BUSINESS POLITICIANS IN ITALY - SOME REFL ECTIONS ON A STUDY ON POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN ITALY

Political corruption endangers the principles of transparency and poli tical equality, that form part of the very basis of representative dem ocracies. In particular it transforms the motivations and the skills t hat are necessary for a political career, and favors the distribution of business politicians, which the authors define as politicians that combine legal and business activities - and in general participation i n political enterprises - with traditional political intermediation. T he authors present some empirical results from a qualitative research (based on trial records, in-depth interviews, and the press) on politi cal corruption in three Italian cities: Savona, Florence, and catania. The characteristics of the business politicians particularly emphasiz ed are: politics as the only channel for vertical social mobility; the development of particular skills for illegal activity necessary for t he organization of the corrupt exchange; and a capability for networki ng directed at acquiring complicities and tacit consent in important s ocial circles. In the second part of the article, the authors define s ome conditions that reduce the moral costs of participation in illegal activities and, conversely, increase the diposition to participate in the corrupt exchange.