Davide Torsello, ed., Corruption in Public Administration: An Ethnographic Approach (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2016). 258 pp. $110.79 (hardcover), ISBN: 9811785362583.

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12930
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Author: Adam Graycar

Book Reviews 325

Davide Torsello , ed., Corruption in Public Administration: An

Ethnographic Approach ( Cheltenham, UK : Edward Elgar , 2016 ).

258 pp. $110.79 (hardcover), ISBN: 9811785362583 .

P ublic administration is diminished when

corruption becomes a systemic activity. It is also

diminished when corrupt transgressions take

place. In the latter set of cases, the response is that the

transgressor is usually a lone wolf, a rotten apple in an

otherwise sound barrel.

Sometimes the argument is that the transgression is due

to bad behavior, sometimes to poor systems and poor

enforcement, and sometimes to culture and the human

condition where some people are inevitable on the

make. From time to time, economists suggest that a bit

of corruption makes for efficient transactions and speeds

up processes bound up in a bureaucratic mire. This

argument does not hold as it really reflects problems in

public administration. These problems should generally

be solved by better program design, better structures for

program delivery, and an enforcement regimen where

processes are blatantly abused.

There are many types of corruption. We often think

of bribery and kickbacks as the mainstay of corrupt

behavior. While these are most recognized, things like

misuse of information, conflict of interest, cronyism,

nepotism, abuse of discretion, self-dealing, extortion,

trading in influence, and pay to play are all part of the

corruption landscape.

These transgressions can fundamentally affect public

policy and, in some jurisdictions, shape it. Clearly,

there is corruption in making the law and corruption

in implementing the law. These require different forms

of analysis, but both impinge on public administration.

Well-thought-out policies are easily undermined in

their administration when low-level officials take a

kickback to overlook a violation, certify something

that is not right, make something happen quicker,

or change a document to benefit somebody. When

groups of officials work together to divert money

from programs, run crooked procurement processes,

or improperly sell things that are not theirs to

sell and pocket the benefits personally, we have

conspiratorial and criminal behavior. There are also

corrupt organizations operating both domestically and

internationally. These have thrived on fraud, bribery,

improper allocation of contracts, political and market

manipulation, unauthorized secondary employment,

Reviewed by: Adam Graycar

Flinders University

Adam Graycar has taught public policy

at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

since 2015. Previously, he was professor

of public policy at the Australian National

University (ANU) and director of the

ANU Transnational Research Institute on

Corruption (TRIC). He also served as the

dean of Rutgers School of Criminal Justice

at Rutgers University–Newark. For 22 years,

he held senior posts in government in

Australia, both federal and state. His latest

book Understanding and Preventing

Corruption (with Tim Prenzler) was

published in the United Kingdom and New

York in 2013.

E-mail: adam.graycar@flinders.edu.au

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 78, Iss. 2, pp. 325–328. © 2018 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12930.