This volume considers corruption as a multidimensional, complex phenomenon in which various forms of corruption may overlap at any given time. Extending the seemingly paradoxical notion of legal corruption to such settings as the USA, Spain, and the Czech Republic, the book seeks to augment our understanding of corruption in democracies by focusing on conduct that is considered by large segments of the population to be corrupt even though they are not explicitly defined as such by the law or the governing elites. Such behaviors are not often captured by corruption perception indexes or...

This book presents a variety of perspectives on the phenomenon of political and economic corruption-and the link between them-through focused and theoretical analysis. While grounded in the intellectual tradition of classical writers such as Edmund Burke, the volume presents an updated profile of corrupted practices in the contemporary world.