Corruption
Corruption is the share of what the state collects that never arrives. It is high in poor countries and colonies, falls as they develop, and laws and factions push it up or down.
Corruption is the gap between what a state is owed and what it actually collects: bribes, patronage, informal economies and offices that serve their holders instead of the public. It is shown as a percentage from 0% to 100%. Its most direct effect is on your tax revenue, but it also slowly wears down public trust in the government.
Corruption follows development
Every country has a level of corruption that its development sustains, based on its GDP per capita:
- $600 per person or less: 40% corruption.
- From there it falls, more steeply at first, to none at $8,000 per person.
- A colony or other subject state carries an extra 10% on top.
A country starts the game at that level. Each month it moves 2% of the way toward its current sustained level, so corruption falls slowly as a country grows richer. A developing country that grows quickly will see corruption ease over a decade or two, not overnight. A country that gains independence sheds the subject-state share over time in the same way.
Laws and modifiers then add their own amount on top (Corruption) for as long as they apply, and some push the stored level up or down every month (Corruption (Monthly)).
Laws that move it
| Raises corruption | Lowers corruption |
|---|---|
| Patronage (+3%) | Constitutional Press Freedom (−4%) |
| Clan Rule (+3%) | Professional Bureaucracy (−2%) |
| Party Cadres, Party Courts, Autocracy (+2% each) | Independent Judiciary (−2%) |
| Secret Police, Mass Surveillance, State Information Control (+2% each) | Civil Policing, Civilian Control (−1% each) |
| Political Police, Subordinate Judiciary, Prior Censorship (+1% each) |
Some of these laws pay for themselves in other ways. Patronage and Party Cadres both add political capital every day (Political Capital Gain). Running a state on patronage is a real choice with a lasting cost.
Corrupt factions
A faction can carry the Corrupt trait. It gains influence and slowly grows more agitated. Its effect on the state depends on where it stands:
- Governing: adds 2% corruption and costs 1% Legitimacy.
- Supporting the government: adds 1% corruption, but also brings in a little political capital each day.
- In opposition: erodes legitimacy a little every month.
- Agitated: adds Unrest across the country.
The Purge Corrupt Leadership action removes the trait from a domestic faction with less than 75% influence. It costs 35 political capital, cuts the faction's influence and makes it more agitated (see Faction Actions).
What corruption costs
Tax revenue
Corruption counts point for point against tax efficiency (Tax Efficiency), the share of the economy the state actually manages to tax. Revenue is held GDP times (1 + tax efficiency − corruption) times the tax rate. In practice, 50% corruption costs about half of what your taxes would collect, not half your economy. That is why a poor country or a colony collects far less than its tax rates suggest. On the Budget screen, corruption is booked as its own line under tax revenue. See Taxation and Money & the Budget.
Government support
Each month, corruption pulls government support down in proportion to its level. A highly corrupt government has to work harder for the same public backing.
Reducing it
- Grow the economy (see Economic Output and Provincial Economy). This is the slow, reliable route.
- Professionalize the state with a Professional Bureaucracy, an Independent Judiciary and a free press.
- Purge corrupt factions or keep them out of government.
- Avoid the security and censorship laws whose control comes with entrenched corruption.
Pages that link here
Brigades · Factions · Money & the Budget · Policies · Stability · Taxation · Warfare