This paper proposes that corruption results from particular historical and socialconditions. Specifically, it sustains that the stability and credibility of a society’s institutional system, the perception of a shared fate by most members of society, the levels of inequality and the perception of fair opportunities for personal progress are all elements that may deter or promote corruption. In order to show the association between these social conditions and corruption we analyse socially and historically the way that state agents such as the police, members of the judiciary and the political system relate to each other and to normal citizens. Although the examples are taken from the argentine context, they constitute a tool to understand, heuristically, why corruption is prominent in many parts of the underdeveloped world.