Corrupção: ética ou política

Abstract

This paper discusses corruption as a political myth, from the idea of micro-politics as a tool for exploiting informal spaces in the search for influence (sex, status, prestige, recognition), not as political power. That gives rise to the figure of the political politician, different from the businessman. In the modern market-based society, money becomes the hegemonic medium. Gain and accumulation require efficiency, which requires a strong functional differentiation between public and private; and brings under suspicion the confusion of papers (the professional politician, the businessman, public administration). With the introduction of a new actor − the masses and the integration between public opinion and the press − corruption acquires a new logic: on the one hand, a violation of moral micro-political loyalties; and on the other hand, the negotiation of fundamental values such as one’s freedom and the calculation of survival, measured by price