Corruption is a significant problem for democracies throughout the world. Even the most
democratic countries constantly face the threat of corruption and the consequences of it at …

This article demonstrates that political institutions influence the level of corruption via clarity
of responsibility. The key hypothesis is that when political institutions provide high clarity of …

This study uses a cross‐country panel to examine the determinants of corruption, paying
particular attention to political institutions that increase accountability. Even though the …

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WORKING PAPER wps2708 2708 Accountability and Corruption Political Institutions Matter …

Theory predicts democracy should reduce corruption. Yet, scholars have found that while
corruption is low at high levels of democracy, it is high at modest levels, as well as low when …

Studies interested in the cross‐national levels of corruption have concluded that specific
institutional characteristics drive the aggregate variation. In countries with high institutional …

While democratic accountability is widely expected to reduce corruption, citizens to a
surprisingly large extent opt to forgo their right to protest and voice complaints, and refrain …

This article offers an additional explanation for why corrupt politicians survive democratic
elections. I argue that, unlike other electoral issues, corruption possesses some specificities …

Does information about rampant political corruption increase electoral participation and the
support for challenger parties? Democratic theory assumes that offering more information to …

This paper calls attention to the instrumental role of democracy and press freedom in
combating corruption. As opposed to an autocracy with no or limited press freedom, a free …