ABSTRACT

Abuses of power are almost certainly present in all systems where there are marked asymmetries of power. Perhaps inseparable from the modern state and from a Weberian rational-legal bureaucratic authority, this key aspect of the kind of corruption which Friedrich (1989, p.19) describes as a ‘political pathology’ affects most profoundly associated life and the relationship between citizens and the state. In its most basic form, abuse of power in public life is characterized by the sale of the functions of the office. It consists of actions, or the failure to take actions, that favour selected individuals or groups in exchange for money or other returns, such as the expectation of a job, a favour or political support. This last case especially characterizes modern societies where politics and bureaucracy intermingle as a distinctive form of corruption of the democratic system.