Political Collusion Research Articles

The Challenge of Political Will, Global Democracy and Environmentalism

In 2024, around the world nearly 60 national elections will be held involving billions of people. Many commentators see this as a make-or-break moment in terms of re-establishing democracy and pushing back against rising authoritarian regimes that have been increasing in recent years. This essay explores why –despite worldwide scientific consensus that we are facing ecological collapse –there is little discussion about the climate crisis among the upcoming wave of national elections. This silence around the climate emergency raises several pressing questions: Why is there limited political will on behalf of national leaders when it comes to mitigating the climate crisis? What does this suggest about the state of democracy when political leaders can sidestep and ignore the escalating demands of their constituencies? Finally, what actions can be taken by ordinary people who are increasingly subject to repressive anti-protest laws that prevent them from speaking out against antidemocratic leaders and their political collusion with the fossil fuel sector?

Vox Populi, Vox Dei? Tacit collusion in politics

AbstractWe study competition between political parties in repeated elections with probabilistic voting. This model entails multiple equilibria, and we focus on cases where political collusion occurs. When parties hold different opinions on some policy, they may take different policy positions that do not coincide with the median voter's preferred policy platform. In contrast, when parties have a mutual understanding on a particular policy, their policy positions may converge (on some dimension) but not to the median voter's preferred policy. That is to say, parties can tacitly collude with one another, despite political competition. Collusion may collapse, for instance, after the entry of a new political party. This model rationalizes patterns in survey data from Sweden, where politicians on different sides of the political spectrum take different positions on economic policy but similar positions on refugee intake—diverging from the average voter's position, but only until the entry of a populist party.

Morris Greenberg: occupational health specialist on a lifelong quest to make the world asbestos free

In 1967 a young doctor, Morris Greenberg, noted that every surface in a London factory was covered in white asbestos dust. Workers without face masks were brushing the floor, churning...

The Role of Political Collusion in Corporate Performance in the Korean Market

Many studies investigate collusion between political connections and firm performance, but Korean research on this topic is not very diverse. This study, based on financial data of listed Korean companies spanning the period from the 15th to the 19th Korean governments, analyzes whether political connections between governments and enterprises have a positive, negative, or no correlation with firm performance. The results show that the average return on assets for politically connected firms in the sample tends to be 10% higher than the corresponding value for sample firms that are not politically connected. Since existing studies measure political connections in a fragmented way, this study offers necessary implications for exploring the numerous structural problems of and solutions to the chronic issues currently faced by the Korean economy, as it investigates the economic policies from 1998 to 2018 and their influences on firm performance through the analysis of longer-term data.

Who can stop the rot?

It is fitting that the first article in this issue of South African Crime Quarterly (SACQ) speaks to the South African Police Service’s tackling of commercial crime. It is increasingly clear that corporate–political collusion poses a serious threat to South Africa’s democratic gains. In recent months journalists have started to pick through a trove of emails released in June, known as the #GuptaLeaks. In the process they have connected the dots between tens of thousands of exchanges among the notorious Gupta business family, management of parastatals, governmentministers and allies of President Jacob Zuma, including his son Duduzane. The emails paint a terrifying picture of state capture and abuse.

Who can stop the rot?

It is fitting that the first article in this issue of South African Crime Quarterly (SACQ) speaks to the South African Police Service’s tackling of commercial crime. It is increasingly clear that corporate–political collusion poses a serious threat to South Africa’s democratic gains. In recent months journalists have started to pick through a trove of emails released in June, known as the #GuptaLeaks. In the process they have connected the dots between tens of thousands of exchanges among the notorious Gupta business family, management of parastatals, governmentministers and allies of President Jacob Zuma, including his son Duduzane. The emails paint a terrifying picture of state capture and abuse.

Sustainability of Political Collusion and Existence of an Alternative Candidate

Political collusion between an interest group and a politician is observed in many situations. We explore how the existence of an alternative candidate affects the sustainability of political collusion. Then, we show that results we obtain without the existence of an alternative candidate sometimes do not hold. First, when policy preference of a politician becomes closer to an interest group, collusion may become less sustainable. Second, an increase in the difference of valence between candidates may make collusion difficult. Last, as one extension, we examine the effect of the irreversibility of policy change and show that it makes collusion less sustainable.

La partecipazione nelle aree critiche. Il caso del Casertano

In recent years there has been a strong movement of active citizenship and conscious participation in those areas of Southern Italy -so far uncontested domain of organized crime of Casalesi - in which a new era of social, economic and democratic redemption has started. On the one hand, one can observe numerous facts and stories of civil and cultural mobilization and active citizenship, in Terra di Lavoro and even in those areas most notorious for recurring events linked to the Camorra criminal groups but, on the other hand, there are still some very critical points: too much political collusion without significant episodes of resistance, poor attention to the phenomenon by the enterprises. But in recent times a turnaround is occurring, especially with the start of activities undertaken by grassroot associations, social forces of production and the world of work, often linked to the social uses of confiscated goods. From bottomup experiences like those of Mo Basta association, Consorzio Agrorinasce and Piazze del Sapere arise paths of hope for a lifelong learning culture of legality and democratic participation

An analytical framework and tool (‘InteRa’) for integrating the informal recycling sector in waste and resource management systems in developing countries

In low- and middle-income developing countries, the informal (collection and) recycling sector (here abbreviated IRS) is an important, but often unrecognised, part of a city's solid waste and resources management system. Recent evidence shows recycling rates of 20-30% achieved by IRS systems, reducing collection and disposal costs. They play a vital role in the value chain by reprocessing waste into secondary raw materials, providing a livelihood to around 0.5% of urban populations. However, persisting factual and perceived problems are associated with IRS (waste-picking): occupational and public health and safety (H&S), child labour, uncontrolled pollution, untaxed activities, crime and political collusion. Increasingly, incorporating IRS as a legitimate stakeholder and functional part of solid waste management (SWM) is attempted, further building recycling rates in an affordable way while also addressing the negatives. Based on a literature review and a practitioner's workshop, here we develop a systematic framework--or typology--for classifying and analysing possible interventions to promote the integration of IRS in a city's SWM system. Three primary interfaces are identified: between the IRS and the SWM system, the materials and value chain, and society as a whole; underlain by a fourth, which is focused on organisation and empowerment. To maximise the potential for success, IRS integration/inclusion/formalisation initiatives should consider all four categories in a balanced way and pay increased attention to their interdependencies, which are central to success, including specific actions, such as the IRS having access to source separated waste. A novel rapid evaluation and visualisation tool is presented--integration radar (diagram) or InterRa--aimed at illustrating the degree to which a planned or existing intervention considers each of the four categories. The tool is further demonstrated by application to 10 cases around the world, including a step-by-step guide.

Building Political Collusion: Evidence from Procurement Auctions

We investigate the relationship between the time politicians stay in office and the functioning of public procurement. To this purpose, we collect a data set on the Italian municipal governments and all the procurement auctions they administered between 2000 and 2005. Identification is achieved through the introduction of a two-term limit for the mayor in March 1993: since elections were not coordinated across cities, and previous terms were not counted in the limit, mayors appointed right before the reform could be reelected for two additional terms, while the others for one only. Our primary finding is that one extra term in office deteriorates public spending. In fact, it decreases the number of bidders and, most importantly, the winning rebate. Interestingly, we also find that the probability that the same firm is awarded more auctions, or that the winning firm is local, increases with time in office. These results are compatible with the predictions of a model of favoritism in repeated procurement auctions, where time reveals collusive types, thus increasing the value of illegal connections at the expense of higher procurement costs.

The Principles of Conservation and Development: Do They Apply in Malinau?

Boedhihartono, A. K., P. Gunarso, P. Levang, and J. Sayer 2007. The principles of conservation and development: do they apply in Malinau? Ecology and Society 12(2): 2. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02060-120202

Big Money Crime: Fraud and Politics in the Savings and Loan Crisis

At a cost of $500 billion to American taxpayers, the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s was the worst financial crisis of the twentieth century as well as a crime unparalleled in American history. Yet the vast majority of its perpetrators will never be prosecuted, and those who were have received minimal sentences. In the first in-depth scrutiny of the ways and means of this disaster, this groundbreaking book comes to disturbing conclusions about the deliberate nature of this financial fraud, the political collusion involved, and the leniency of the criminal justice system in dealing with these 'Gucci-clad white-collar criminals'. Using material from over one hundred interviews with government officials and industry leaders and recently declassified documents, the authors show how - contrary to previous government and 'expert' explanations that chalked the disaster up to business risks gone awry or adverse economic conditions - SL we have cameras; we have time clocks on the vaults ...all these controls were to protect against somebody stealing the cash. Well, you can steal far more money, and take it out the back door. The best way to rob a bank is to own one' - House Committee on Government Operations, 1988.

Politics and Markets: Dual Transformations

The articles published in this issue of the Journal help advance the debate on market reform in former socialist states. In our comment, besides dealing with data analysis issues, we suggest several ways to improve the level of debate about substantive issues. These suggestions include more attention to politics, including path dependence, and more attention to middle-level generalizations from other developing market societies.

On proportional non-representation

This paper contends the main virtue conventionally attributed to proportional electoral rules (i.e., effective representation of political views). It discusses a number of shortcomings that lead too much proportionality to a self-defeat: it reduces vote mobility through the strong cultivation of voters' loyalties; it smooths out vote variations when transforming them into seat variations; it reinforces intraparty ties to the detriment of vertical attention to constituents and it impinges on the working of checks-and-balances. The paper does not aim at a systematic evaluation of the properties of various voting systems, nor is it the proportional principle as such that is under attack. However, its combination with other institutional features can entrap voters in their own choices, thus nurturing political collusion. It is because of the ensuing lower influence of the voters on political decision-making that too much proportionality can lead to poor representation.

Social benefits and the subsidization of higher education: A critique

This paper examines the policy relevance of assertions that hypothetical social benefits generated by higher education satisfy normal public investment criteria. A subsidization model of higher education is introduced to emphasize the importance of either social benefits or political collusion as justifications for public support of higher education. The most common arguments in support of the social benefits approach are critiqued. The paper concludes by examining the question of whether even the existence of social benefits is a sufficient condition for subsidization and the need for examination of alternative funding systems is highlighted.

State Legislative Reorganization

While much attention has been given to the efforts of Congress to improve itself, the activities of the state legislatures which have sought improvements as diligently, incidentally fulfilling their laboratory function, have gone virtually unnoticed. Twenty-eight states have given consideration to the renovation of the law-making branch. Comprehensive studies were made in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and in a more limited manner in California. New York, currently intent on modernizing its legislature, has already issued an interim report on expenditures and personnel, although the complete recommendations of its Joint Legislative Committee are yet to come. Committees whose frame of reference limits them to “tinkering” rather than “overhauling” are at work in Michigan and Colorado, with no reports yet submitted. In Alabama, an interim committee called for limited changes. The Bureau of Research established by the Indiana General Assembly in 1945 is authorized, among other things, to conduct research into improved methods of legislation.The crucial position of the state legislatures in our scheme of government cannot be over-emphasized. The failure to make themselves truly representative by periodic reapportionment and to streamline their organization and procedure, not to mention corruption among personnel, has resulted in an inability and unwillingness to rise to their responsibilities. Political collusion between rural legislators and their henchmen in local government has thwarted unification of multitudinous jurisdictions and the modernization of local administration. When depression-born demands for modern services were not met by state and local government, the federal government of necessity undertook new functions, causing centralization of government in the United States amid condemnation by the same state lawmakers whose inaction clipped democracy short at the grass roots.