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Corruption and Public Power (720M3B)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

Corruption is often understood as an abuse of public power for private gain. While the discipline is increasingly engaged with forms of corruption that are not strictly located in the public sector, the notion of public power remains central to our understanding of corruption and the impact it has on the integrity of the institutions that govern us.

On this module, you’ll explore:

• what is meant by public power
• the way in which this power is held, legitimised and constrained
• how this affects how corruption manifests
• potential strategies for controlling corruption.

We’ll discuss the changing nature of public power in today’s governance frameworks, where there’s no clear dividing line between public and private. We’ll also examine how this presents challenges for anti-corruption strategies.

We’ll study power dynamics in a range of public institutions and institutional contexts, engaging with primary sources of public power including:

• the executive
• the legislature
• the judiciary.

We’ll explore how these institutions are both potentially corruptible, but also a source of anti-corruption control. We’ll then look at a range of public, semi-public and private institutions that can serve to either corrupt or hold public power to account.

You’ll learn about:

• what is understood by public power
• how public power is held, legitimised and constrained in different political systems
• how corruption risks, inherent in each of the branches of public power, are identified in their relationships with other forms of social and economic power
• the role that public, semi-public and private institutions play in both corrupting and controlling the corruption of public power by holding public officials accountable.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.