One Nation Under Blackmail is a damning indictment of the consequences resulting from the nearly century old relationship between both US and Israeli intelligence and the organized criminal network known as the National Crime Syndicate.

This book specifically explores how that nexus between intelligence and organized crime directly developed the sexual blackmail tactics and networks that would later enable the sexual blackmail operation and other crimes of deceased pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Other books on Jeffrey Epstein focus on the depraved nature of his crimes, his wealth, and his most famous/politically-connected friends and acquaintances. This book, in contrast, reveals the extent to which Epstein's activities were state-sponsored through an exploration of his intelligence connections.

This is a truly excellent book: wide-ranging, meticulous scholarship, very well written and easy to read. It should be on the desks of every senior civil servant, government lawyer and politician in every African country. After this book, there is no excuse for not having in place the necessary legal framework and equally important, for not using that legal framework to combat corruption.' - Patrick McAuslan, Birkbeck University of London, UKDrawing on numerous recent examples of good and bad practice from around the continent, this insightful volume explores the legal issues involved in developing and enhancing good governance and accountability within African states, as well as addressing the need for other states worldwide to demonstrate the 'transnational political will' to support these efforts. John Hatchard considers the need for good governance, accountability and integrity in both the public and private sector. He studies how these issues are reflected in both the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The book demonstrates that despite the vast majority of African states being party to these conventions, in practice, many of them continue to experience problems of bad governance, corporate bribery and the looting of state assets. It explores how the 'art of persuasion' can help develop the necessary political will through which to address these challenges at both the national and transnational levels. This unique and influential book will be of worldwide interest to those studying law, politics or business, as well as legal practitioners, policymakers, senior public officials, parliamentarians, law reformers, civil society organizations and the corporate sector. Contents: Introduction 1. Setting the Scene: Law and Persuasion 2. Law and Governance in Africa: Supporting Integrity and Combating Corruption 3. Preventive Measures: Maintaining Integrity in the Public Service 4. When Things Go Wrong: Addressing Integrity Problems in the Public Service 5. Constitutions, Constitutional Rights and Combating Corruption: Exploring the Links 6. Investigating and Prosecuting Corruption Related Offences: Challenges and Realities 7. National Anti-corruption Bodies: A Key Good Governance Requirement? 8. Judges: Independence, Integrity and Accountability 9. Combating Corruption: 'Persuasion' and the Private Sector 10. Preventing the Looting of State Assets: Combating Corruption-Related Money Laundering 11. Preventing Public Officials from Enjoying their Proceeds of Corruption 12. Law, Political Will and the Art of Persuasion Bibliography Index

This book discusses five cases of hatred politics on the margins of global capital: Turkey under Erdogan (assumed office in 2003), Hungary under Orban (assumed office in 2010), India under Modi (assumed office in 2014); the Philippines under Duterte (assumed office in 2016) and Brazil under Bolsonaro (assumed office in 2019). How did they come to power? What strategies of legitimation do they employ? What resistances do they face? Country case studies lay the foundation for a systematic comparison that illuminates the key dynamics of this novel political form. Analyses of their responses to the Covid-19 pandemic further shed light on their methods in a time of crisis and a chapter that considers the Trump presidency indicates how we can understand these leaderships given their pronounced counterpart in the Global North - and vice-versa. This is not a mere collection of texts commissioned from specialists, but the result of a two-year-long collective endeavor: an international taskforce to respond to a global phenomenon. Contributors are: Fabio Luis Barbosa dos Santos, Daniel Feldmann, Agnes Gagyi, Daniel Geary, Tamas Gerocs, Sefika Kumral, Cecilia Lero, Devika Misra, Ilhan Can Ozen and Aparna Sundar.

'Few books have managed to get to the heart of a story of abuse as thoroughly and accurately as Abuse of Trust.' - CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR 'An important and in-depth analysis' - DR LIZ DAVIES, LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, UK For the first time in 18 years, the definitive account of one of Britain's worst child abuse scandals is re-published - with a new chapter looking at the role of the Labour MP Greville Janner. Frank Beck sexually and physically abused more than 200 children while working as a residential care home manager for Leicestershire County Council. This book shows how he got away with it, after gulling social workers and council managers. Hundreds of children in the care of the local authority were damaged, and some tragically died. One is suspected, now, of being murdered. Janner, a lawyer, backbencher and influential figure in Labour, repeatedly avoided prosecution for his involvement in the Leicestershire care scandal, despite being named as an abuser during the criminal case against Beck. In an epilogue to this new, enlarged edition of this acclaimed book on the scandal, Paul Gosling deals with Janner's dominance of the local Labour Party, his influence within the wider parliamentary party and the failed police investigations into him. Abuse of Trust, first published in 1998, has long been viewed by social work professionals as an important audit of this case. Gosling and the BBC journalist Mark D'Arcy, his co-author, investigate how Beck and his cronies came to rampage through children's homes in Leicestershire for more than a decade.

Since 2015, Poland's populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been dismantling the major checks and balances of the Polish state and subordinating the courts, the civil service, and the media to the will of the executive. Political rights have been radically restricted, and the Party has captured the entire state apparatus. The speed and depth of these antidemocratic movements took many observers by surprise: until now, Poland was widely regarded as an example of a successful transitional democracy. Poland's anti-constitutional breakdown poses three questions that this book sets out to answer: What, exactly, has happened since 2015? Why did it happen? And what are the prospects for a return to liberal democracy? These answers are formulated against a backdrop of current worldwide trends towards populism, authoritarianism, and what is sometimes called 'illiberal democracy'. As this book argues, the Polish variant of 'illiberal democracy' is an oxymoron. By undermining the separation of powers, the PiS concentrates all power in its own hands, rendering any democratic accountability illusory. There is, however, no inevitability in these anti-democratic trends: this book considers a number of possible remedies and sources of hope, including intervention by the European Union.

"Negotiating Memories of Protest in Western Europe" explores the transmission of memories of European protest movements in the late 1960s and 1970s. Focusing on the specific case of Italy, the book examines the ways in which different memory agents negotiate memories of violence against left-wing activists, perpetrated by representatives of the state. It does so through a discussion of commemorative rituals, memory sites and other forms of 'memory work' performed by various social groups within the local setting of Bologna, where a left-wing student and protester was shot dead by police in 1977. By drawing on this fascinating case study, Andrea Hajek lays bare the dynamic relation between official and unofficial memories of conflict and and explores the challenges of historical research into social movements.

In Political Careers, Corruption, and Impunity: Panama's Assembly, 1984-2009, Carlos Guevara Mann systematically examines the behavior of the members of Panama's Legislative Assembly between 1984 and 2009, an arena previously unexplored in studies of Panamanian politics. He challenges fundamental aspects of scholarly literature on democratic legislatures, with important consequences for understanding democratic politics in Latin America and other parts of the world. The current literature on legislatures assumes that legislators single-mindedly seek reelection or the advancement of their political careers, and that they pursue these goals through acceptable democratic means. Guevara Mann shows, however, that in Panama many legislators also pursue less laudable goals such as personal enrichment and freedom from prosecution, often reaching their goals through means-widespread clientelism, party switching, and electoral manipulation-that undermine the quality of democracy. On one level, Political Careers, Corruption, and Impunity contrasts the political behavior of individual legislators; on another, it compares the actions of legislators under various regimes-military and constitutional. Lastly, it engages in cross-national comparisons that contrast the behavior of Panamanian legislators with actions of representatives elsewhere. Guevara Mann's sophisticated analysis of the military period and the transition to democracy, with an emphasis on the history and functioning of legislative bodies, contains a wealth of new information about a neglected but intrinsically fascinating case.

Why have so few countries managed to leave systematic corruption behind, while in many others modernization is still a mere facade? How do we escape the trap of corruption, to reach a governance system based on ethical universalism? In this unique book, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi and Michael Johnston lead a team of eminent researchers on an illuminating path towards deconstructing the few virtuous circles in contemporary governance. The book combines a solid theoretical framework with quantitative evidence and case studies from around the world. While extracting lessons to be learned from the success cases covered, Transitions to Good Governance avoids being prescriptive and successfully contributes to the understanding of virtuous circles in contemporary good governance. Offering a balanced but always grounded perspective, this collection combines analytic narratives of existing virtuous circles and how they were established, with an analysis of the global evidence. In doing so the authors explain why governance is so resistant to change, and describe the lessons to be remembered for international anti-corruption efforts. Exploring the primacy of politics over economic development, and in order to understand how vicious circles can be broken, the expert contributions trace the progress of countries that have successfully transitioned. Unprecedentedly, this book goes beyond the tests of different variables to showcase human agency on every continent, and reveals why some nations make the best and others the worst of the same development legacies. This comprehensive examination of virtuous circles of governance will appeal to all scholars with an interest in transitions, democratization, anti-corruption and good governance. Policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of international development, good governance and democracy support will find it an invaluable resource. Contributors include: A. Bozzini, D. Bupuet Corleto, C. Goebel, M. Johnston, V. Kalnins, L. Khatib, A. Kupatadze, M. Martini, A. Mungiu-Pippidi, P. Navia, R. Pineiro, D. Sebudubudu, E. Villarreal, B.W. Wilson, J.-S. You

The book's essays take a multidimensional approach to the accountability matrix in Brazil. The first section of the book investigates the complex interrelationships among representative institutions, electoral dynamics, and public opinion. In the second section, authors address nonelectoral dimensions of accountability, such as the role of the media, accounting institutions, police, prosecutors, and courts. In the final chapter, the editors reflect upon the policy implications of the essays, considering recommendations that may contribute to an effective fight against political corruption and support ongoing accountability, as well as articulating analytical lessons for social scientists interested in the functioning of accountability networks.

Brazil, the world's fourth largest democracy, has been plagued in recent years by corruption scandals. "Corruption and Democracy in Brazil: The Struggle for Accountability "considers the performance of the Brazilian federal accountability system with a view to diagnosing the system's strengths, weaknesses, and areas of potential improvement; taking stock of recent micro- and macro-level reforms; and pointing out the implications of the various dimensions of the accountability process for Brazil's democratic regime.

"Timothy Power and Matthew Taylor have produced a compelling, comprehensive volume on accountability dynamics in Brazil that will inform future policy and research regarding corruption. The analyses in this book raise important questions for practitioners and for the general public. In pursuit of answers to these questions, this team of researchers does not sugarcoat matters. They document dimensions of improved accountability as well as resilient dynamics of impunity. This well-organized book is accessible to academics, policy makers, and students." --Charles H. Blake, James Madison University

"Corruption stories are often told as lurid tales of individual greed. This book persuasively insists instead that corruption and the responses to it are embedded deep in national institutions--one might say they are politics by other means. This first-rate collection presents a powerful analysis of recent Brazilian democracy in practice, showing how accountability institutions have greatly strengthened since the transition to democracy, while remaining weak in ways that undermine citizens' trust in their government. While closely focused on Brazil, the book also embodies an approach worth emulating for studying corruption elsewhere." --Kathryn Hochstetler, University of Waterloo

"By focusing on the largest democracy in Latin America, Brazil, a country with both a history vexed by political corruption and an elaborate web of accountability-enhancing institutions and organizations, Timothy Power and Matthew Taylor have produced a study of extraordinary value for comparative politics. They have gathered a rich array of original research by top scholars on major areas of the network of accountability. Each chapter answers the editors' core questions regarding how corruption operates, can be detected, and is preventable, while making clear those aspects that remain a drag on Brazil's quality of democracy." --Alfred P. Montero, Carleton College

"This is a timely, insightful, and cohesive volume that will greatly benefit students of Brazil and analysts of corruption in developing countries. The authors are very much on top of their subject matter, much of which is not easily accessible in the academic literature despite the emphasis on corruption being so pervasive and harmful." --Wendy Hunter, University of Texas, Austin

The author of Fire and Fury delivers a breathtaking insider account of the 2024 Trump campaign—undoubtedly the wildest, most unpredictable campaign in U.S. history, including multiple criminal trials, two assassination attempts, and a sudden switch of opponents.

All or Nothing takes readers on a journey accompanying Donald Trump on his return to power as only Michael Wolff, the foremost chronicler of the Trump era, can do it. As Trump cruelly and swiftly dispatches his opponents, heaps fire and fury on the prosecutors and judges who are pursuing him, and mocks and belittles anyone in his way, including the president of the United States, this becomes not just another election but perhaps, both sides say, the last election. The stakes could not be clearer: Either the establishment destroys Donald Trump, or he destroys the establishment.

What soon emerges is a split-screen reality: On one side, a picture that could not be worse for Trump: an inescapable, perhaps mortal legal quagmire; on the other side, an entirely positive political outlook: overwhelming support within his party, ever-rising polling numbers, and lackluster opposition. Through personal access to Trump’s inner circle, Wolff details a behind-the-scenes, revealing landscape of Trumpworld and its unlikely cast of primary players as well as the candidate himself, the most successful figure in American politics since, arguably, Roosevelt, but who might easily seem to be raving mad.

Threading a needle between tragedy and farce, the fate of the nation, the liberal ideal, and democracy itself, All or Nothing paints a gobsmacking portrait of a man whose behavior is so unimaginable, so uncontrolled, so unmindful of cause and effect, that it defeats all the structures and logic of civic life. And yet here in one of the most remarkable comebacks in American political history, Trump is victorious. This is not just a story about politics: It is a vivid exposé of the demons, discord, and anarchy—the fire, fury, and future—of American life under Trump.

Despite the growth in literature on political corruption, contributions from field research are still exiguous. This book provides a timely and much needed addition to current research, bridging the gap and providing an innovative approach to the study of corruption and integrity in public administration. The volume contributors provide insights from nine different countries, all drawing on extensive fieldwork data and following ethnographic methodologies. The topics discussed in this book include: the role of anti-corruption legislation; organizational change and morality; party corruption; socio-cultural dimensions of corruption; clientelism and patronage. Analyzing these topics comparatively, the volume concludes that in countries where public perception of corruption is high, citizens are well aware of the generalized damage of these practices and the loss of trust they cause for public administrations. On the other hand, corruption in public administration takes place following patterns that mirror some of the fundamental social and cultural features that characterize interactions among citizens and institutions. Scholars and students of the fields including public policy, public administration, sociology and anthropology will find this book to be of use to their research and studies. It will also be of interest to policy-makers internationally and public sector practitioners. Contributors include: M. Acar, C. Baez Camargo, E. Denisova-Schmidt, Z.T. Lofranco, N. Luci, R.M. Rivera, R.F Sambaiga, D. Torsello

Nigeria's democratisation efforts since attaining political independence from Britain have been tumultuous and have spanned over three successive republics. A persistent bug decimating Nigeria's democracy and repeatedly leading to military coups has been brazen electoral violence perpetrated by the nation's political elite. Nigeria's 2019 Democratic Experience analyses and explains what went wrong in Nigeria's experiment with democracy. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and the world's seventh most populous nation, also contributes 70% of West Africa's population. She is sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer and has remained Africa's largest economy by GDP since 2014. The country has hundreds of diverse ethnic nationalities and languages grouped into 36 states (or federating units) and an independent federal capital territory. Though recognized as Africa's largest democracy, her democratisation process since the 1960s has remained tumultuous with massive electoral violence and political intolerance. This repeatedly compelled the military to intervene in the nation's political history in the years 1966, 1983 and 1985. It is these developments that provided the motivation for this volume to capture for posterity the conduct of the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela has achieved in her seven years as Public Protector what few accomplish in a lifetime; her legacy and contribution cannot be over-stated. In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State Capture report and, before that, the report on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measures, Madonsela has frequently found herself at centre stage in the increasingly fractious South African political scene.

Yet, despite the intense media scrutiny, Madonsela remains something of an enigma. Who is this soft-spoken woman who stood up to state corruption? Where did she develop her views and resolve? This book attempts to answer these questions, and others, by exploring many aspects of Madonsela's life: her childhood years and family, her involvement in student politics, her contribution to the constitution, her life in law.

Madonsela once described her role as Public Protector as being akin to that of the Venda traditional spiritual female leader, the Makhadzi, who whispers truth to the ruler. When the sounds of the exchanges between the ruler and the Makhadzi grow loud, Madonsela said, that is when the whispering has failed.

No Longer Whispering to Power is about Thuli Madonsela's tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of the South African people's attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work Madonsela has done, always acting without fear or favour.

This study explores corruption in Rwanda and highlights the necessity of developing anti-corruption education as a way of combating corruption. It argues that an effective campaign against corruption should consider promoting anti-corruption education with the aim of enabling present and future generations to maintain and live out the Ubupfura (meaning "trust/respect") ethical values. Considering the link between anti-corruption and peacebuilding efforts, as explained in this study, it is underlined that continuous efforts to raise such generations could undoubtedly move Rwandan society toward a sustainable peace. Peacebuilders, anti-corruption agents, and public policymakers are the primary beneficiaries of the study.

Development Corruption in South Africa examines governance matters with a focus on corruption. This rich empirical body on governance variables and governance performance is a welcome addition to South African government literature.

Using a variety of cases from history and today's life, the book examines character attackers targeting the private lives, behavior, values, and identity of their victims. Numerous historical examples show that character assassination has always been a very effective weapon to win political battles or settle personal scores.