Introduction to Part IX

Abstract

In this chapter, corruption experiences in a number of large countries are examined for periods during which they were governed as single-party dictatorships. The comparative analyses of corruption experiences is undertaken for countries that underwent a more complete transition in both their economies and their political systems, such as in post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The workings of corruption in a system where private property and a relatively free market was retained after political dictatorship had been installed is looked at in the fourth article dealing with Nazi Germany. Opportunities for corruption amid a crumbling value system are examined by Yufan Hao and Michael Johnston for the People's Republic of China, and diagnosed as subject to ills similar to those of the transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Both the scope and scale of public corruption seems to have increased, leading also to strong public reactions as is seen in the student demonstration in Tiananmen.