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The Implications of Endemic Corruption for State Legitimacy in Developing Nations: an Empirical Exploration of the Nigerian Case

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Abstract

There is an extensive literature on the ramifications of corruption for economic growth, as well as for democracy. Largely unexplored, however, is how corruption works to lessen government legitimacy and empower violent anti-state movements. In this article, the perception of corruption in Nigeria is considered. Noting that Nigeria must suppress the violent extremist group Boko Haram in order to continue to govern the nation, the connections between Nigerian perceptions of corruption and support for the movement are treated. Until this research, however, there existed no empirical evaluation of this relationship. Using analysis of a survey of over 10,000 Nigerians accomplished in 2012 and 2013, we show that issues of state illegitimacy and endemic corruption have contributed to Nigeria’s present security crisis by fomenting support for non-state violent actors.

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Notes

  1. In order to access survey data, please contact the corresponding author.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Davidson College, 209 Ridge Road, Davidson, NC, 28035, USA

    Natalie Delia Deckard

  2. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida-Sarasota, 8350 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL, 34243, USA

    Zacharias Pieri

Authors
  1. Natalie Delia Deckard
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  2. Zacharias Pieri
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Correspondence to Natalie Delia Deckard.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Award Number FA9550-12-1-0096.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Deckard, N.D., Pieri, Z. The Implications of Endemic Corruption for State Legitimacy in Developing Nations: an Empirical Exploration of the Nigerian Case. Int J Polit Cult Soc 30, 369–384 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-016-9242-6

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