Al di là delle consuete categorizzazioni, l'idea del volume "Corruzione" per Rubbettino è quella di sviluppare un'analisi integrata e complessiva del fenomeno della corruzione, superando letture parziali o unicamente settoriali che pure, generalmente, prevalgono a livello di riflessione scientifica. Le domande sono quelle ricorrenti della sociologia della devianza dinanzi ad ogni fenomeno illecito: chi è il deviante, come e perché si diventa devianti, come la società reagisce alla devianza. Tre diversi livelli di analisi, fortemente intrecciati tra loro: nel quadro di questa comune visione, l'obiettivo è stato quello di tentare di ricostruire nel suo complesso, anche in un'ottica comparata, i principi e il quadro normativo di una pluralità di figure che danno forma a quella che volgarmente viene spesso etichettata come "corruzione", distinguendosene nettamente, invero, in moltissimi casi. Muovendo da una serie di figure già oggetto di approfondite riflessioni mira a darne una rilettura unitaria, che, nella prospettiva di una informazione chiara sulla fenomenologia, porrà a disposizione del lettore alcune, singolari e vieppiù inattese, "verità nascoste".

1. EXPERT VIEWS: Why is there so
much corruption in Italy ?
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:39 AM
Author: Maria Caspani
MILAN (TrustLaw) – During the past year, Italy has been grappling with a string of
corruption cases that has left the country in a deep political crisis.
The latest scandal to rock the country is the so-called "P3" affair, named after the "P2"
Masonic lodge at the centre of a vast corruption scandal which emerged in the 1980s
and brought down the entire Italian political system.
Members of this “secret society” are accused of giving out bribes and personal favours
to obtain lucrative business contracts. Those under investigation include Denis Verdini,
a close associate of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who is also a senior official in the
ruling People of Freedom party.
Those at the heart of the affair have also been accused of coopting judges to influence a

2. Constitutional Court decision on a law that would have granted Berlusconi immunity from
prosecution had it been passed.
TrustLaw interviewed four experts on various aspects of corruption in Italy -- Piercamillo
Davigo, a prominent former magistrate who is now an advisor to the Supreme Court of
Appeal; Paolo Franchi, a columnist for the Corriere della Sera daily; Maria Teresa
Brassiolo, head of Transparency International Italy and Maurizio Bortoletti of the Anti-
Corruption and Transparency Service, a government body.
What are the main features of corruption in Italy ?
Piercamillo Davigo: Italy is characterised by a structural weakness in the public sector
where positions are allocated not on personal merit - as established by the Constitution -
but for different reasons. Public officials often don’t feel a sense of pride and attachment
to their department and this, in some cases, makes them more open to bribery. There
may also be a cultural factor given that a sort of patron-client relationship is widespread
in the public administration. Some employees are not as loyal to the State as they might
be to their patron, who gave them the job. This bond makes it very hard for them to say
‘no’ when he comes knocking on their door asking for a favour in return.
Maria Teresa Brassiolo: Corruption is related to both culture and history. It is also a
way of living, especially in some of the southern regions where the concept of a central
government enforcing the rule of law barely exists. It is indeed very hard to compute the
average corruption index at a national level because of completely different regional
behaviours. According to a recent investigation sponsored by the European Union -- the
results are likely to be published in October -- graft is almost absent in a good number of
regions and reaches extremely high levels mainly in four others: Sicily , Calabria ,
Campania and Puglia .
Maurizio Bortoletti: Corruption plagues public administration and is one example of
bad practice in public administration. (This has led to) ... wrongdoing for example, delays
in the completion of paperwork or not working for the agreed number of hours which cost
the country 1.4 billion euro ($1.9 billion) in 2008. Another related issue ... is the

3. embezzlement of public funds. In the last five years, more than 40 percent of crimes
committed against the public administration involved someone who had embezzled
funds granted by the State or by other public bodies. These crimes reflect a peculiar
attitude of a part of Italy that ignores the rule of law to follow the rule of the strongest.
What are the economic costs of corruption?
Piercamillo Davigo: The economic costs of corruption are on the rise. The drive behind
public works is often the allocation of bribes rather than the real benefit to the
community. Their costs are therefore higher than they should be. For example, Milan ’s
urban railway system was built in 23 years and cost twice as much as the one in Zurich ,
which was built in 5 years and of the same length.
Maria Teresa Brassiolo: Both corruption and a slow and an inefficient legal system
have been hampering foreign investment in the country. Compared to other European
nations, Italy attracts very few investors with obvious consequences for the economy.
Maurizio Bortoletti: It's almost impossible to make a precise estimate, but figures being
circulated of 50-60 billion euros as the cost of corruption, 1,000 euro per capita,
including the newborns is incorrect.
What are the judicial system and political authorities doing to fight corruption?
Piercamillo Davigo: The judicial system as a whole is struggling due to its
overcomplicated nature. Data may provide a more powerful image: while you have
roughly 300,000 trials taking place in the UK every year, Italy has some 3 million. In view
of its 300,000 trials, Britain has 5,000 inmates while Italy has roughly 65,000, in spite of
its 3 million court cases. As for corruption crimes, the offender cannot be prosecuted
after seven and a half years since the beginning of the trial - it used to be 15 - leading a
good number of proceedings to a premature end.

4. Paolo Franchi: The fight against graft has been hampered by a series of laws and legal
proceedings like the so-called “ad personam” laws promoted by the current government
and specially crafted to shield one or more politicians from prosecution. These laws
sparked outrage among political parties and part of the public. In the past, the legal
system has proved capable of carrying out the fight against corruption, but getting rid of
these laws is crucial to facilitate justice.
http://www.trust.org/item/20100927113900-ps296/