ABSTRACT
The causes of political corruption are a matter for both intellectual speculation and practical concern. There are things which can be said concerning the causes of political corruption which extend beyond the mysteries of individual behaviour. In broad terms one must firstly look at the apparent prerequisites, necessary but not sufficient conditions, at morality and behaviour and at government in rather general terms. Secondly one must look at proximate causes, the mechanisms by which corruption is operationalised and which include, inter alia, poverty, social and economic change, class, economics and conspiracy. The moral condition of society not simply of the individual is an appropriate level of prerequisite explanation for effective and searching analysis. This account of corruption will be put forward by educated citizens of corruption ridden countries, not themselves experts on corruption but often exposed to it, in terms as the absence of any clear conception of government, let alone any benevolent view of its activities, among most citizens.
