Corruption and Informal Practices in the Middle East and North Africa (Routledge Corruption and Anti-Corruption Studies)

"This book investigates the pervasive problem of corruption across the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on the specifics of the local context, the book explores how corruption in the region is actuated through informal practices that coexist and work in parallel to formal institutions. When informal practices become vehicles for corruption, they can have negative ripple effects across many aspects of society, but on the other hand, informal practices could also have the potential to be leveraged to reinforce formal institutions to help fight corruption. Drawing on a range of cases including Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia or Israel the book first explores the mechanisms and dynamics of corruption and informal practices in the region, before looking at the successes and failures of anti-corruption initiatives. The final section focuses on gender perspectives on corruption, which are often overlooked in corruption literature, and the role of women in the Middle East. With insights drawn from a range of disciplines, this book will be of interest to researchers and students across political science, philosophy, socio-legal studies, public administration, and Middle Eastern studies, as well as to policy makers and practitioners working in the region"-- Provided by publisher This book investigates the pervasive problem of corruption across the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on the specifics of the local context, the book explores how corruption in the region is actuated through informal practices that coexist and work in parallel to formal institutions. When informal practices become vehicles for corruption, they can have negative ripple effects across many aspects of society, but on the other hand, informal practices could also have the potential to be leveraged to reinforce formal institutions to help fight corruption. Drawing on a range of cases, including Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia, and Israel, the book first explores the mechanisms and dynamics of corruption and informal practices in the region and then looks at the successes and failures of anti-corruption initiatives. The final section focuses both on gender perspectives on corruption, which are often overlooked in corruption literature, and on the role of women in the Middle East. With insights drawn from a range of disciplines, this book will be of interest to researchers and students across political science, philosophy, socio-legal studies, public administration, and Middle Eastern studies, as well as to policy makers and practitioners working in the region. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of figures 8 List of tables 9 List of contributors 10 Preface and acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 Part I Conceptualising the mechanisms and dynamics of corruption and informal practices in the MENA region 34 1 Dispersing the fog: a philosophical analysis of institutional corruption applied to the MENA region 36 2 Hamulas and structural corruption in the Middle East 56 3 Assessing the impact of sectarian patronage in Lebanon 78 4 Does wasta undermine support for democracy? Corruption, clientelism, and attitudes toward political regimes 90 Part II Successes and failures of anti-corruption initiatives 114 5 Sweeping under the rug: the limitations and failure of the formal fight against corruption in Morocco 116 6 Old wine in new bottles? Corruption and neopatrimonial statehood in Turkey 132 7 “Corruption Eruption”? The Israeli case 153 Part III The way forward – empowering women as a tool to reduce corruption 172 8 Is poor performance in gender equality linked to higher corruption in the Middle East? 174 9 Women, corruption, and wasta in Jordan: a case study in female elected representatives 185 10 Between leadership and kinship: women empowerment in the GCC countries 201 11 Support for gender quotas and perceived corruption in developing democracies: evidence from Lebanon 220 Conclusion and future prospects 239 Index 250 This book investigates the pervasive problem of corruption across the Middle East and North Africa. This book explores how corruption in the Middle East and North Africa is actuated through informal practices that coexist and work in parallel to formal institutions.