ABSTRACT

This chapter places corruption among Arabic people in the Middle East in the context of the failure of modernisation. This failure is manifested in the existence of tribalism and Hamulasim, which particularistic social entities that are organised around blood ties. In differ with literature that emphasizes Islam, we argue that the continued presence of the tribe in the public sphere is the result of institutional stickiness. This has a tremendous impact on power relations, allocation of resources, decision making and on all forms of collective actions taken in Arabic countries or among Arabic minorities. This chapter focuses on Jordan, the Arabic minority in Israel, and the Gulf States and demonstrates how institutional context influence Hamuala and its influences, and how institutional settings determine, at least to a large extent, the relations between Hamula and Corruption.