A culture of corruption? : coping with government in post-communist Europe

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A culture of corruption? : coping with government in post-communist Europe

William L. Miller, Åse B. Grødeland, and Tatyana Y. Koshechkina

Central European University Press, 2001

  • : hard
  • : pbk

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Note

Bibliography: p. [347]-358

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hard ISBN 9789639116986

Description

Based upon surveys and interviews with government officials and citizens, this book focuses on issues such as bribery, corruption, inefficiency and freedom of information in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The authors go beyond an analysis of public perceptions and behaviour and look at public attitudes towards proposals for reform. They reveal how the problem of citizens' interactions with officials varies in kind as well as in degree across the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Table of Contents

List of Tables List of Figures Preface and Acknowledgements 1. Coping with Government: Democratic Ideals and Street-Level Bureaucrats The Democratic Ideal: A ‘Complete Democracy’ Should Public-Sector Corruption Be Condemned? Does Street-Level Corruption Matter? Do History and Culture Exclude the Possibility of Reform? Why Surveys? What Surveys? Plan of the Book Appendix: The Study Design Notes 2. Context: An Unfinished Transition The Democratisation of Local Government Privatisation and Restitution Economic and Moral Chaos The Political Context Public Perspectives on the Unfinished Transition Conclusion: Victims of a Necessary Transition Notes 3. Public Perceptions and Public Experience of Officials Public Perceptions of Politicians and Top Government Officials Public Perceptions of Street-Level Officials Public Perceptions of Comparative Corruption Public Perceptions of the Need to Use Contacts and Bribes Public Perceptions of Officials’ Motives and Feelings Public Experience of Dealing with Officials Experience of Being Treated with Respect Experience of Favourable Treatment Experience of Fair (or Unfair) Treatment Experience of Extortion The Most Frequent or Most Annoying Problems When Dealing with Street-Level Officials Public Satisfaction with Street-Level Officials Conclusion: Extremely Negative Perceptions, Moderately Negative Experiences Notes 4. Citizen Strategies for Dealing with Officials How Citizens in Focus-Groups Discussed Strategies for Dealing With Officials Different Strategies for Different Objectives: Fair Treatment or Favours Different Strategies in Gossip and Personal Experience Public Perceptions of the Strategies Needed to Deal with Officials: Gossip and Hearsay Personal Experience of Using Different Strategies: Reported Behaviour Combinations of Strategies Influences on Citizens’ Choice of Strategies All Strategies Correlate with Citizen Dissatisfaction Conclusion: Increased Argument, Not Bribery, Is the Main Response to Ill-Treatment Notes 5. Willing Givers? A Moral Imperative to Obey the Law? Public Condemnation of the Use of Contacts, Presents and Bribes A Permanent Part of Our Country’s History and Culture? Would Citizens Give Bribes If Asked, or Accept Them If Offered? Feelings about Giving Bribes: Happy, Angry, Worried or Ashamed? Public Experience of Actually Giving Presents and Bribes to Officials A Difference between Presents and Bribes? The Significance of Size, Timing and Motivation Did ‘Values and Norms’ Affect Behaviour? The Impact of Attempted Extortion The Independent Effects of Values and Extortion: A Regression Analysis Conclusion: Extortion Always Works, but Values Sometimes Moderate Its Impact Notes 6. ‘Try Harder’ or ‘Give Up’: The Choice for Ethnic Minorities? A General Curvilinear Model of Response to Stress Eight Diverse Minorities Negative Attitudes towards Ethnic Minorities: Cross-Country and Cross-Minority Comparisons Suspicions of Ethnic Discrimination Actual Experience of Biased Treatment Comparative International Perspectives Ethnic Values and Norms Ethnic Behaviour The ‘Ecological Effect’: The Impact of Context Conclusion: Most Ethnic Minorities Are Located in the ‘Try Harder’ Zone, but Gypsies in the ‘Give Up’ Zone, and Turks on the Boundary Appendix: The Ethnic Samples Notes 7. Street-Level Bureaucrats: Caught between State and Citizen Officials ‘As Citizens’--in Relation to Other Officials Officials ‘As Employees’--in Relation to the State Officials ‘As Officials’--in Relation to Their Clients How Did Their Experience ‘As Employees’ Affect Officials’ Relationships with Clients? Conclusion: Benign and Pernicious Institutional Cultures Notes 8. Willing Takers? Temptations, Excuses and Justifications Doubts, Fears and Inhibitions Confessions Opportunity and Motivation Why Did Some Officials Accept while Others Did Not? A Causal Model Conclusion: Bargaining Power Rather Than Poverty Leads to Bribe Taking Notes 9. A Culture of Corruption? Support, Priorities and Prospects for Reform Is Reform Possible? Perceptions of Government Commitment to Reform Expert Opinion: Six Prescriptions Public Opinion on Reform--As Expressed in Focus-Group Discussions A Ten-Item Menu of Reform: Public Opinion and the Reactions of Street-Level Officials Priorities: The Single Most Effective Reform Reform Packages Resistance to Reform Alternative Ways of Encouraging Officials Downsizing the State Training and Guidance Reform Itself As the Problem? Public Support for International Pressure Why Do People Within the Same Country Have Different Views About Reform? Diagnosis and Prescription Analytic Perspectives: Focusing Reforms on Situations Rather Than Participants Could ‘Glorious Summer’ Follow the ‘Winter of Discontent’? Notes Bibliography Index
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9789639116993

Description

Based upon surveys and interviews with government officials and citizens, this book focuses on issues such as bribery, corruption, inefficiency and freedom of information in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The authors go beyond an analysis of public perceptions and behaviour and look at public attitudes towards proposals for reform. They reveal how the problem of citizens' interactions with officials varies in kind as well as in degree across the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

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