Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia
Corruption is often defined as the abuse of public functions for private gain, but research has expanded this view to include clientelism and forbearance, particularly in neo-patrimonial contexts. While forbearance has been widely studied, it remains largely unexplored in Southeastern Europe, where...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Comparative Southeast European Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2024-0057 |
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| author | Imami Drini Polese Abel |
| author_facet | Imami Drini Polese Abel |
| author_sort | Imami Drini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Corruption is often defined as the abuse of public functions for private gain, but research has expanded this view to include clientelism and forbearance, particularly in neo-patrimonial contexts. While forbearance has been widely studied, it remains largely unexplored in Southeastern Europe, where corruption is often oversimplified. This article innovatively combines forbearance, electoral corruption, and clientelism to analyse tax authorities’ behaviour during election periods in three Western Balkan countries. Findings suggest that due to staff politicisation and various other motives, tax authorities adjust their actions around elections, aligning with forbearance and electoral clientelism. This behaviour fosters tax evasion and market distortions, highlighting the need for a more in-depth investigation into these dynamics in the region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cc248ba537bb4cde93d9b71aa1387f2d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2701-8199 2701-8202 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Comparative Southeast European Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-cc248ba537bb4cde93d9b71aa1387f2d2025-08-20T04:02:32ZengDe GruyterComparative Southeast European Studies2701-81992701-82022025-06-0173220922910.1515/soeu-2024-0057Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North MacedoniaImami Drini0Polese Abel1Faculty of Economics and Agribusiness, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, AlbaniaSchool of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dublin, IrelandCorruption is often defined as the abuse of public functions for private gain, but research has expanded this view to include clientelism and forbearance, particularly in neo-patrimonial contexts. While forbearance has been widely studied, it remains largely unexplored in Southeastern Europe, where corruption is often oversimplified. This article innovatively combines forbearance, electoral corruption, and clientelism to analyse tax authorities’ behaviour during election periods in three Western Balkan countries. Findings suggest that due to staff politicisation and various other motives, tax authorities adjust their actions around elections, aligning with forbearance and electoral clientelism. This behaviour fosters tax evasion and market distortions, highlighting the need for a more in-depth investigation into these dynamics in the region.https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2024-0057corruptioninformalitytax behaviourelectionswestern balkansd72e62h26p16 |
| spellingShingle | Imami Drini Polese Abel Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia Comparative Southeast European Studies corruption informality tax behaviour elections western balkans d72 e62 h26 p16 |
| title | Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia |
| title_full | Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia |
| title_fullStr | Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia |
| title_short | Why Elections Prompt More Corruption, Clientelism, and Forbearance? A Study of Attitudes in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia |
| title_sort | why elections prompt more corruption clientelism and forbearance a study of attitudes in albania kosovo and north macedonia |
| topic | corruption informality tax behaviour elections western balkans d72 e62 h26 p16 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2024-0057 |
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