ABSTRACT
More than most other concepts in comparative analysis, corruption confronts us with significant difficulties of identification and measurement. This part introduction presents some of the key concepts discussed in the next subsequent chapters of this book. It show us how the discourse of corruption and the various informal terms used to describe its techniques do not just delineate categories of activity, but rather create a much richer semantic field. The part describes the ways corruption stories are covered in the news media of several democracies. It shows that comparisons of corruption using notions of culture only to equivocate about the normative status of particular actions are underestimating the complexity and subtlety of culture and corruption alike. Reformers and analysts alike would be well-advised to consider linguistic evidence in greater depth; outwardly similar terms and concepts not only take on varying different shades of meaning, but also tell us a great deal about underlying conceptions of power and propriety.
