Rethinking corruption: The past and the future debate

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32870/rc.vi6.127

Keywords:

corruption, debate, crisis, essentially contested concept, fight

Abstract

he debate about corruption is always a historically situated one. It has always rested on conceptions, explicit or implicit, of an ideal society. And given that we live in a time of great uncertainty regarding what we want our societies to be, that uncertainty is also reflected in the debate on corruption. The current crisis in this debate reflects a larger crisis: that of the neoliberal model and of attempts to humanize it, including through hopeful visions of good governance free of corruption. This document considers these themes, primarily presented in my book Rethinking corruption. Reasons behind the failure of anti-corruption efforts.

Author Biography

Lucio Picci, Universidad de Bolonia, Italia.

Lucio Picci es profesor de Economía en la Universidad de Bolonia. Su último libro, Rethinking Corruption: Reasons Behind the Failure of Anti-Corruption Efforts (Cambridge University Press, 2024), ha sido elogiado como “un libro importante” que ofrece “una crítica sutil y de gran alcance a medio siglo de investigación en ciencias sociales sobre la corrupción” (Susan Rose-Ackerman, Universidad de Yale).

Además de su labor académica, Picci ha colaborado con organizaciones internacionales como la Comisión Europea, el Banco Mundial y las Naciones Unidas, así como con diversas instituciones del gobierno italiano, incluyendo la Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros y la Autoridad Nacional Anticorrupción.

Es doctor en Economía por la Universidad de California en San Diego, donde fue alumno del premio Nobel Robert Engle.

References

Alexander Lukashenko is elected in a landslide. He will be the former Soviet republic’sfirst president. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-11-mn-14295-story.html

Gallie, W. B. (1956). Essentially contested concepts. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 56(1), 167-198).

Los Angeles Times (1994, 11 de julio). Anti-corruption crusader wins Belarus vote: Runoff:

Picci, L. (2024). Rethinking corruption. Reasons behind the failure of anti-corruption efforts. Cambridge University Press.

Picci, L. (2025). Corruption in the liminal time. Enduring questions and theory. En Johnston, M. (ed.), The handbook of research methods for corruption studies. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Scott, J. C. (1998). Seeing like a state: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. Yale University Press.

Unión Europea (2023, 21 de mayo). Belarus: statement by high representative Josep Borrell on the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Página oficial de la Unión Europea. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/belarus-statement-high-representative-josep-borrell-international-day-solidarity-political-prisoners_en?etrans=es

Published

2025-07-31

How to Cite

Picci, L. (2025). Rethinking corruption: The past and the future debate. RC RENDICION DE CUENTAS, (6). https://doi.org/10.32870/rc.vi6.127

Issue

Section

Conferencias