No rule of law, no democracy : conflicts of interest, corruption, and elections as democratic deficits / Cristina Nicolescu-Waggonner.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Mainstream theories assert that democracy cures corruption. In market economies, however, elections are expensive and parties, with ever-thinning memberships, cannot legally acquire the necessary campaign funds. In order to secure electoral funds, a large number of politicians misappropriate public funds. Due to the illicit character of these transactions, high officials with conflicts of interest prefer to leave anticorruption enforcement mechanisms unreformed and reserve the right to intervene in the judicial process, with dire consequences for the rule of law. Cristina Nicolescu-Waggonner demonstrates that when corrupt politicians are in power - true of nearly all new democracies?they will protect their office and fail to implement rule of law reforms. Consequently, these polities never reach a point where democracy could and would cure corruption. This dysfunction is tested in one hundred cases over sixteen years with significant results. In the case of the Czech Republic, for example, which is regarded as a consolidated democracy, there is systematic corruption, misappropriation of state funds, an unreformed judiciary, and arbitrary application of law. The only solution is a powerful, independent, well-funded anticorruption agency. Romania, one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, established, at the European Union?s request, powerful anticorruption bodies and punished corrupt leaders, which created the predictability of enforcement. It is the certainty of punishment that curtails corruption and establishes true rule of law.

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Democracy, Rule of Law, and Corruption -- ch. 1 Introduction -- ch. 2 Democratic Rule of Law in the 21st Century: The Theoretical Frameworks -- pt. II Democratic Rule of Law and Corruption in Practice -- ch. 3 Public Procurement, Party Finance, and Corrupt Judiciary: The Case of Romania -- ch. 4 Public Procurement, Party Finance, and Corrupt Judiciary: The Case of the Czech Republic -- ch. 5 Toward Rule of Law: Romania -- pt. III Democratic Rule of Law and Corruption: Cross-National Time-Series Analyses -- ch. 6 New Democracies in the World without the Rule of Law -- ch. 7 Conclusion: From Punishment to Trust, to Legitimacy, and to Rule of Law.

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