“Ethnic” Corruption When Ethnic Identity Meets Political Corruption

Abstract

Corruption remains a complex phenomenon that appears in many forms, of which political corruption remains one of the most common. Political corruption further encompasses many forms, one of which is ethnic corruption. Ethnic corruption is a form of corruption that involves granting certain ethnic groups privileges that other groups do not have. The purpose of these privileges is for the ruling political structure to stay in power. Such corruption was and remains a common practice in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union as well as its successor, the Russian Federation. Pronounced ethnic corruption remains prevalent in many countries across Asia and Africa. With an increasingly polarized voting base in the United States, new forms of ethnic corruption have started to appear. Due to its nature, ethnic corruption remains one of the most challenging types of corruption to address.