64. Michael Johnston on syndromes of corruption and how to tackle them

We welcome one of the most important voices in the academic (anti-)corruption field: Michael Johnston, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Colgate University, who has written numerous books on corruption. (https://www.colgate.edu/about/directory/mjohnston). The interview covers Michael’s journey of becoming a corruption research pioneer, his conceptual framework of syndromes of corruption and how they might inform anti-corruption policies. Matthew and Michael discuss the developments of the anti-corruption “industry” over the past decades and Michael shares his views on the tools most useful to fight corruption: Politics and social networks. The interview ends with Michael candidly sharing which views about corruption he has changed his mind about and some advice for (young) anti-corruption scholars and practitioners. Further links: Michael’s most recent book (with Scott A. Fritzen) “The Conundrum of Corruption” can be found here: https://www.routledge.com/The-Conundrum-of-Corruption-Reform-for-Social-Justice/Johnston-Fritzen/p/book/9780367224547 Michael refers to research by Lawrence Lessig on institutional corruption, you can find more about it: https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10519/Lessig