Springer Gender and Corruption: Historical Roots and New Avenues for Research (Political Corruption and Governance)

The link between gender and corruption has been studied since the late 1990s. Debates have been heated and scholars accused of bringing forward stereotypical beliefs about women as the “fair” sex. Policy proposals for bringing more women to office have been criticized for promoting unrealistic quick-fix solutions to deeply rooted problems. This edited volume advances the knowledge surrounding the link between gender and corruption by including studies where the historical roots of corruption are linked to gender and by contextualizing the exploration of relationships, for example by distinguishing between democracies versus authoritarian states and between the electoral arena versus the administrative branch of government―the bureaucracy. Taken together, the chapters display nuances and fine-grained understandings. The book highlights that gender equality processes, rather than the exclusionary categories of “women” and “men”, should be at the forefront of analysis, and that developments strengthening the position of women vis-à-vis men affect the quality of government.      Review “Having more women in government is consistently associated with less corruption in government. Why? Learn more in this far-reaching causal analysis. The relationship is far stronger in democracies than autocracies, stronger in elected office than in the bureaucracy. It doesn’t come from voters punishing corrupt women more than corrupt men. Gender quotas drawn from existing corrupt networks can just reproduce corruption. A Scandinavian gender-equal culture built on low fertility helps create cultural trust and low corruption. Sometimes women leaders reduce corruption to increase goods for families and children. Sometimes women who want to be corrupt are excluded from tightly-knit corrupt male networks. Much more here pushes us intellectually forward. But perhaps, one author suggests, we don’t need to know the exact mechanism. In democracies, just put more women in office and watch corruption decline.” (Professor Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University, USA) From the Back Cover The link between gender and corruption has been studied since the late 1990s. Debates have been heated and scholars accused of bringing forward stereotypical beliefs about women as the “fair” sex. Policy proposals for bringing more women to office have been criticized for promoting unrealistic quick-fix solutions to deeply rooted problems. This edited volume advances the knowledge surrounding the link between gender and corruption by including studies where the historical roots of corruption are linked to gender and by contextualizing the exploration of relationships, for example by distinguishing between democracies versus authoritarian states and between the electoral arena versus the administrative branch of government―the bureaucracy. Taken together, the chapters display nuances and fine-grained understandings. The book highlights that gender equality processes, rather than the exclusionary categories of “women” and “men”, should be at the forefront of analysis, and that developments strengthening the position of women vis-à-vis men affect the quality of government.      About the Author Helena Stensöta is Associate Professor at the Quality of Government Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Lena Wängnerud is Professor at the Quality of Government Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.