Networks of Civic Engagement and Corruption. Separating the Bright from the Dark side

Formal forms of civic engagement - such as involvement in voluntary organizations - are widely considered to play an important part in today's civil society. While some assign them pivotal roles in promoting civic virtues, reciprocity and cooperation, oth ers argue that social networks might predominantly pursue their own narrow interests and facilitate social harms. This project addresses this debate empirically, analyzing the effect of different forms of civic engagement on corruption - a phenomenon that is widely argued to be inimical to self sustaining growth and development as well as to the efficient functioning of public institutions. It thereby takes into account that the beneficial or harmful impact of social networks may depend on these networks' characteristics (i.e. bridging vs. bonding, inclusive vs. exclusive, isolated vs. connected) as well as on the intensity of individuals' involvement. For a large cross section of countries, multiple regression analyses will be carried out using Transpare ncy International's corruption perception index as dependent variable. Utilizing information on civic engagement in voluntary associations from the most recent wave of the World Values Survey, social network types will be distinguished based on their inte rnal heterogeneity, their basic purpose as well as their embedment in the wider society. Further analyses encompassing instrumental variable techniques, path analysis and multi-level estimations aim to draw a clearer picture on causality as well as the sp ecific mechanisms through which social networks might affect corruption. Finally, the current research will evaluate the role of the institutional environment as a main determinant of civic engagement in different types of social networks (based on the di stinctions drawn above) and investigate whether the effect of certain network types on corruption is conditional on this environment.