Why Power Corrupts Some More Than Others: Explaining Variation in State Capture in the Post-Communist World Pubblico

Abstract

State capture is a problem that has become increasingly prevalent in the case of the post-communist world. It has created endemic corruption, stalling development and economic growth and in many cases contributing to democratic breakdown. However, while previous research has done an excellent job characterizing certain paradigmatic cases like Hungary and Poland, there has been comparatively less work seeking to explain why state capture is so much worse in some countries than in others. This is especially true when it comes to the role of economic factors. Therefore, this paper focuses on economic variables and attempts to explain variation in the degree of state capture in post-communist countries. It begins with a regression analysis, which is followed by a comparative case study of the Czech Republic and Hungary. Independent variables of interest include how democratic a country’s trade partners are, the complexity of a country’s economy, the amount of regulation in an economy, the size of a country’s public sector, and the amount of money a country receives from EU structural funds. 

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1

Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2

Theory and Hypotheses………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……11

Data and Methods……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……14

Results and Discussion—Regression Analysis………………………………………………………………………........…..20

Results and Discussion—Comparative Case Study………………………………………………………………..........……31

Conclusion………………………...………………………………………………………...…………………………..…………….52

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Political Science
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Political Science, General
Parola chiave	Rent seeking Central Europe Corruption Czech Republic Eastern Europe State capture Post-communist region Hungary
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Hubert Tworzecki, Emory University
Committee Members	Eric Reinhardt, Emory University Matthew Payne, Emory University

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