Corruption: Diagnosis and Treatment
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| POLI4211 | Politics and International Relations | 4 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- POLI4211
- School
- Politics and International Relations
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
This module studies the problem of corruption and how to combat it. The fight against corruption is a global concern. Corruption has been described as a disease that destroys the fabric of society, fuels inequality, instability and undermines development. But how can we understand corruption? How does the disease of corruption manifest – in rich countries and in poor countries, at the national and international level? What causes corruption and how does it affect people’s lives? What can be done to ‘treat’ corruption, what medicines have been developed and, perhaps crucially, why have anti-corruption efforts during the last couple of decades failed to eradicate and even mitigate the problem? This module studies these questions from a real world and scholarly perspective. It combines case studies, policy debates and guest lectures with theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of corruption and efforts to combat it at the national and international level.
Target Students
Available to PGT and Year 4 MSci International Relations and Global Issues students in the School of Politics and International Relations. Also available to students on the MRes Politics and International Relations plan, and incoming exchange students based in the School of Politics and International Relations.
Classes
This module is taught through seminars.
Assessment
- 20% Coursework 1: Coursework
- 80% Coursework 2: Coursework
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
The module seeks (1) To equip students with a critical understanding of the concept of corruption and its measurement; (2) To develop an understanding of how corruption manifests in different parts of the world and different sectors of society; (3) To gain an understanding of the causes and consequences of corruption at the international level, the national, sectoral and individual level; (4) To equip students with an understanding of practical and theoretical approaches to fighting corruption in politics and the public sector in developed and developing countries.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
• Acquire a critical understanding of approaches to the study of corruption as a global problem.
Intellectual skills
• Develop a critical approach towards efforts to fight corruption at the national and international level.
Professional and practical skills
• Gain an understanding of the practical experience with corruption and anti-corruption work in developed and developing countries
• Gain an understanding of the adaptation of anti-corruption strategies to local contexts.
Transferable (key) skills
• Develop transferable skills such as the critical evaluation of academic and practice-oriented, non-academic literature, the written presentation of analytically clear and concise arguments, the oral communication in a group setting and teamwork.
Conveners
- Prof Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling