Corruption and The State in the Sahel

Abstract

Systemic corruption in the Sahel is the outcome of particular historical and institutional trajectories of state-building efforts, of factionalism and patronage, and of the inability of the state apparatus to rely on alternative mechanisms to ensure its survival and legitimacy. One key feature that emerges from the analysis and comparisons of multiple case studies is the extraordinary propagation of everyday corruption, to be distinguished from “big” corruption, and the ambivalent perceptions of it by citizens when dealing with the bureaucracy. Daily corruption practices manifest themselves in a variety of forms and underpin especially the delivery of basic public services. Corruption in the Sahel is an institutionalized way of managing people and exercising power in situations of limited accountability, and is closely connected with other dynamics operating within the social and economic system.