Corruption in liberal democracies: a case study of Italy

The chapter takes its point of departure from the discussion, in earlier chapters, of the different types of corruption there may be; the possible causes of corruption and the mechanisms by which it can spread; the relationship between corruption and organised crime; the exposure of corruption and the effects of such exposure, and how governments and other political authorities can and do attempt to prevent and control corruption. Chapter 8 therefore explores how these kinds of issues manifest themselves in the Italian case with the aim of drawing some conclusions concerning corruption in liberal democracies generally. Italy, is used in other words, as the basis for a case study, that is the study of an entity not for its own sake, but because it is taken to be an example of a larger category: liberal democracies in the present case. In these regimes, the institutions most prone to corruption are those – like the parties, the legislature and the media – that act as channels of communication, linking civil society and the state. State agencies themselves – the military, schools, the judiciary, the police – are all relatively clean, being much more corrupt in the non-democracies.