Corruption, Transparency and Politics (PPMN10003)

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can have a corrosive effect on good government and can undermine democracy and trust in the political process. It can take many forms from the illegal to the barely legal, from the large-scale to the small-scale, from outright bribery to inappropriate influence, from demand-side to supply-side, from national-level to trans-national. There are also many grey areas including political donations, lobbying, and so-called ‘revolving doors’ whereby former government officials, shortly after they leave office, become lobbyists or senior employees of organisations they have been regulating.

This subject critically examines what constitutes corruption, in Australia and globally, how it has evolved and why it happens, politically and economically. It examines a number of case studies in both developed and developing countries. It explores what laws and other measures are commonly used to combat corruption, and how effective various policy measures have been.