ABSTRACT
Any attempt to analyze the concept of corruption must contend with the fact that in English and other languages the word corruption has a history of vastly different meanings and connotations. Corruption is a kind of behavior which deviates from the norm actually prevalent or believed to prevail in a given context, such as the political. It is deviant behavior associated with a particular motivation, namely that of private gain at public expense. The classic conception of corruption as a general disease of the body politic persisted into modern times, and is central to the political thought of Machiavelli, Montesquieu and Rousseau. For Machiavelli corruption was the process by which the virtu of the citizen was undermined and eventually destroyed. The Roman Republic also had its trials of corruption, and men like Cicero who were interested in regenerating the Republic addressed themselves to the task of unearthing and bringing to trial extreme cases of corruption, especially in provincial administration.
