Trends in perception of corruption in a developing democracy

Abstract

This paper aims to study individual observational data (education, media consumption, gender, age, region, urban or rural dwellers, personal well-being, social trust, political trust, and interest in politics) and their influences on perceptions of trends in corruption in Nigeria. Perceptions of trends in corruption or corruption worse under previous military regimes or under present democratic dispensation is measured based on Afrobarometer survey responses to questions on political corruption in Nigeria. Descriptive statistics provided background information on the sample, while ordered probit logistics regression were used to examines the impact of responses on perceptions of corruption under different governments in Nigeria. The findings shows that in Nigeria, perceptions of corruption under different regimes result from ethnic fragmentation, personal satisfaction, social trust, trusting of the president, and interest in politics. The study also finds that statistically significant variables have the probability to strongly influence perceptions of corruption under different regimes in Nigeria. Although this study does not claim to provide all the answers on trends in corruption, it forms a basis to which research on perceptions of corruption can be extended. Giving the limitation of this study, it is recommended that there is a need for better data in sub-Saharan Africa. Key words: Corruption, political corruption, perceptions of corruption, trends in corruption, bribery.