IGA has released its newest report Political Graft in Europe on the Loose: Anti-Corruption Legal Frameworks in Comparative Historical Perspective, produced as part of the RESPOND project funded by the EU.
The study provides a novel comparative examination of the anti-corruption regulatory regimes in the areas of political finance, lobbying, revolving doors and media in 9 Western and Central-East European countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine. Key findings focus on the following conceptual and empirical dimensions:
- The report adopts a social constructivist perspective, which treats laws as fundamentally socially and politically embedded. The research thus complements predominant institutional-rational approaches with a context-sensitive understanding of history, culture and their impact on contemporary actor interactions in the sphere of anti-corruption.
- Major differentiations between Western and Central-East Europe are identified in terms of proclivities to corruption as well as distinct capacities to counter it – shaped as these are by historically continuous structural factors.
- At the same time, convergences between the east and west of the continent are also singled out in the area of anti-corruption institutions and legal design.
- The analysis additionally classifies patterns in European regulatory approaches to political corruption.
- The report features a comparative chapter, which encompasses the conceptual and empirical foundations of the research; summary country profiles; comparative conclusions and policy recommendations.
- Stand-alone chapters on each of the 9 countries under examination trace the intricacies in the contemporary actor interactions, which shape the uptake of legislation in the areas of political finance, lobbying, revolving doors and media across Europe.
- Comprehensive catalogues compiling all current regulations regarding the four domains of corruption under investigation are included at the end of each national chapter.