The Evolution of Anti-Corruption Legislation in Interwar Yugoslavia (1918–1941)

Abstract

This article maps the legal framework of the anti-corruption legislation in interwar Yugoslavia, by examining the context and contents of the evolving anti-corruption laws in the period 1918–1941. It examines the intentions of the law-makers and the messaging that they wanted to convey through the legislation in a diachronic perspective, as well as the focus of the anti-corruption efforts towards petty corruption versus grand corruption. It poses questions towards the applicability of existing corruption models in the context of interwar Yugoslavia and proposes new directions for studying persisting structural phenomena shaping corruption practices in Southeastern Europe to this day.