Introduction

In Italy, for some time now corruption has assumed the characteristics, both in its proportions and qualitative features, of a ‘systemic’ phenomenon, that contaminates vast sectors of administration and public life, not to mention a non-negligible part of business and finance. As it turns out from the data supplied by the Court of Auditors at the inauguration of the judicial year, during the last few years, the number of sentences passed by the accounting magistracy against public employees for offences related to corrupt practices has registered an exponentially increasing trend. In 2010 alone, there was an increase of 30 per cent in comparison to the preceding year. The increase has been so great that, according to the attorney general of the same court, corruption today represents one of the main sources of damage to the Italian Government's revenue.

Recently, moreover, the Italian press has given great prominence to the last report drafted by the non-governmental organisation, Transparency International (a global network with headquarters in Berlin to which more than ninety associations are members on a national basis), that every year compiles a ranking of the most corrupt countries based on the so-called CPI. This index measures the level of ‘perceived corruption’ by several categories of citizen in each country, taking as its main reference point the opinion of managers, entrepreneurs, businessmen and political analysts. In this ranking, Italy is not only placed in the ‘lower part’ of the list, it is also one of the few Western countries to have lost further ground in the last three years. However, the scientific reliability of the data coming from this organisation is not incontrovertible. As we have said, it is an index that measures not the corruption actually present in a country, but the perception that the citizens have of this phenomenon. In this regard, it should be emphasised that among analysts and within the international community more and more doubts are being expressed regarding the foundation criteria adopted for measurement by Transparency International.