ABSTRACT
The tendency for corruption is not etched in the genetic heritage or cultural roots of a society. Corruption, in a similar way to good governance, is the product of a multitude of individual and collective choices, supported and discouraged by the characteristics of an institutional system, social relationships and circles of recognition, and the structure of common values. The combination of these elements creates expectations, habits, beliefs, preferences, ways of thinking and of judging one’s own and others’—actions that direct the evolution of corruption over time, slowly changing public opinion toward corruption and its diffusion throughout the state and civil society.
