Health Status and Political Corruption: a Comparative Study

Abstract

There is a relatively small but important research oeuvre in the biological study of comparative and international politics. This essay is situated within that literature. One significant issue in comparative politics is corruption—its causes, its consequences, and remediation. This study focuses on the first point with a focus on a biosocial variable that might be at work. Prior research has suggested that health status of a nation affects extent of democratization, electoral integrity, and fragility of states. In no case is health status the dominant predictor. Given its relationship with those three aspects of a polity, this paper examines the effect of health status on corruption across states. Given prior results, there is good reason to hypothesize that as health status increases, states are less apt to have high rates of corruption. The base for this analysis comprises data on over 150 nations. Among the variables as part of that data set are health status and corruption. Results are reported and discussion centers on the meaning of the data and what the implications might be.