Can Corruption Erode the Confidence in Political Institutions among European Countries? Comparing the Effects of Different Measures of Perceived Corruption

Corruption, as argued by many scholars, reemerged in the concern of most European countries bringing the awareness that no society is immune to the abuse of power by public officials. At the same time, citizens distrust institutions, are skeptical about parties and generally far from political arena. What are the effects of corruption on the quality of democracy and the level of confidence in political institutions? Scholars that investigate this topic usually employ indicators of corruption developed by aggregating experts judgments. In this paper we also consider indexes based on the perceptions of common citizens. The first part of the empirical analysis explores the levels of corruption perceived by citizens of European countries, stressing the differences with experts’ judgment. Then – taking advantage of several datasets – we compare the effects of corruption on the confidence that citizens put in political institutions. Empirical analysis shows that more corrupt countries are characterized by lower levels of democratic performance and less confidence in political institutions. Nevertheless, results obtained also highlight some differences in the effects of several measures of corruption adopted.