Political Institutions and Party-Directed Corruption in South America: Stealing for the Team [Hardcover]

This book examines how the structure of electoral institutions may affect political corruption.An important question for the health and longevity of democratic governance is how institutions may be fashioned to prevent electoral victors from drawing on the resources of the state to perpetuate themselves in power. This book addresses the issue by examining how the structure of electoral institutions  the rules of democratic contestation that determine the manner in which citizens choose their representatives  affects political corruption, defined as the abuse of state power or resources for campaign finance or party-building purposes.An important question for the health and longevity of democratic governance is how institutions may be fashioned to prevent electoral victors from drawing on the resources of the state to perpetuate themselves in power. This book addresses the issue by examining how the structure of electoral institutions  the rules of democratic contestation that determine the manner in which citizens choose their representatives  affects political corruption, defined as the abuse of state power or resources for campaign finance or party-building purposes.An important question for the health and longevity of democratic governance is how institutions may be fashioned to prevent electoral victors from drawing on the resources of the state to perpetuate themselves in power. This book addresses the issue by examining how the structure of electoral institutions  the rules of democratic contestation that determine the manner in which citizens choose their representatives  affects political corruption, defined as the abuse of state power or resources for campaign finance or party-building purposes. To this end, the book develops a novel theoretical framework that examines electoral institutions as a potential vehicle for political parties to exploit the state as a source of political finance. Hypotheses derived from this framework are assessed using an ulc>