Description
Book SynopsisProvides a framework for understanding the persistence of corruption in the Western states of the European Union.
Trade Review"Carolyn Warner's well-documented book shows that corruption in the European Union is fostered by democracy, free trade and decentralization, the very factors that are often portrayed as the institutional foundations of transparency. In so doing, it challenges the conventional wisdom about the anti-corruption benefits of political and economic competition. This engaging exposé is written with a sense of irony, but it turns the EU's squeaky-clean self-promoting international image into farce."—David D. Laitin, The James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
"The Best System Money Can Buy is a stunning account of entrenched corruption and failed accountability in the European Union. With striking evidence and powerful reasoning, Carolyn M. Warner shows how privatization, decentralization, and economic integration have—in the context of weak oversight, lax enforcement, and insatiable needs for campaign funding—fostered new forms and sustained old forms of corruption in the wealthy democracies of Western Europe. Anyone who thinks corruption is primarily a problem of emerging democracies needs to read this book. As Warner demonstrates, 'the unchained liberal market is not self-correcting,' but rather requires serious and independent institutions of accountability."—Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
