Search

This papper aims to analyze the phenomenon of corruption from a philosophical perspective, distancing itself from the traditional approaches of contemporary political theory. To achieve this end, the article focuses on the following aspects: 1. It presents a conceptualization of corruption, taking as a reference the categorization of the private and the public offered by politics, indicating that it is from the misrepresentation of these concepts when corruption takes on more complex dimensions. This reality is accentuated by the kidnapping of the State, the rise of the bourgeoisie and the appearance of capitalism as a hegemonic economic system, imposed by globalization. 2. Points out the structural, institutional and cultural factors that shape corruption in Latin America, which has a negative impact on the consolidation of regional Democrats. 3. It shows how the distortion of the public and private sphere widens the problem of corruption, promoting marginalization, exclusion and other series of social pathologies that conflict with universal human rights. The work does not pretend to establish a definitive position on the subject, but rather to offer theoretical inputs to encourage debate and serve as a reference in this broad discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An examination of the Brazilian newspaper O Combate, this article accomplishes four goals. First, it defines the politics of a periodical long cited but little understood by historians. Second, it documents O Combate's place, alongside other ‘yellow press’ outlets, in the making of a ‘public sphere’ in São Paulo. Third, it situates the same publications' role in the bringing into being of a more commercial, publicity-driven press, which would shed the yellow press's radicalism and abet the collapse of the public sphere of its heyday. Fourth, it suggests that O Combate's radical republicanism was one fount of the democratic radicalism of the late 1920s and early 1930s, as well as of the regionally chauvinist constitutionalism of 1932–7. In this rare application of the ‘public sphere’ idea to twentieth-century Brazil, readers may also detect an account closer to Jürgen Habermas’ original formulation than that found in the historiography of nineteenth-century Spanish America. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Política & Sociedade: Revista de Sociologia Política is the property of Revista Politica & Sociedade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)