The article raises the need for further studies into causal mechanisms of size by including more small states into international comparative research, turning attention to qualitative comparative stud

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 4 representative gaps

• Beyond Transparency: How Governance Complexity Shapes Corruption’s Political Consequences (2026) · doi

  The analysis faces limitations that circumscribe the conclusions that can be drawn and point to- ward directions for future research. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causation, and the associations observed may reflect selection, reverse causality, or omitted variables. Citizens with lower well-being may be more likely to perceive corruption, or unobserved factors may jointly deter- mine corruption perception, well-being, and residential location. Future research employing panel data, natural experiments, or instrumental variable strategies could provide stronger causal evidence for the proposed mechanism. The measurement of governance complexity through city size is admittedly coarse. City size cor- relates with institutional scale but does not isolate specific features such as agency count, con- tracting prevalence, or principal-agent chain length. Future research with direct measures of govern- ance arrangements at the local level could identify which dimensions of complexity most strongly affect legibility. Administrative data on municipal governance structures, merged with individual- level survey data, would enable more precise tests of the theoretical mechanism. The analysis cannot distinguish among types of corruption or identify effects of specific govern- ance instruments. Whether the patterns observed apply equally to grand and petty corruption, to corruption in service delivery versus regulatory contexts, or to particular institutional forms such as public-private partnerships remains unknown. Disaggregated analyses focusing on specific govern- ance arrangements and corruption types would strengthen understanding of when and how legibil- ity deficits arise. Finally, the mechanism itself remains unobserved. The analysis tests implications of the legibil- ity framework rather than directly measuring attribution capacity or remediation attempts. Sur- vey experiments manipulating information about governance complexity and measuring attribution accuracy could provide more direct evidence. Qualitative research exploring how citizens actually attempt to pursue accountability when they perceive corruption would illuminate the remediation failure mechanism proposed here. Volume 12 Issue 1 (2026)V. 12 Polish Journalof Political ScienceBeyond Transparency: How Governance Complexity Shapes Corruption’s Political Consequences

  Keywords: corruption mechanism governance complexity future specific govern ance cannot observed citizens well perceive unobserved experiments
• Beyond Transparency: How Governance Complexity Shapes Corruption’s Political Consequences (2026) · doi

  Several limitations warrant acknowledgment before presenting results. The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference. The observed associations may reflect reverse causality, as citizens with lower well-being might perceive more corruption, or omitted variables that jointly influence corruption perception, well-being, and residential location. City size as a proxy does not isolate spe- cific governance mechanisms. Self-reported measures of both corruption perception and well-being are subject to various response biases. The analysis cannot distinguish among types of corruption or Volume 12 Issue 1 (2026)V. 12 Polish Journalof Political ScienceBeyond Transparency: How Governance Complexity Shapes Corruption’s Political Consequences 36 identify effects of specific governance instruments such as public-private partnerships. These limi- tations are addressed not through methodological solutions, which are unavailable given the data, but through interpretive caution. The contribution lies in identifying patterns consistent with the theoretical framework rather than establishing definitive causal effects.

  Keywords: corruption well governance causal perception political effects several limitations warrant acknowledgment presenting cross sectional design
• The Case for Considering Corruption as a Central Element of Governance: Institutional and Organizational Corruption and Complex Corruption Networks (2025) · doi

  This approach is insufficient because it does not address situations where corruption is a central element of the governance model, as a result of becoming a key factor in the decision-making process in public institutions and private organizations at the local, regional, national and international levels.

  Keywords: approach insufficient address situations corruption central element governance model result becoming factor decision making process
• Corruption and country size (2024) · doi

  The article raises the need for further studies into causal mechanisms of size by including more small states into international comparative research, turning attention to qualitative comparative studies, and taking a closer look at the link between socio-cultural factors of corruption and country size.

  Keywords: size comparative article raises need further causal mechanisms including small states international turning attention qualitative