Introduction

Summary

The study of corruption and the practice of fighting corruption have become more sophisticated in the last 25 years, and with that comes complexity and technical jargon. This dictionary is an introduction to this vocabulary and aims to help students and practitioners understand the key concepts and how they are used, while acknowledging that meanings change, usage evolves, and new ideas sometimes require new terms to describe them.

We have taken several editorial decisions that warrant explanation. Each entry starts with a one-line definition; this is our editorial effort to provide clarity and a go-to workable definition for rapid reference or easy application. For some terms, this is enough, or needs only to be complemented by a brief elaboration. But for the most widely used or important concepts, policies, or tools, we also provide context. Depending on the type of entry, this might include an explanation of what is contentious about the concept, how its usage has changed over time, or what key assumptions it relies upon. A standard entry is around 200 words long, with some longer pieces on key subjects at either 500 or 1,000 words, and some case studies at 750 words. Many entries could have a long list of references and sources. Our choice here was to add references where there is a specific idea or contribution that should rightly be attributed but to avoid referencing for commonly known and discoverable facts. We do not provide a comprehensive literature review for each topic, but we do flag some key texts and suggest a limited selection of further reading.

As a dictionary of corruption, each term is written with that in mind: it will be clear to readers that subjects like fraud or the World Bank have their own long heritage of analysis and academic research, but here we focus specifically on how such subjects relate to corruption. We also highlight links among different entries in the dictionary, allowing curious readers to deepen their understanding of corruption by tracing these paths across the book.

The dictionary is a collective effort. It draws on the expertise of a wide community of scholars from around the world, meaning that any one entry is likely to be written by one of the foremost experts on that topic.