Routledge Corruption and Public Administration: The Italian Case in a Comparative Perspective

Corruption and Public Administration looks at public sector organizations and what they have achieved since signing the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Agreement in Merida in 2004. It examines how the signee countries engaged in the set-up of institutions to contain corruption in public administration, and how these governments and institutions have progressed. The book compares several developed countries, and undertakes an especially detailed examination of Italy. It highlights strengths and weaknesses, and proposes organizational means of addressing the issues, which include diversity in organizational structures and systems, and a focus on prevention rather than repression. The book shines a light on anti-corruption practices and aims to foster open discussion about this pressing topical issue among peers in all relevant fields of the social sciences. Review "This book has the great merit of having kept at arm’s length moral indignation and the easy application to the real world of the Weberian principle of the civil servant. Professor Merloni’s book provides a landscape of the practical instruments that are utilized by national and international institutions to prevent – and therefore to contain – corruption in the public domain. In Chapter 1, the book identifies seven dimensions for the comparison of national anti-corruption organizations which will turn out useful for future studies. In Chapter 9, the book puts forth the stimulating and fertile proposal to unify the reporting procedures adopted by both public administrations and  private companies. In concrete, the proposal is to adopt the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) both in the private sector and in public administration. Such a proposal appears the best way forward to convey transparency at the interface between corruption and the corruptors and the extorted and the extortioners. The bibliography is quite complete and updated; it provides a panorama of what is being produced internationally about the subject of corruption." Andrea Lapiccirella, former Head of the Office for Performance Measurement at the National Research Council (CNR) in Rome, Italy.   "The book provides us with a timely overview of the subject matter. It has a brief but useful comparative element which locates the discussion in context and it is particularly valuable in setting out details of the Italian case. Although the text is not supported by footnote references the study contains an up-to-date bibliography which will be helpful to scholars working in the field. There are relatively few studies of corruption available in English so this will be welcomed by public lawyers and political scientists who specialise in public administration and law." Peter Leyland, Visiting Professor of Law, SOAS, University of London. About the Author Francesco Merloni is a member of the governing body of the Italian Anti-corruption Authority (ANAC). He was a professor of administrative law at the University of Perugia, Italy.