Corruption is a major social, political and economic phenomenon. It is defined as behavior which deviates from the formal rules of conduct governing the actions of someone in a position of public authority because of private-regarding motives such as wealth, power or status. On the economic side, corruption has been identified as one of the consequences of excessive state intervention and the bureaucratic rents created thereby; on the political side, it has been seen as a consequence of the unaccountable monopoly power of various kinds of authoritarian or totalitarian regimes.
However, democratic systems also provide incentives and opportunities for corrupt behavior, notably the enormous costs of mounting election campaigns, the capture of political parties by economic elites, and the politization of the state apparatus by elected officials and the desire of the latter to compensate for political uncertainty by building up a capital stake through corruption. In all cases corruption plays different roles at different stages of development and institutionalization.
CONFERENCE URL:
http://www.idec.gr/iier and http://www.u-picardie.fr/CRIISEA/