ABSTRACT

This chapter is concerned with the effects of corruption and suggests hypotheses about the costs and benefits of corruption. If corruption helps promote economic development which is generally necessary to maintain a capacity to preserve legitimacy in the face of social change, then it is beneficial for political development. Although corruption may help promote economic development, it can also hinder it or direct it in socially less desirable directions. It seems fair to assume that a society's political structures will be better able to cope with change and preserve their legitimacy if the members share a sense of community. Indeed, integration is sometimes used as one of the main scales for measuring political development. By destroying the legitimacy of political structures in the eyes of those who have power to do something about the situation, corruption can contribute to instability and possible national disintegration.