Corruption Civil Society & Social Trust ((3,4 Credits))

Catalog description

This course aims at conveying basic knowledge about the contemporary research on corruption, including causes, consequences, different forms/levels of corruption, and the basic methods of measuring and fighting corruption. Over the past twenty years, scholars, policy makers and academics have devoted increasing attention to the study of corruption as an obstacle to development. Corruption is now thought of as a serious social ill having detrimental effects on economic prosperity, people’s perceived satisfaction with life, social trust, political legitimacy, and economic equality. In addition, low quality of government is also a causal factor behind violent political conflicts, both inter- and intra-state, and this has also led to an increased interest in the negative effects of corruption on rebuilding post-conflict societies and establishing representative democracy. Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Intro to Sociology and/or Cultural Anthropology, Modern China, or other emerging market nations where corruption impacts the society and economy.