The University of Bologna (UNIBO) is mapping what has been published in academic journals about the relationship between political corruption and five forms of influence which are investigated by RESPOND — lobbying, political finance, media capture, revolving doors, and personal connections. This revision of the academic literature will help RESPOND address the most important gaps in current research on political corruption.

The UNIBO team has worked with experts to select peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals since 1990. These will be analyzed further.

Partners are replicating this work for the other languages of interest to RESPOND: Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Ukrainian. This will let us move beyond a limited English-centered approach. 

The ICS-University of Lisbon is also mapping existing research on political corruption. Their team is conducting a literature review on the interplay between political corruption and its impact on attitudes and behaviors related to democracy. Following a similar protocol, external experts were also consulted to assist in the selection of keywords.