Institutional Corruption, Institutional Corrosion and Collective Responsibility

Abstract

This article’s primary concern is with characterizing and distinguishing institutional corruption and institutional corrosion. While the concept of institutional corruption entails some degree of culpability on the part of institutional role occupants, this does not seem to be the case with institutional corrosion. The article outlines and motivates a prior definition of institutional corruption developed elsewhere to develop an account of the contrasting notion of institutional corrosion. Since both institutional corruption and institutional corrosion are typically the product of some form of collective action or omission on the part of multiple institutional role occupants, there is also a need to provide a serviceable notion of collective responsibility.