, and IV-4, V-1 sections
   Sun Comparative Politics (October 1999), 1-9
   Film on Post-Soviet Georgia:  "Power Trip"

                   <<Annotated Preliminary Bibliographies Due>>
     
March 29                      India and Angola

   Chadda in Johnson, 109-140
   Sinha (Jha) Global Corruption Report 2005, 9-12 (Costs of Corruption) handout
   2004 Global Integrity Report on India, Shastri and Kalshian, 1-9 and IV-2, VI-1, VI-2 sections
   Médard in H&J, 379-397
   McMillan Journal of Democracy (July 2005), 155-167
   
   Comparative Classification of Nazi Germany: Angermund in H&J, 605-619
   Guidelines for Interpreting Quantitative Research on Corruption

                        <<Annotated Preliminary Bibliographies Due>>

April 5                           Causes of Variations in Corruption Levels

     Johnson, 145-161
    Quah in H&J, 513-519
    de Sardan Journal of Modern African Studies (March 1999), 25-50
    Rosenberg NYT Magazine (August 10, 2003), 28-33
    Johnston in H&J, 777-782
    
April 12                         Examination   

April 19                         Anti-Corruption Reforms

    Exam Return and Discussion
    The Economist handout, 3 pp.
    Review Leiken Foreign Policy, 67-73 (See 1/25 class for link to the article)
    Klitgaard, 13-21, 48-62, 74-133, 184-189  
    Hong Kong (ICAC)

April 26                         Presentation and Critique of Research Papers

   Rough drafts of research papers must be given to the readers no later than 5:00 p.m.on the Monday
   prior to their presentation

May 3                           Presentation and Critique of Research Papers  

                      <<Final Revised Research Papers Due: May 10 at 5:00 p.m.>>

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