Please note - this article was originally published on the id21 website which has now closed. This and other articles produced by id21 were archived by Eldis in 2009 and are not actively maintained. If you find links and references which are no longer valid please email eldis@ids.ac.uk.

Presents and bribes: rubbing along with government in eastern Europe

Has corruption replaced oppression as the main threat to the rule of law in post-communist Europe? How do the rulers and the ruled interact in eastern Europe? How widespread is the offer or soliciting of bribes and gifts? Does street-level corruption matter?

A publication from the University of Glasgow, based on extensive interviews with thousands of civil servants and the general public in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, takes a hard look at the gap between democratic ideals and performance in post-communist Europe and the prospects for reform.

The findings highlight the corruptibility of both citizens and officials in the face of extortion or temptation. Although almost universally condemned, bribery is very widely practised. While western analysts see the use of money, presents and favours as a legacy of communism, the public sees corruption as a product of the transition to a market economy, an irksome problem that is growing. In all four countries the public judge that the principal beneficiaries of the transition have been politicians, civil servants and the mafia. Only two percent of those surveyed think that ordinary citizens have been the principal beneficiaries.

Other findings in this detailed study include:

Two thirds of those surveyed in Ukraine said they did not expect fair treatment in their day-to-day dealings with government officials. In the former Czechoslovakia one in three (by way of comparison, one in six in Britain) expect to be dealt with unfairly by officialdom.
There is a very widespread perception that officials treat clients of their own nationality or ethnic group better than other clients.
In order to overcome prejudice, ethnic minorities are more likely than majority populations to use contacts and bribes.
It is not only citizens who feel themselves the victims of circumstances. Officials complain that they are underpaid and unprotected against clients who threaten violence.
Three quarters of civil servants working in health services feel justified in charging their clients for extra or faster service.
While those who give to doctors and nurses may sometimes be grateful, those who give to police and customs officials are usually indignant.

The person in the street and the person behind the desk both reject the notion of an immutable culture of corruption. It is generally accepted, though not widely anticipated, that determined government action, and improved civil service salaries, could root it out. Among pointers for the future which emerge from the study are:

The collapse of the Italian political system under the weight of corruption gave hope to eastern Europeans that similar exposés could bring change in their countries.
There is widespread local support for international pressure to be applied to eastern European governments to reduce corruption.
Even in states like Russia and Ukraine, which have reacted the most indignantly to foreign suggestions that their public sectors are corrupt, the effect of external criticism has been positive in highlighting the issue and adding more transparency.

Source(s):
‘A culture of corruption: coping with government in post-communist Europe’ by William L. Miller, Ase B. Grodeland and Tatyana Y. Koshechkina, Central European University Press: Budapest, 2001

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

id21 Research Highlight: 16 May 2001

Further Information:
William L. Miller
Department of Politics
Adam Smith Building
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8RT
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 141 330 5980
Fax: +44 (0) 141 330 5071
Contact the contributor: W.L.Miller@socsci.gla.ac.uk

Department of Politics, Glasgow University, UK

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DfID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Articles featured on the id21 site may be copied or quoted without restriction provided id21 and originating author(s) and institution(s) are acknowledged. Copyright © 2009 IDS. All rights reserved.

id21 is funded by the UK Department for International Development. id21 is one of a family of knowledge services at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. id21 is a www.oneworld.net partner and an affiliate of www.mediachannel.org. IDS is a charitable company, No. 877338.