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CS92PROD
Corruption & Pork Barrel Politics
GOVT 385
Fall 2006
Section: 01  

Corruption is the misuse of public money and public office for private gains. Pork barrel is misallocation of public money for political gain, and it is usually associated with geographically concentrated benefits financed by citizens at large.
This course explores competing definitions as well as causes and consequences of wasted resource allocation due to corruption and pork barrel politics. The last part of the course will be devoted to comparative cross-country case studies.
Corruption and pork barrel politics are prevalent problems in many political systems in the world. Political culture, together with institutional structures, creates incentives for or against corrupt conduct and pork barrel spending. Practitioners of politics, whether they are involved in campaign fundraising or foreign aid projects, are almost always at risk of being corrupted. When electoral institutions are poorly designed, elected officials are unlikely to get reelected without getting engaged in pork barrel politics. We will discuss methods of alleviating the problem of corruption, pork barrel politics, and the resulting distortion in policy choices.

Essential Capabilities: None
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: GOVT151 OR GOVT157
Fulfills a Requirement for: None
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on DEC-09-2024
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