What Forms of Governance Are Likely to Be More Corrupt?

What Forms of Governance Are Likely to Be More Corrupt?
Corruption tends to be more prevalent in autocratic systems (where one person rules
with unlimited authority), or oligarchies (rule by a small group of elites). As Minxin Pei
from the Carnegie Endowment clarifies, corruption does exist in democracies, but it “is
fundamentally different from the massive looting by autocrats in dictatorships. That is
why the least corrupt countries, with a few exceptions, all happen to be democracies,
and the most corrupt countries are overwhelmingly autocracies… That corruption is
more prevalent in autocracies is no mere coincidence. While democracies derive their
legitimacy and popular support through competitive elections and the rule of law,
autocracies depend on the support of a small group of political and social elites, the
military, the bureaucracy and the secret police.”11