This book looks at political corruption in Latin American and Europe from both an historical and a contemporary angle. The approach is therefore comparative and interdisciplinary, bringing together scholars from history, political science, anthropology, sociology and economics. In addition to general essays, this book includes chapters analysing political corruption in individual countries: Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay and Mexico.

Introduction; W.Little & E.Posada-Carbo - HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES - Some Considerations on Corruption, Politics and Society in Early Modern Italy; J.C.Wacquet - Corruption in Colonial Spanish America; A.McFarlane - Foreign Capital, the State and Corruption in Latin America between Independence and the Depression; R.Miller - British Experience and Perceptions of Political Corruption in South America 1860-1914; C.Jones -Democratisation and Changing Methods of Electoral Corruption in France 1815-1914; M.Kreuzer - CONTEMPORARY EUROPE - Political Corruption in Modern Spain; P.Heywood - Political Corruption in Italy; D.Hine - Political Corruption in France; Y.Meny - Administrative Change and Public Service Fraud and Corruption in the United Kingdom; A.Doig - CONTEMPORARY LATIN AMERICA - Political Corruption in Venezuela; W.Little - Democratisation and Institutionalised Corruption in Paraguay; A.Nickson - Clientelism and Corruption in Brazil; J.de Souza Martins - Culture and Corruption in Chile; B.Pollack & A.Matear - Corruption in Twentieth Century Mexico; A.Knight - The Economics of Corruption; J.J.Thomas