ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how democracy as a form of governing provides the foundation for and sustaining of corruption. This focus departs from the customary study of corruption in two ways. In established democracies, corrupt behaviors have commonly been viewed as deviations from the norm. Yet as J. C. Scott pointed out corruption is "a regular, repetitive, integral part" of the operation of political systems. The chapter discusses the corruption as a dominant norm facilitated by democratic "rules of the game". It illustrates that political corruption occurs at the pinnacles of power in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Corruption is defined in its general form to be use of public office for private gain. Other authors have elaborated upon the term "private gain" to encompass remuneration in economic, social, political, or ideological terms including partisan and patronage purposes. Corruption thus involves the misappropriation of the powers of public office and cooperative behavior.
