Corruption in Comparative Context (963M9)

15 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

Corruption can look and feel very different in different places. In some countries, it’s evident on a day-to-day basis as public officials seek ‘facilitation payments’ for fulfilling mundane tasks. In other places, corruption is hardly visible to the layman, yet it remains very much in evidence beneath the surface. This module aims to try make sense of this variety through the prism of comparative politics.

Taught by a range of faculty members, this module unpacks the shape and form of corrupt practice across a number of countries. We will look at countries in Europe and beyond and include Germany, the UK, Tanzania, Ireland, Italy, India and France.

You’ll learn to:

• use the tools of comparative politics to make sense of corruption in very different contexts
• critically evaluate why corruption can take so many different forms
• critically compare and contrast corruption across space.

You will gain in-depth knowledge about a range of real-world cases that highlight how diverse corrupt practice has become.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.