Corruption and leaders’ age

Abstract

While existing literature has studied the political consequences of corruption, surprisingly little is known about how corruption is associated with voters’ preferences for particular leader characteristics. Using both micro- and macro-level cross-national data, this study analyses whether prevalent corruption is associated with a greater likelihood that young leaders attain executive office. We argue that, in democracies, a higher level of corruption makes younger leaders more electorally attractive because they can be perceived as less embedded in entrenched political networks and more likely to pursue anti-corruption reforms. By analysing data on various political leaders’ backgrounds from 110 democracies between 2001 and 2020, we find that a higher level of corruption is associated with younger elected leaders in democracies. Using the Afrobarometer survey data from 15 African democracies between 2019 and 2020, we find additional evidence that a negative perception of corruption increases citizens’ support for introducing a maximum age limit for presidential candidates. Our study contributes to the literature on leadership selection by highlighting the role of corruption in shaping voter preferences for young leaders.