Political corruption in Italy

Newell, JL; Bull, MJ

Abstract

Corruption in Italy presents something of a paradox. On the one hand, it is perceived as extensive. In the mid-1990s, for example, Paul Ginsborg branded the country as 'one of the most corrupt democracies in Europe'; on the other hand, notwithstanding its apparent extent, there is plenty of evidence of the sense of public outrage provoked, from time to time, by the revelation of individual episodes of the phenomenon, while judicial attempts to combat it continue. Paradoxically, therefore, corruption scandals in Italy actually bear witness to the strength of democracy in that country and to the vitality of at least some of its public institutions.

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2003
• Deposit Date: Nov 1, 2011
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 37-49
• Book Title: Corruption in Contemporary Politics
• ISBN: 0-333-80298-5
• Keywords: Political corruption, Italy