Corruption and Informal Practices in the Middle East and North Africa

"This volume is destined to become an instant classic on corruption and informal practices in the MENA region. Leading authorities shed light on lies beyond the shadows." -- Robert Looney, Distinguished Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, USA. "In this innovative collection, a new generation of scholarship finds a way of disaggregating the umbrella term of corruption for the purposes of precision in study and policy-making in the Middle East and Northern Africa. They focus on the sensitive issues as to whether, and at which point informal practices, widely adopted and often associated with culture, actually turn into corruption. The book sheds light on why some anti-corruption strategies have worked and others have not, and explores the potential of empowering women and facilitating the use of personal networks, thus integrating what works into the anti-corruption policy implementation and offering context-sensitive solutions to the persistent issues in the region." -- Alena Ledeneva, Founder of the Global Informality Project, Professor of Politics and Society, UCL, United Kingdom

Ina Kubbe, Post-Doctoral Researcher, The School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Aiysha Varraich, PhD Candidate, Quality of Government Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Introduction Part 1: Conceptualising the Mechanisms and Dynamics of Corruption and Informal Practices in the MENA region 1. Dispersing the Fog: A Philosophical Analysis of Institutional Corruption Applied to the MENA region 2.Hamulas and Structural Corruption in The Middle East 3. Assessing the Impact of Sectarian Patronage in Lebanon 4. Does Wasta Undermine Support for Democracy? Corruption, Clientelism, and Attitudes toward Political Regimes Part 2: Successes and Failures of Anti-corruption Initiatives 5. Sweeping under the Rug: The Limitations and Failures of the Formal Fight Against Corruption in Morocco 6. Old Wine in New Bottles? Corruption and Neopatrimonial Statehood in Turkey 7. "Corruption Eruption"? The Israeli Case Part 3: The Way Forward Empowering women as a Tool to reduce corruption 8. Is Poor Performance in Gender Equality Linked to Higher Corruption in the Middle East? 9. Women, Corruption, and Wasta in Jordan A Case Study in Female Elected Representatives 10. Between Leadership and Kinship: Women Empowerment in the GCC Countries 11.Support for Gender Quotas and Perceived Corruption in Developing Democracies: Evidence from Lebanon Conclusion and Future Prospects