Personalist Leadership and Corruption: Evidence From Third Wave Democracies

Abstract

This study investigates whether having parties with a dominant leader in the national government is associated with more corruption in political institutions. We argue that personalist regimes tend to foster clientelist networks while weakening the institutions of oversight. Engagement in corrupt activities is shaped by actors' expectations for gains and costs, but in a system where power is concentrated at the top, loyalty is valued more than professionalism, and the behavior of the leader is hard to predict. Data from 32 Eastern European and Latin American countries relate personalist governments to higher levels of grand (political) and petty (bureaucratic) corruption. This relationship becomes more pronounced the longer a regime stays in power. Our findings carry implications for how personalist leadership brought through democratic elections may undermine accountability, fair governance, and the quality of democracy in general.