Introduction Corruption weakens the strength of a democracy, undermining public trust, and leading to a downward spiral of apathy and discontent. Low voter participation itself becomes a major factor perpetuating the possibility of corruption. A feeling of powerlessness pervades even the most robust of the world’s democracies. If democratic governments are to be responsive to the people they serve, corruption needs to be uprooted whenever it manifests. Reforming corruption and reducing the likelihood of corrupt individuals maintaining their positions of power requires a multifaceted approach taking into account variables like ethical culture and political climate. Public perceptions of the reliability and accountability of government are also important factors, influenced in part by the media but also by social norms, ethics, and values. The importance of exposing corruption and uprooting it through effective dialogue and awareness cannot be underestimated because of the fact that democratic governments depend on transparency, openness, and trust.

Thesis Statement

Government corruption weakens a governmental legitimacy and principles of democracy. Therefore by developing effective systems of public accountability increase the pressure for more transparent local governance, in which corruption will be easier to bring to light and thus to curtail.

Annotation 1

Anderson, R.D., Jones, A. & Kovacic, W.E. (2018). Preventing corruption, supplier collusion, and the corrosion of civic trust. George Mason Law Review, Forthcoming TLI Think! Paper 5/2019 King's College London Law School Research Paper No. 19-14

This source critiques existing tools for measuring the types and the effects of multiple forms of corruption. Claiming that existing tools have proven ineffective and insufficient for truly capturing the extent of the effects of corruption, the authors consider the methods that can be used to strengthen and improve methodologies. Then, the authors focus specifically on supplier collusion and corruption in public procurement markets, which are intimately related to government activities. Rigging and bribery are extreme examples of this type of corruption. The authors analyze the quantitative indicators of corruption, and provide case study examples of policy reform but also of instances in which such policies failed. Ultimately, this source corroborates the others used in my bibliography and adds to the body of literature being compiled for this paper related to the types of government corruption and the impacts on public trust.

Annotation 2

Lelkes, Y. (2016). Winners, losers, and the press. Political Communication 33(4): 523-543.

In this article, Lelkes addresses the relationship between the media—a presumably politically biased media—and public perceptions of legitimacy. Although the...

The author takes into account both individual variables and also institutional factors in the analysis. Methodology used includes public opinion survey data from 28 different countries. Also, the author uses qualitative data including interviews with media professionals, and country-level indicators from legitimate data sources. The findings of the mixed-methods research indicate that political parallelism is associated with larger gaps between so-called winners and losers, resulting in poorer public opinions about the legitimacy of elections, government, and public policy. The author concludes that media reform may be the key to reducing corruption worldwide. Because this author’s approach to political corruption focuses on the media, it differs from the other sources used in my research and adds to them by providing an alternative point of view.
Annotation 3

Newell, J.L. (2018). Corruption in contemporary politics. Manchester University Press.

In this book, Newell discusses the relationship between political corruption and wealth disparity. Newell also shows how power and wealth are connected, and how both the advantaged and disadvantaged classes can experience deleterious effects from top level government corruption. The author provides different types of methods used to measure and assess corruption, and also how to analyze the causal variables implicated in government corruption. In fact, Newell offers case study examples from different types of contemporary governments including both democratic and non-democratic regimes. One of the unique features of the book is the section on minimum trust necessary to reduce or prevent corruption, and also the frank discussion on the role that scandal and the media play in exposing, critiquing, and in some situations, fostering corruption. This is one of the more thorough sources used in my research, as it covers a wide range of issues related to government corruption. However, it integrates well with the other sources and will become a valuable source of information.

Annotation 4

Prato G.B. (2019) On the Legitimacy of Democratic Representation: Two Case Studies from Europe. In: Pardo I., Prato G. (eds) Legitimacy. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

This research covers the issues of political representation and political change processes and how political parties can mediate public perceptions of trust in their government. Using case study research methods from Italy and Albania, the author addresses the multiple variables including political culture, ethics, accountability, responsibility, party opposition, legitimacy, and the processes of legitimation. Through the case study analysis of Italy and Albania, the author shows how accountability and…