Springer Corruption and Norms: Why Informal Rules Matter (Political Corruption and Governance)

This book focuses on the role of norms in the description, explanation, prediction and combat of corruption. It conceives corruption as a ubiquitous problem, constructed by specific traditions, values, norms and institutions. The chapters concentrate on the relationship between corruption and social as well as legal norms, providing comparative perspectives from different academic disciplines, theoretical and methodological backgrounds, and various country-studies. Due to the nature of social norms that are embedded in personal, local, and organizational contexts, the contributions in the volume focus in particular on the individual and institutional level of analysis (micro and meso-mechanisms). The book will be of interest to students and scholars across the fields of political science, public administration, socio-legal studies and psychology. Review “The edited volume offers an instructive view of corruption in its many forms, as well as an illustration of informal norms as challenges to anti-corruption. … Its depiction of how informal norms continue to shape individuals and institutional actors alike is an important contribution to literature, which should be further pursued not just as an academic exercise but with a view to promote change and the progressive development of anti-corruption norms.” (Inês Sofia de Oliveira, Interdisciplinary Political Studies, Vol. 4 (2), 2018) Review “Kubbe and Engelbert have put together a fascinating volume on a very timely and important topic. Analysing corruption from a social norms perspective turns out to be both very innovative and productive in terms of substantial research results. This is a stellar book, simply a ‘must read’ for everyone interested in the complex issue of corruption.” (Professor Bo Rothstein, University of Oxford, UK) “A ‘must read’ for anyone looking for a deeper understanding of what we characterise as ‘corruption’ and why. This book exposes the many interests, norms, and values that informally support corruption and opens up discussion on what needs to change for anti-corruption initiatives to work. Interdisciplinary, insightful and scholarly!” (Associate Professor Kath Hall, Australian National University) From the Back Cover This book focuses on the role of norms in the description, explanation, prediction and combat of corruption. It conceives corruption as a ubiquitous problem, constructed by specific traditions, values, norms and institutions. The chapters concentrate on the relationship between corruption and social as well as legal norms, providing comparative perspectives from different academic disciplines, theoretical and methodological backgrounds, and various country-studies. Due to the nature of social norms that are embedded in personal, local, and organizational contexts, the contributions in the volume focus in particular on the individual and institutional level of analysis (micro and meso-mechanisms). The book will be of interest to students and scholars across the fields of political science, public administration, socio-legal studies and psychology. About the Author Ina Kubbe is Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University, Israel. She has published several books and articles on corruption related to democracy. Ina specializes in methodology and comparative research on empirical corruption, democracy and governance research as well as political psychology. She is a founding member of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network and currently researching on the norms of values of the Israeli and Palestinian society related to the conflict. Annika Engelbert is Post-Doctoral Researcher at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, working at the intersection of law and social sciences on human rights and administrative law issues in developing countries. Annika has published several books and articles on corruption in public adminis