Public Perception Of Corruption Research Articles

The Role of Education in the Public Perception of Corruption in Sudan and Zimbabwe

In this article, we investigated the role education plays in public detection, reaction and opposition to widespread political corruption in Sudan and Zimbabwe. To do this, the 2019 Afrobarometer survey data were used in examining the hypothesis that educational level has an impact on citizens’ perceptions of corruption in the two countries using a two-sample test for equality of proportions and bivariate statistics. We found that although educational level shapes corruption detection, reaction and opposition in Zimbabwe, it does not do so in Sudan. The research fills a gap in previous studies by providing an explanation for the ways in which differences in educational attributes shape perceptions of corruption in two sub-Saharan African countries with a history of widespread corruption. Based on the findings, we recommended that stakeholders in both countries prioritise improving the quality of political education and making such education more accessible to citizens, particularly in Sudan.

Public Perceptions of Corruption in East Asia: A Comparative Study of Japan, Singapore, and South Korea

Public Perceptions of Corruption in East Asia: A Comparative Study of Japan, Singapore, and South Korea

UNDERSTANDING THE ‘SHADOW ECONOMY’ IN SMES – A MALPRACTICE FROM INDONESIA, 2009-2020

<p>Concerns about the shadow economy in Indonesia, estimated to have hurt GDP by around 25% per year. We try to calculate the effect of the components involved in tax revenue caused by the shadow economy because we projected it to hinder the growth of SMEs. It aimed the orientation at Indonesia. We got data coverage from official institutions of national and international related to variable limits. We observe the development in the period 2009-2020, which requires linear regression analysis methods and non-linear logistic regression. The results confirm that among the six hypotheses we propose, five hypotheses are acceptable, i.e. FDI has a significant effect on the share of SMEs, corruption perceptions and control of corruption have a significant effect on income and profit taxes, then it also has a significant effect on the shadow economy, and the shadow economy also has an effect significant to tax revenue. From other findings, only the share of SMEs has no significant effect on income and profit taxes. The added value of this empirical finding can reduce the weaknesses of previous studies that predominantly consider financial (tax) and economic dimensions so that variables such as SMEs, corruption control, and public perceptions of corruption.</p>

The interconnection between generalized trust and corruption practices of the population (results of sociological research in Altai Krai)

The relevance of the topic is determined by the importance of the category of generalized trust, which is recognized, within the framework of the concept of social capital, as the foundation for developing the attitude of trust as «a priori benevolence», which can later be considered as the basis for reducing the corruption practices of the population. The low degree and lack of generalized trust can generate a calm attitude towards corruption and facilitate the participation of the population in corrupt activities. A high degree of trust in an individual contributes to confidence in the actions carried out by them, their compliance with established norms, rules or agreements, due to which the likelihood of the implementation of corrupt actions is minimized. This duality of the relationship between corruption and trust is explained by the existence of different forms and levels of trust in society, when different types of trust play their «role». The purpose of the study is to identify the presence of interconnection of generalized trust and corruption in the Altai Krai’s society. The basis of this article consists of integrative theoretical and methodological background, which includes concepts of theories of trust and of corruptogenicity of a society. The novelty of the research lies in the identification of possible points of interdependence of social trust and corruption in society. The article focuses on the sociological analysis of corruption practices and public perceptions of corruption. The level of coverage of everyday corruption and the degree of generalized trust among the population of Altai Krai were determined based on the results of a sociological survey of the urban and rural population aged 18 to 70 years (n = 1200). Corrupt practices of the population are presented in the work by the level of involvement of the population in everyday corruption for the sixteen proposed situations of contacting state authorities. The hypotheses about the presence of interconnection/dependence between generalized trust and corrupt practices were tested. For some figures, a connection was found between socio-demographic characteristics, the degree of generalized trust, the coverage of domestic corruption and its demand. The dependence of some corrupt practices on generalized trust were also revealed. The authors have used regression analysis in the present research.

A free lunch from the EU? Public perceptions of corruption in cohesion policy expenditure in post-communist EU member states

ABSTRACT Under the EU’s cohesion policy, post-communist member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are amongst the largest recipients of European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds. This article focuses on popular narratives of corruption and abuse in the allocation of the funds in the ‘new’ member states. Specifically, it aims to investigate how citizens perceive and evaluate the origins and motivations of the EU for providing the funds, the abuse affecting these resources, and who they blame for the misuse, relying on focus group discussions in Hungary, Romania and Slovenia. Popular narratives indicate that citizens perceive cohesion policy implementation as intertwined with grand corruption. While national political elites are considered as the main culprit, EU institutions are also seen as failing in their duties. These findings are significant because perceived EU inaction against grand corruption undermines notions of European solidarity and damages the EU’s credibility and legitimacy.

ANTICORRUPTION MARKERS IN POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF UKRAINIANS: SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Problem setting. Assessments of perception and attitude towards corruption are the basis of most of the monitoring of anticorruption potential in the world as well as in Ukraine. They are most often the subject of scientific discourse. However, unresolved issues are related not so much to the measurement as to the factors that determine the peculiarities of the perception of corruption.Analysis of actual research. The problem of corruption was widely studied in the works of such prominent Western scholars as G. Broadman, G. Davos, D. Kaufman, P. Mauro, V. Miller, S. Rose-Exerman, V. Dances, E. Tebaldi, J. Helman, M. Horton et al. Among the Russian and Ukrainian researchers, corruption problems should be mentioned by L. Bagryi- Shakhmatov, O. Baranovsky, A. Bovu, Y. Kuzminov, M. Melnyk, T. Koshechkin and others like that. Issues of effective prevention and counteraction of corruption, implementation of anticorruption policy, cooperation between civil society and authorities in combating corruption were investigated by Ukrainian researchers such as VMartynenko, A. Mikhnenko, E. Makarenko, S. Kravchenko, O. Sosnin, Yu. Kannish, E. Nevmerzhitsky and many others.The purpose of this article is the analysis the factors that determine the peculiarities of perceptions of corruption in Ukraine and thus explain the phenomenon of low anti­corruption potential.Presenting the main material. Corruption counteraction requires definite and consistent ideas about the essence and forms of corrupt behavior. In other words, in the course of development and implementation of a national anticorruption policy, it is important to consider existing standards or stereotypes in the understanding of corruption. People rely on such standards in their assessments of various dimensions of corruption, which, sometimes, differ from a legislative vision of the essence and forms of corruption entirely. In the countries where the process of implementation of the international anticorruption conventions containing fundamental or model descriptions of elements of corruption crimes has not been completed, the picture is even more complicated. For instance, prior to June 2009 (the first attempt to pass «the anticorruption package»), only an insignificant number of administrative offences was classified as corruption under the Ukrainian law. At the same time, various types of actions were regarded as corruption both by the public and by politicians.From a legal standpoint, there is presumed knowledge of the law. In other words, for the purposes of law enforcement, it is presumed that every citizen is aware of the types of actions that are considered corruption crimes or administrative corruption offences in a given society. However, social reality considerably deviates from the regulatory model of the anticorruption laws. Besides, the problem in this case is much more complex than a mere knowledge of respective legal provisions.Conclusions. In the public opinion, corruption may take various forms; and a model described in an anticorruption law is not always acceptable for people. Moreover, there are types of actions that look like corruption but are not corruption from a legal perspective; conversely, circumstances that may not look corrupt atfirst sight are corruption under the law. It is very important to determine how respondents understand corruption and how they distinguish its various forms in specific everyday situations. From a socio cultural perspective, perceived assessments of corruption depend on the public conceptions of corruption.The problem has received essentially no attention in the studies conducted in Ukraine. To an extent, an explanation could be that there were no legal experts in the research groups carrying these surveys out and that the conceptions of sociologists in respect of corruption were, at best, incomplete or superficial, because they covered only most common forms of corrupt conduct, i.e. bribery and abuse of power. Legal subtleties associated with the definition of offenders, elements of crime, types of liability and correlation between moral and legal aspects etc. have been left without attention of the methodology designers.In this case, these findings could be used as «background information» in the interpretation offindings received in respect of the public perceptions of corruption and the extent of involvement in corrupt relations.

Anti-corruption efforts, public perception of corruption, and government credibility in the field of real estate: An empirical analysis based on twelve provinces in China

Anti-corruption campaigns in China have spread rapidly throughout the field of real estate. This study measures the influence of anti-corruption efforts on public perceptions of corruption and government credibility. Based on data from twelve Chinese provinces, anti-corruption efforts, public perception of corruption, and government credibility in the field of real estate are used as variables in an empirical framework, and then analyzed with a detailed discussion of the influence of anti-corruption measures wield on the perception of corruption and political trust. The results indicate that public perception of corruption affects attitudes towards government credibility, anti-corruption efforts mitigate damage in public trust towards the central government but do not significantly mitigate damage in the trust towards provincial governments, and anti-corruption efforts fail to repair political trust effectively. Based on the results, three policy implications emerge: (1) anti-corruption efforts should be further improved as an important method for maintaining the health of the ruling party and as a method for winning public support, (2) the government should increase diversified efforts at curbing corruption, innovate anti-corruption mechanisms, and expand public participation in anti-corruption efforts, and (3) anti-corruption efforts should be strengthened by making anti-corruption an important goal of new real estate regulation.

Distrust in Utopia? Public Perceptions of Corruption and Political Support in Iceland before and after the Financial Crisis of 2008

In the middle of the first decade of the twenty-first century Iceland was ranked as the least corrupt country in the world by Transparency International and enjoyed top positions in most comparative indices of governance and development. In 2008 the banking system collapsed and the country found itself in a serious financial crisis, a crisis which some observers believe was caused by clientelism and other forms of behaviour related to corruption. This article sets out to analyse how the crisis affected general political support and, in particular, the importance of perceptions of corruption in that process. Using survey data we show that political support plummeted after the crisis and that public evaluations of the extent of corruption became the most important determinant of support. The results have implications for how we ought to approach the issue of corruption, even in so-called ‘least corrupt’ settings. The findings also call into question the validity and reliability of frequently used measures of corruption and governance.

The Public Perception of Police Corruption in Venezuela and its Effect on National Government

It is not surprising that many citizens of Latin American countries believe public officials are corrupt. Decades of authoritarian rule, crime, and highly publicized corruption scandals have reduced confidence in many, if not all, government institutions. The public perception of corruption in Venezuela however, presents an intriguing case. Traditional explanations—economic factors, regime stability, and quality of life—are unable to account for the high levels of perceived corruption in government. This author argues, the public perception of police corruption strongly influences the perception of corruption in national government in Venezuela. Using OLS regression, the author statistical analyzes national-level Latinobarómetro data from 2002-2010. The results indicate a strong, significant relationship between perception of police and government corruption.

Public Perceptions of Corruption and Anti-Corruption Reform in the Western Balkans

Public Perceptions of Corruption and Anti-Corruption Reform in the Western Balkans

Public Perceptions of Corruption and Anti-Corruption Reform in the Western Balkans

Public Perceptions of Corruption and Anti-Corruption Reform in the Western Balkans

Buying the Electorate: An Empirical Study of the Current Campaign Finance Landscape and How the Supreme Court Erred by Not Revisiting Citizens United

The article discusses how the Supreme Court erred by summarily reversing the Montana Supreme Court’s decision in Western Tradition Partnership v. AG and not revisiting their holding in Citizens United v. FEC. The article begins by discussing the holding in the Western Tradition Partnership case and analyzing both the majority and dissenting opinions. The article then analyzes how the Montana Supreme Court distinguished Citizens United, with the Court specifically looking at the “unique” political history in Montana and finding that Montana’s ban on corporate independent political spending served a compelling state interest and was narrowly tailored to that interest. The article then transitions into an empirical study of the current campaign finance landscape by specifically looking at: states’ unique histories of corruption, the lack of transparency with regard to corporate political expenditures, the public perception of corruption in corporate political spending practices, the independence of super PACs, the influence of political dark money and 501(c)(4) organizations being used to circumvent campaign finance laws, and the use of shell corporations to circumvent campaign finance disclosure rules and Federal tax laws. The article concludes by listing additional arguments in favor of the Supreme Court revisiting Citizens United including: the breadth of the First Amendment, the idea of corporations being “creatures of the state,” the ability of PACs to allow corporate political participation, the issue of a state’s power to exclude foreign corporations from participation in their democratic political institutions, shareholder protection, the treatment of public unions, and the Supreme Court’s history of altering constitutional doctrine when its understanding of the doctrine’s factual underpinnings no longer appear to be accurate.

Auditing Nicaragua’s anti-corruption struggle, 1998 to 2009

BackgroundFour social audits in 1998, 2003, 2006 and 2009 identified actions that Nicaragua could take to reduce corruption and public perception in primary health care and other key services.MethodsIn a 71-cluster sample, weighted according to the 1995 census and stratified by geographic region and settlement type, we audited the same five public services: health centres and health posts, public primary schools, municipal government, transit police and the courts. Some 6,000 households answered questions about perception and personal experience of unofficial and involuntary payments, payments without obtaining receipts or to the wrong person, and payments "to facilitate" services in municipal offices or courts. Additional questions covered complaints about corruption and confidence in the country's anti-corruption struggle. Logistic regression analyses helped clarify local variations and explanatory variables. Feedback to participants and the services at both national and local levels followed each social audit.ResultsUsers' experience of corruption in health services, education and municipal government decreased. The wider population's perception of corruption in these sectors decreased also, but not as quickly. Progress among traffic police faltered between 2006 and 2009 and public perception of police corruption ticked upwards in parallel with drivers' experience. Users' experience of corruption in the courts worsened over the study period -- with the possible exception of Managua between 2006 and 2009 -- but public perception of judicial corruption, after peaking in 2003, declined from then on. Confidence in the anti-corruption struggle grew from 50% to 60% between 2003 and 2009. Never more than 8% of respondents registered complaints about corruption.Factors associated with public perception of corruption were: personal experience of corruption, quality of the service itself, and the perception that municipal government takes community opinion into account and keeps people informed about how it uses public funds.ConclusionsLowering citizens' perception of corruption in public services depends on reducing their experience of it, on improving service quality and access and -- perhaps most importantly -- on making citizens feel they are well-informed participants in the work of government.

See No Evil: Heterogeneity in Public Perceptions of Corruption

Abstract.This paper investigates how people form perceptions about corruption. By combining survey data with system-level indicators in 30 countries, the author first explores the relationship between elite and mass evaluations of corruption. Furthermore, the author tests a series of hypotheses pertaining to how individual-level factors, such as political allegiances, personal economic conditions and education may influence people's perceptions. The findings reveal that mass assessments of corruption track closely those of the elites. In addition, more economically fortunate individuals and those who supported the government in the previous election tend to be less critical of corruption. The effect of education is contingent on a country's level of corruption. Specifically, more educated citizens in “cleaner” countries do not see as much corruption as their less educated counterparts. However, this difference is substantively modest.Résumé.Cet article étudie la façon dont le public établit sa perception de la corruption. En utilisant conjointement les informations données par les enquêtes d'opinion et par les indicateurs de pointage de 30 pays, l'auteur va d'abord explorer les évaluations de la corruption des élites et celles de la masse populaire. De plus, l'auteur va tester une série d'hypothèses concernant la façon dont la perception du public est influencée par des facteurs personnels, l'appartenance politique par exemple, ou par la situation économique personnelle ou l'éducation. Les résultats révèlent que les jugements de la masse sur la corruption suivent de près ceux des élites. De plus, les individus plus fortunés ou ceux qui ont voté pour le gouvernement aux dernières élections ont tendance à se montrer moins critiques au sujet de la corruption. L'effet de l'éducation est aléatoire quant au niveau de corruption d' un pays. En particulier, dans les pays considérés comme les plus « propres », les citoyens plus éduqués constatent moins la corruption que ceux qui sont moins éduqués. La différence cependant est extrêmement modeste.

Public Perceptions of Corruption in the Military in Europe and the Rest of the World

This paper presents the results of the Global Corruption Barometer Survey 2006 and 2007 as they relate to the military, showing that globally the military is regarded as relatively corruption-free compared with other institutions such as political parties and parliaments. Only religious bodies and NGOs benefit from more favourable perceptions. The most positive perceptions of the military are found in Western Europe, while the least favourable are found in Africa, Latin America and Newly Independent States. The disaggregated results also reveal broad variation in perceptions by country, with some surprising scores thrown up. The analysis is enriched by context the local perspectives, provided by anti-corruption experts.

Effects of the Institutional Design of the Civil Service: Evidence from Corruption

ABSTRACT This research tests the direct effects of civil service structure on perceptions of corruption. Numerous studies suggest a relationship between civil service structure and corruption, but few test this link. It is hypothesized that corruption depends on the presence or absence of civil service policies, including job duties, tenure and security provisions, discipline policy, and rules on rewards and bargaining rights; the impact of government wages, per capita GDP, and democratization on corruption is also assessed. These hypotheses are tested using World Bank data for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and central and eastern European countries. No statistically significant relationships between civil service structure and corruption are found; however, occasional evidence that corruption is higher in countries with higher total government wage bills was obtained. Results additionally indicate that corruption is lower in countries with higher GDP. While the conclusions presented here are largely exploratory, there is a distinct lack of evidence indicating a relationship between civil service systems and public perceptions of corruption.

Why was democracy lost in Russia's regions? Lessons from Nizhnii Novgorod

The phenomenon of crony capitalism has been explored primarily with reference to its impact on economic growth. This study investigates the political implications of crony capitalism and, specifically, the interaction between political competition and crony capitalism. Based on a case study of a political trajectory in one of the regions of the Russian Federation, I argue that under crony capitalism political competition can undermine the legitimacy of state authorities and such democratic institution as the electoral mechanism. Played out in public during the electoral campaigns unrestricted political competition uncovers the predatory nature of crony elites engaged in struggle for power and wealth and increases public perceptions of corruption.

President Gloria Macapagal‐Arroyo's anti‐corruption strategy in the Philippines an evaluation

Fighting corruption has been one of the priority issues for President Gloria Macapagal‐Arroyo for the past five years. Faster‐paced and result‐oriented implementation of anti‐corruption projects did bring some tangible results. There are new laws and executive and administrative orders related to anti‐corruption which have been passed. New strategies during her second term such as strengthening anti‐corruption agencies, more social value formation at the national level, and the use of e‐procurement in the government system, show encouraging signs for success. However, despite the effort and achievement, the public perception of corruption and sincerity of the government performance in fighting corruption remains unchanged or has even worsened. Is it due to lack of political will? Does this mean that the government is losing the war on corruption? The answers are complex, but two important reasons are the slow progress to improve the country's economy and the ineffectiveness of the government which has resulted in a negative public perception. The government needs to gain more public confidence so that the anti‐corruption reforms will strengthen good governance and make it accountable.

Police and the Community in Russia

The relationship between police and the public is an old and complicated problem. In Russia, the last centuries show that these relations were not idyllic. The increase of crimes after the Second World War, fear of crime, and moral panic activated a search for effective methods of social control over crime. But a partnership between police and the community remains improbable in contemporary Russia. This paper presents the result of the fourth stage of the study, The Population and the Police in a Large City (1999–2002). The study identified fairly stable crime rates, but a considerable problem of under‐reporting to police. Those who did contact police tended to be satisfied with the response, but detainees were critical of police treatment and there were also worrying levels of public perceptions of corruption. There was also little evidence of the systematic application of the community policing philosophy, suggesting the need for a much more organized strategy to implement community policing.

Perceptions of Corruption and Campaign Finance: When Public Opinion Determines Constitutional Law

This study tests the empirical assumptions about American public opinion found in the Supreme Court’s opinions concerning campaign finance reform. The area of campaign finance is a unique one in First Amendment law because the Court has allowed the mere appearance of a problem (in this case, “corruption”) to justify the curtailment of recognized First Amendment rights of speech and association. Since Buckley v. Valeo, defendants in campaign finance cases have proffered various types of evidence to support the notion that the public perceives a great deal of corruption produced by the campaign finance system. Most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, in which the Court upheld the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, both the Department of Justice and the plaintiffs conducted and submitted into evidence public opinion polls measuring the public’s perception of corruption. This article examines the data presented in that case, but also examines forty years of survey data of public attitudes toward corruption in government. We argue that trends in public perception of corruption may have little to do with the campaign finance system. The share of the population describing government as corrupt went down even as soft money contributions skyrocketed. Moreover, the survey data suggest that an individual’s perception of corruption derives to some extent from that person’s (1) position in society (race, income, education level); (2) opinion of the incumbent President and performance of the economy over the previous year; (3) attitudes concerning taxation and “big government”; and (4) propensity to trust other people, in general. Although we conclude