Rational Choice and Morality of Corruption

Abstract

The article focuses on the individual actor’s choice as weather to condone or condemn corruption in their respective countries of India and Indonesia. Given the influence of traditions, the choice is rational in that it must be seen through the lens of cultural values, which by definition are seldom Weberian. Following the sketched illustration, the dichotomy between systems of values, the paper provides real examples of the types of conflicts that can arise when traditional cultural values are taken into account within a bureaucracy supposedly Weberian in nature. While the observations can help to clarify some aspects of corruption, they leave open the issue of how to lessen, or let alone eradicate it.