The lasting belief that the so-called Western developed is immune to corruption has been firmly disputed. Many contemporary examples show that practices contrary to ethics are widespread at the highest levels of government in Europe and the United States, a recent report has highlighted serious risk of corruption linked to 135 health supply contracts Warm too expensive in the United Kingdom during the 19-year-old pandemic, totally 15.3 billion pounds sterling. Individuals closely associated with the European Parliament have faced charges to accept bribes in exchange for political favors. In addition, the current mayor of New York was accused of having abused his post of taking bribes and soliciting illegal campaign contributions. Unsurprisingly, a majority – 62% – of Americans believe that corruption is widespread in the United States and that the government mainly serves the interests of its elites rather than the common good. Likewise, more than two -thirds of Europeans also consider that corruption is widespread in their country, expressing concerns that high -level corruption cases are not sufficiently studied.
Despite decades of states’ efforts and intergovernmental organizations to combat corruption, citizens around the world are increasingly skeptical of the effectiveness of these initiatives. Corruption is no longer considered a problem limited to the world of world or the post-socialist region; It has become a reality for many citizens who live in countries, such as Sweden or Germany, who are conventionally considered to be exempt. This emphasizes that corruption is indeed a global concern. However, such stranded anti-corruption efforts suggest that we still do not fully understand the functioning of corruption.
Economists, legal researchers and political scientists have largely sought and conceptualized corruption; However, their efforts have often succeeded in fully capturing a crucial aspect: the social dimensions of the phenomenon. My book, Sociology of corruptionProvides a sociological analysis of meso level to obtain a more precise and more complete image of the functioning of corruption. The research demonstrates a convincing mixture of theoretical insight and empirical rigor and discusses the implications for the practice, while remaining accessible to a large audience. More specifically, it gives the point of view that the more complete understanding of corruption could lead to the development of more personalized and more effective anti -corruption measures. Although it focuses on Hungary as a case study, the theoretical framework and political recommendations apply to other cultural nations and contexts. This new approach stresses that corruption is not simply an economic, legal or political question, but fundamentally a sociological question.
According to the CPI index of Transparency International 2023, Hungary has become the most corrupt member in the European Union. Researchers and experts are unanimously suitable for a group of corrupt political actors captured most of the state institutions and an important part of the commercial and cultural sectors in contemporary Hungary, and used these positions to extract D ‘Huge amounts of system resources. However, an analysis of Eurobarometers based on representative samples on the EU level reveals that each year, less and less Hungarians have reported personal involvement in corruption in the last twelve months. The percentage of respondents who knew or witness corruption rose from almost 30% in 2005 to 14% in 2019. This raises an intriguing question: how can a country seem less corrupt while being classified as more corrupt? The answer, one of the central conclusions of this book, is that various forms of corruption coexist, with the role and meaning of each type that is constantly evolving.
The sociology of corruption improves our understanding of the phenomenon through certain key areas. First, the development of a sociological theory of the average corruption of the range, it fills a long -standing gap in the literature, always dominated by the simplistic utility concept of economics and political science, which deals with corruption as The same maximum harmful profit activity in the world. On the other hand, my book maintains that corruption is a multifaceted phenomenon that manifests through several forms. Based on the idea of Karl Polanyi on the general historical forms of transfer of resources – market exchange, reciprocity and redistribution – and a second dimension, the main beneficiary of corruption on the customer side of the brothel (individual , social group or organization), I have developed a typology which covers most of the main forms of corrupt activities: market corruption, social bridge pot, corrupt organizations and state capture.
Market corruption is a form of low level corruption in which a street bureaucrat (agent) controls the supply of public goods and services “sells” its discretion to an individual (customer). It is corruption between two foreigners who do not know each other and will probably not meet. The chicken against the traffic police on site to avoid an excess speed ticket, a widespread practice in many countries, is a typical example of market corruption.
The second type, the social bridge pot, is based on long-term social ties instead of an ad hoc impersonal transaction and can involve several members of a social group on the customer side, such as family or d networks ‘Friendship, allowing repeated exchanges based on confidence. Informal institutions in different cultures, such as Blat in Russia, Compaadrazgo in Chile, Guanxi in China or Wasta in the Middle East, are ways to get things done with personal contacts. Many transactions carried out through these institutions are not necessarily corrupt, but they can also serve as a ready to use infrastructure for social-broth transactions.
The type of corrupt organization occurs when an entire company is the customer and the main beneficiary of illegal driving. In this scenario, corruption occurs within the company when employees participate in dishonest activities, such as securing government contracts thanks to bribes to achieve the legitimate objectives of the organization, as maximizing profits or increase market share.
The capture of the state is the most serious and most sophisticated form of corruption. Here, close political and economic interest groups take control of the institutions and public processes through which public policy is made, removing from such policies the interest of the general public and rather shaped it to serve their own interests. For example, they often adapt enormous public offers or concessions for the benefit of a particular actor.
Second, this approach highlights the often neglected sociological aspect, demonstrating that the individuals involved in corruption are anchored in several layers of social life. By focusing on resources, we learn how and why property and other intangible things, such as recognition, honor or prestige, are exchanged and transferred in corrupt transactions. This new sociological perspective improves the social scientific understanding of the question. It also shows that certain forms of corruption are not ultimately negative. Beyond personal gains, the social-broth can have social functions, such as maintaining the stability of social systems, the maintenance of social groups or the integration of new members of the group. Helping friends and family members in an illegal way is often morally justified and not considered to be corrupt by local actors. In addition, rather than being manifestations of deviance, certain forms of corruption are social corrections of political institutions and dysfunctional market. For example, several economies and governments generate a shortage of goods and services which obliges citizens to try to obtain these corrupt things in response to the situation.
Another contribution that this research makes to the practice and the anti-corruption stock exchange consists in developing a qualitative methodology, which incorporates more than 100 in-depth interviews and press analysis of cases exposed by investigative journalists and plunges the reader into the concealed area of corruption. Using accounts of people who have actively participated in corruption or who have had first -hand experience, research offers unique information on the meanings and perceptions of the subject of views of local actors. This highlights the motivations and social constraints that influence the individuals involved. The use of this approach facilitates understanding of the way in which corruption is anchored in social relations at the microphone level, organizational hierarchies and situations intentionally designed by the actors; Or those who accidentally arise, as well as in larger structures, cultural contexts, social strata and historical models.
My research focuses on these larger structures, offering a complete overview of the history of corruption in Hungary after the collapse of the socialist system at the end of the 80s and the evolution of different types of corruption. As in the early 2000s, the capture of the oligarchic state and, after 2010, the capture of the political state became dominant forms of great corruption in Hungary – large segments of the economy fell under the control of corrupt elites. The use of the qualitative methodology in this case shows how corruption in Hungary has been “monopolized” by these corrupt elites while other less serious forms have no longer been tolerated by people in power.
Finally, a sociology of corruption has important implications for practice, and it can serve as a precious resource for political decision -makers around the world who aim to improve decision -making on corruption. More importantly, practitioners must recognize the specific nature of the corruption they encounter. The overall involvement of the policy of the results of the qualitative methodology in Hungary is that anti-corruption strategies must be adapted to the specific types of corruption rather than relying on generic and unique solutions often recommended by international organizations such as The UN, the OECD, IMF, World Bank and World NGO. This suggests that corruption measures can be effective when they focus on real scenarios in which corruption occurs. To effectively identify these types of corruption, decision -makers must engage more closely with the phenomenon and obtain information on specific office operations, departments, agencies, local governments, public projects or supply systems.
The use of a new sociological perspective in anti -corruption practice enriches our understanding of the often hidden corruption phenomenon. Above all, this methodology is applicable to corruption contexts in Western and non -Western countries. The deeper information in the book on corruption practices can help us understand that certain forms of corruption is not necessarily negative clear. Corruption can have the function of maintaining social groups together, such as family or friendship networks. In addition, certain forms of corruption are the responses of society to the faults of political or market institutions. In this case, corruption is only a symptom, therefore an effective policy should solve wider social problems.
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