Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited Work Package: WP4

This project is co-funded by the

Seventh Framework Programme for

Research and Technological

Development of the European Union

EU Grant Agreement number: 290529

Project acronym: ANTICORRP

Project title: Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited

Work Package: WP4, The anthropological study of corruption practices and

ideas

Title of deliverable: D4.1) Report on institutional performance and corruption in the

case studies.

Countries: Bosnia, Kosovo, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Tanzania, Turkey.

Due date of deliverable: 30 June, 2014

Actual submission date: 30 June, 2014

(Authors): WP4

Organization name of lead beneficiary for this deliverable: University of Bergamo, Italy

Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme

Dissemination Level

PU Public X

PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)

RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)

Co

Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)

2

Comparative country reports on institutional performance

Davide Torsello, University of Bergamo

June 28-6-2014

ABSTRACT

The report draws on ethnographic research undertaken in 8 countries object of investigation

by the WP partners, namely: Italy, Hungary, Bosnia, Russia, Turkey, Kosovo, Tanzania and

Mexico. In addition, an additional chapter (Annex 2) will render the case of Japan which will

serve as a contrast case on which to assess ideas and practices of governance and institutional

performance through an anthropological perspective. The report includes data gathered

through a questionnaire survey undertaken, with minor differences, in all the eight countries

included in WP4. The data analyzed comparatively refer to three main fields: perceived and

experienced performance of local institutions, local problem and resolution ideas, socio-

cultural norms and values. We have identified, following the anthropological literature, a

number of cultural issues that are in relation with corruption, or with local citizens’

experiences of the functioning of public institutions in their countries. This first deliverable

constitutes an attempt to draw some preliminary conclusions on the interaction between socio-

cultural features and governance (both as experienced and perceived) which will be further

and ethnographically explored in the final deliverable of this Working Package.

KEYWORDS Trust, institutional performance, local issues, corruption, values, social norms, culture, anthropology \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ © 2014 UNIBG, UCL, IKS, HAT, BIG All rights reserved. This document has been published thanks to the support of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for Research - Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities theme (EU Grant Agreement number: 290529). The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) only and do not reflect any collective opinion of the ANTICORRP consortium, nor do they reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the European Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information.

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Section One: Executive Summary

Introduction

This report constitutes the first deliverable submitted by Working Package 4, “The

ethnographic studies of corruption practices and ideas”, led by Davide Torsello,

Università degli Studi di Bergamo (Italy).

The report draws on ethnographic research undertaken in 8 countries object of

investigation by the WP partners, namely: Italy, Hungary, Bosnia, Russia, Turkey,

Kosovo, Tanzania and Mexico. In addition, an additional chapter (Annex 2) will

render the case of Japan which will serve as a contrast case on which to assess ideas

and practices of governance and institutional performance through an anthropological

perspective. Since this is the first deliverable of WP4, the results which here

presented need not to be considered as final, because they constitute an initial

analytical framework in which to situate the institutional and public (citizens’)

perspective on the case studied. In-depth ethnographic accounts of corruption and

anti-corruption in the countries under investigation will constitute material for the

second and final deliverable of this package, to be submitted in March 2015.

Methodology

In order to deal with the initial challenge of integrating results from 8 different

countries located in three continents, and characterized by extremely different social

conditions, cultural features and institutional apparatuses, we have decided to adopt a

common survey. The WP partners have developed a survey questionnaire that would

serve as a common research tool through which to collect data for undertaking a

comparative analysis of the countries under investigation. The survey, which contains

particular adjustments for each country when needed is included in Annex 1.

The main outcome expected after the development of the common WP4 questionnaire

survey was to develop a comparable set of data which would focus on three main

elements:

- perception and experience of local citizens of institutional performance,

- social norms and values related to corruption,

- cultural practices that may underpin corruption.

For this purpose, the survey played an important role, which must be understood in

the context of anthropological field research.

Anthropology distinguished itself among most of the social science disciplines as one

in which the bottom-up research approach is preferred. If this discipline is mainly

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inductive in nature, i.e. it departs from the data collected on the ground to generalize

and compare with the use of theory, this depends on the main focus it has, in the

different topics and fields of investigation, on the people studied rather than on

processes of institutional transformation or on abstract aggregate data. However,

studying such a complex phenomenon such as corruption (and its opposite integrity)

from a bottom-up perspective is not an easy endeavor, as several anthropologists have

pointed out (Parry 2000, Pardo 2004, Blundo 2006, Nujten and Anders 2007, Torsello

2012). One point that needs to be stressed is that the main tool of ethnographic field

research, i.e. participant observation, is a difficult endeavor in anthropological

research (Torsello 2011).

We have individuated in the survey questionnaire an optimal solution for pursuing the

goal of this deliverable for a number of specific reasons. First, this questionnaire is

not aimed to achieve statistical significance, since it is operated with an average of

110 respondents in each countries, but it serves as a tool for gaining comparable

evidence on the citizens’ perspectives of the issues described above. Indeed, the

content of the questions (ANNEX 1) is more aimed to gain qualitative than

quantitative data in all the countries under investigation. However, rather than

providing a quantitative evidence which for many of the topics covered in this survey

would not have been achievable (see for instance the scenarios on integrity

dilemmas), the survey has allowed the researcher to interact with common citizens

and to establish a way to ask for their opinions, rather than focusing on existing

indicators and statistical data.

Secondly, the survey touches all fields in which citizens encounter public institutions

in their daily life. This constitutes, to our view, a strength of this methodology

because it has allowed the researcher to test the respondents’ perception as well as

experience of the interrelation with such institutions, which is at the basis of

corruption practices. As seen above, the two sections on trust in public institutions

and experience of bad or good service with them are what render best our approach.

Thirdly, the survey, in its second half, expressively deals with some of the socio-

cultural dimensions of corruption in the sample of countries. Drawing on the growing

anthropology literature on corruption (see Torsello’s bibliography in WP1), we have

decided to isolate a number of factors that anthropologists (and after them sociologists

and political scientists) have seen in relation with or affecting corruption ideas and

practices. These are: gift, reciprocity, favor exchange, informality, patronage,

hospitality and conviviality. Of course, each of these factors should be

contextualized and researched through a long-term field research, but this for a

number of our partners is unfeasible, due to their time and budget limits, and also to

the large scope of this WP which covers 9 countries. Hence, we have decided to

develop a tool that, to some extent quantitatively, but mostly qualitatively, deals with

these factors in a comparable way. The extensive treatment of existing

anthropological and ethnographic literature on the surveyed countries will be inserted

as a theoretical section of our final deliverable of D4.2.

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Fourthly, in this deliverable we are presenting the point of view of citizens, not

necessarily that of specialized personnel, practitioners or actors who deal with

integrity and anti-corruption in their everyday. This will be the content of our final

deliverable. Again, the anthropological perspective, which aims at establishing socio-

culturally significant nexuses between public perception and experience with local

institutions, has led us to select the survey as the most effective tools through which

“penetrating” into the ideas and judgments of common citizens. Because of the

complexity of the notion of corruption and of the high specialized knowledge that is

needed in order to go beyond a banalized and “scandalistic” view of its incidence on

the local society, we believe that only a consistent and comparable investigation of

the perceived and real interaction between citizens and public institution can provide

us with meaningful information to support the existing data on quality of governance.

Main findings

In this section we summarize some of the main findings of the comparative analysis

of the survey questionnaires on the countries above. The second part of the

deliverable, Section Two, contains the integrated comparative analysis of the survey

in the eight countries. Finally, Section Three includes the single country reports and

the survey questionnaire.

Institutional performance

With regards for perceived and experienced performance of local institutions, the

survey results have identified a number of trends. The list of public institution that

have commonly made part of the survey in all country is as follow:

- Village/municipality

- District council

- Ruling party (coalition)

- Opposition parties

- (Public) Healthcare services

- (Public) educational institutions

- Religious authorities

- Police

- Judicial authorities

- Tax offices

- Media

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- Local social/cultural associations

- NGOs

- International donor/funding organizations

- EU

1. The most important local institutions (Question 5) were in the surveys

identified as: healthcare providers, the municipality/village and police. Only in

the case of Italy regional authorities were deemed more important than the

police. In Mexico religious authorities are more important than

municipal/village institutions, whereas in Tanzania local associations score

first, followed by NGOs (but not international organizations) and healthcare

providers.

2. The least important institutions are, on the other hand: religious authorities

(save for Mexico), opposition parties and international donor organizations.

The EU scores low, but not among the three lowest institutions in all surveyed

countries.

3. The level of trust in public institutions followed a roughly similar pattern than

the importance of institutions, with highest absolute scores for: educational

institutions, healthcare providers and local associations, followed by the

police. Interestingly, when it comes to trust the municipality and governing

coalitions, although deemed as important, did not score high (and indeed in

some cases low). Among the least trusted institutions are: media, government

coalition, tax offices and the EU (Hungary, Turkey). As a general trend, the

countries with low levels of institutional trust are Kosovo, Bosnia and

Hungary, whereas those with mid-high levels are Turkey and Mexico.

4. The findings on trust in local institutions are not to be assessed alone, as they

can be tested with those related with the respondents’ experiences of good or

bad performance of the surveyed institutions. With regards to this point there

is a degree of ambivalence in answers, as for many countries the experience of

good is also accompanied by bad services in those institutions that are deemed

as the most important in the life of citizens, particular for: healthcare

providers, municipal authorities and the police. The only notable exception is

educational institutions, which do not score among those in which bad

experiences are also to be noticed. This finding is significant since it stresses

the idea that trust, or expected competence of the most relevant public

institutions is often not accompanied by significant positive experiences with

the performance of these same. This trend, registered in many of the surveyed

countries, may be an indicator not only of concern for the efficiency of

governance, but also as a signal that in some particular fields as those in which

ambivalence is registered, other practices may operate in order to override the

losses deriving from poor institutional performance.

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5. In dealing with institutions, one assumption that has been developed in the

anthropological literature is that corruption is also fostered by a lack of

perception of the difference between public and private offices, as this relates

to the common definition of this phenomenon. A question of the survey tested

this assumption, asking to individuate public officers among a given list

(except for Turkey and Russia, where respondents indicated this question as

not relevant). This assumption is confuted by the gathered data, as the

distinction private-public officers is clear to mostly all respondents. Some grey

areas remain from the occupational categories: journalist, attorney and

professor. This is related to the fact that in some countries these categories

may more easily belong to national organizations.

6. Corruption was present among the most significant local problems as

perceived by respondents, although with significant differences. Tanzania,

Bosnia and Kosovo showed extremely high scores with this regard, followed,

at much lower scores, by Italy and Hungary. In Mexico, Russia and Turkey

corruption was scarcely mentioned.

7. An important finding, that relates back to how citizens perceive and

experience the performance of local institutions, is the one coming from the

questions that test how disservice within such institutions can be resolved, if

by formal means (denounces, trying several times or avoiding of dealing with

such institutions) or informal ones (from asking for mediation of

acquaintances or persons holding offices, to eventually bringing gifts to

officers or even paying fees). If we aggregate the results of the formal and

informal practices in two categories it emerges that informal practices are

dominant as the preferred resolution way in all countries, with peaks in

Tanzania (80%) of cases, Kosovo and Hungary and with the only case in

which formal ways are preferred to informal being Italy (79%). This suggests

that local citizens are widely aware that in presence of an ambivalence

between the salience of local institutions and the experienced poor services of

some of them the remaining option is to resort to personal networks and

informal practices. This perception can easily lead to practices in which

corruption is present, even though it need to be tested with the existence of

ideas and judgments about the socio-cultural importance of such practices.

8. Another aspect that relates to the dominance of informal practices in almost all

the surveyed countries is the question whether citizens are aware of the

damages against good societies of practices that can be relatable to corruption

(e.g. buying votes during elections, nepotism, giving gifts to public officers,

influencing media and so on). The results are very mixed and contextual,

proving that: 1) there is no absolute marker for defining what in a country

constitutes a perceived damage to governance and societal wellbeing, 2)

electoral corruption and nepotism at job market level are the only universally

recognized bad practices, 3) paying extra fees to have documents sorted out

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quickly is considered a bad practice only in Italy and Turkey, 4) bringing gifts

to solve bureaucracy inefficiencies is not seen as a negative practice.

9. The third part of the survey aimed to test what are the socio-cultural norms

and values that underlie citizens’ perceptions and experiences with public

institutions. In this part three sub-section can be individuates: the first deals

with socio-cultural norms that are clustered in the three categories of

sociability, personal security and informality/corruption; the second

individuates respondents’ attitudes towards scenarios bringing in integrity

dilemmas; the third investigates value orientations. Concerning socio-cultural

norms, sociability is deemed as an important norm Turkey and Mexico,

followed by Hungary, Bosnia and Italy. It scores very low in Kosovo and

Tanzania (this a surprising result). Personal security related norms are

important in Tanzania and Russia, and much less in almost all the other

countries. More interestingly, informality norms (being in good terms with

important persons, knowing whom to ask a favour, satisfying personal

requests for favours, avoiding bureaucracy) are deemed as salient for

Mexican, Tanzanian and Bosnian respondents, much less by Kosovar and

Italians. This result suggests that sociability and informality are related norms

and practices in some cases (in particular in Turkey, Mexico and to a smaller

extent in Bosnia) whereas they are not in countries such as Kosovo, Tanzania

and Russia). Hungary and Italy score middle in this context.

10. In the dilemma scenarios presented in the survey (Question 19) corruption and

lack of integrity are presented to respondents in relation with instances of: 1)

mechanisms of social exchange, 2) local institutional performance and exit

strategies, and 3) translocal institutional performance in development projects.

Concerning the first, the top scores are registered in Turkey and Italy, the

lowest in Kosovo and Russia. In spite of this, most of other countries scored in

mid positions, showing that there is a mixed and not overtly negative view of

the nexus of corruption with mechanisms of social exchange, as it is indicated

in some of the anthropological literature (see Torsello’s contribution to WP1

deliverable). Also in the case of corruption of local institutions vs. exit

strategies, the results show that approximately 40% of all respondents would

not avoid corruption, with the only notable exception of Italy which scores

high in exit strategies. A similar trend is noticed in all countries in which

corruption related to international development fund is an everyday reality,

and in particular for Tanzania, Mexico, Kosovo and Bosnia.

11. Some of the key findings concerning value orientations, which are here

presented for a contrastive perspective with what discussed so far include

ideas about: personal autonomy, conformity with rules, respect of tradition,

religiosity, sociability and loyalty to superiors. The comparative analysis of

these values presents a neat division between countries that feels the weight of

cultural constructs such as tradition, respect for elders, religion and sociability

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such as Turkey, Mexico, Tanzania and partly Kosovo, and most other

countries which do not. Russian respondents, on the other hand feel much less

autonomy than all other European counterparts. Whereas being loyal to one’s

superior is deemed as a value in Tanzania, Kosovo, and Italy, a finding that

can be related to the importance of clientelistic networks and favor-exchange

patterns, but not sociability that is comparatively low in these same countries.

Preliminary indications

The analysis of the survey data which makes up the first deliverable for WP4 presents

some preliminary indications that can be of use to other partners of ANTICORRP, as

well as for policy making purposes. These are as follows.

- Most respondents from the eight countries are aware of the societal

damages of corruption as of their drawbacks in terms of employment,

politics and local development

- Corruption is an overtly perceived key problem in Tanzania, Kosovo,

Bosnia and Mexico, in other countries such as Russia and Turkey it is not

- There is evidence of a correlation between institutional development and

the perception of inability of citizens to deal with local institutions in a

formalized way

- Informality is felt as an important alternative choice in dealing with

public institutions in all surveyed countries, although with some

differences in kind

- Countries in which institutional trust is weaker and experience of bad

performance of local institutions is more frequent tend to give more

importance to informality, favour seeking and patronage

- Sociability and related values is not correlated with informality

- Gift-exchange practices as cultural norms are related to informality only

in Mexico and Bosnia

- Almost forty percent of the respondents from all countries did not

consider favor-exchange related corruption as socially detrimental

- Corruption becomes a more important issue for citizens in cases of job-

seeking, elections and the use of development funds

- Bosnia: low level of trust in local government and negative experiences

with both government and local government institutions; corruption is an

important issue blocking institutional development; in favour of informal

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exchanges; values and norms support sociability and hospitality, but less

importance is attributed to gift exchange practices; corruption identified

as in relation with local institutional performance, but much less as

favoritism.

- Hungary: the highest level of trust in local institutions (healthcare,

schools and municipality) of the whole survey, low trust in government

institutions, media and the EU; however, local institutions are also often

bad service providers, strong accent on informality in solving problems

related to institutional performance; middle scores for sociability values

an gift giving; corruption is hardly mentioned as a social issue;

corruption recognized by over 65% of respondents both in relations with

local institutional performance, and as favoritism.

- Kosovo: the lowest degree of trust in public institutions save for

healthcare sector; bad experiences and also good experiences with all

these institutions; this is the country where corruption is seen as an issue,

but also where citizens do not feel any possibility to resolve problems of

institutional performance without informal ties (similarly in many

instance to the Mexico and Tanzania cases); corruption is mostly blamed

in relation with politics and not with petty practices; gift-exchange is not

strongly valued; corruption is not recognized in the form of granting

favors or appropriating development funds; strong value orientations

towards loyalty to superior and surprisingly low towards sociability, this

suggests that clientelism and favoritism is valued but not interpreted as a

form of (positive) sociability.

- Italy: dominant mid scores in both trust in local institutions and positive

experiences with them; it is the only country where government and

regional institutions count more than local institutions such as schools;

corruption is denounced as a social issue by only 6% of the sample; 20%

or the absolute lowest score recognize in informal practices the way to

circumvent poor institutional performance; values do support gift

exchange, but less sociability; one third of the sample do not recognize

corruption as favoritism; but the highest number of respondents would

seek an exit strategy rather than falling into institutional corruption; high

value orientation scores in sociability and being loyal to superiors; this is

by far the most difficult sample to analyze; differences between the

southern and northern cases are not striking.

- Mexico: comparatively high trust and good experience with local service

providing institutions save for municipality and police; corruption is not

explicitly mentioned as a local issue; informality is a preferred option by

over one half of the respondent; importance of gift-exchange has one of

the poorest scores (with Kosovo and Bosnia), however gift-giving in case

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of favoritism and patronage is a valued practice; high number of

respondents would seek exit strategies from corruption of local

institutions; value orientations support poor individual autonomy,

dependence on traditions, elderly advice and the strongest religiosity of

the whole survey.

- Russia: high trust in local institutions (but not municipalities) and low

trust in government, judges and religious authorities; healthcare

providers, municipality and police are those sectors in which negative

experiences are registred; corruption is not mentioned as a social issue;

over 54% of respondents would seek informal practices in dealing with

institutions; gift-exchange is not a strongly relevant practice although

hospitality has high scores; this is the only country in which social norms

related to personal security score high in salience; favoritism has one of

the lowest support rates in the survey; values related with conformity

with rules, traditions and family expectations, sociability are all

comparatively low.

- Tanzania: save for the health sector, local associations and NGOs are the

most trusted an important institutions; bad experiences are registred with

school, municipal authorities, judges and police; corruption is mentioned

by 80% of respondents as the most serious local problem; NGOs and

media are among those institutions that could help to solve local issues;

hospitality and conviviality have less importance than gift-exchange

practices; informality and favoritism are seen as optimal solution by 80%

of the sample; the highest concern is with corruption in local institutions,

whereas the case of development is not considered as corruption.

- Turkey: high levels of reported trust in all local institutions and lower

levels for international organizations, media and the EU; negative

experience of institutional performance with police, judges and district

councils; corruption is not mentioned as a local problem; over 50% of

respondents would seek informal ties to solve problems with public

institutions; this is the highest score of the survey in case of belief that

gifts and personal connections influence institutional performance; 100%

of sample believes that personal relations affect the quality of institutional

service(!); highest scores also concerning conviviality, hospitality and gift-

exchange; corruption is not recognized in relation with favoritism; value

orientations are strongly influenced by respect of tradition, elderly

people, religiosity and sociability.

These results are meant to indicate some trends rather than to constitute absolute

findings. The percentages provided above only hint at the range of answers, many

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times of difficult interpretation, in each of the countries under investigation and they

are not intended to serve as quantitative data. Because of the small scale of the

samples for each country we do not take any responsibility towards the use of these

data to generalize on the countries surveyed above. The data presented above are

representative only of the small samples interviewed in each country and they

merely serve for qualitative purposes, hence these data cannot be used for

generalizing on the countries we have studied.

Section 2: Integrated and comparative dataset

Institutional performance

The most important institutions

The first substantive question in the survey (question number 5) asked respondents to

rank a list of institutions in terms of how important they are perceived to be for the

wellbeing of their communities. Question number 5 literally asked:

- Which of the following institutions are important for the wellbeing of your

community?

Institution Not

important

Fairly

important

Very

important

Village/municipality

District council

Ruling political

coalition

Opposition parties

Traditional

authorities (Not for

Europe)

Health care

providers

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Religious

authorities

Police

Local associations

NGOs

International donor

organizations

EU (Europe only)

Others (please

specify)

Respondents were asked to ascertain for each of the institutions in the list whether it

was perceived to be, either not important, fairly important or very important. Each

response was then given the following values:

Not important =1

Fairly important = 2

Very important = 3

What follows is a summary of the responses received to this question across the

studied countries, based upon average scores computed for each of the institutions

mentioned in the survey.

Bosnia

The range of average values given across institutions by Bosnian respondents is

between 1.85 to 2.69. Those institutions deemed most important for the wellbeing of

the community were: municipality with an average score of 2.69, and health services

and police with 2.61 each. The institutions deemed less important for the wellbeing of

the community were local associations with 1.89 average score, oppositions parties

with 1.88 average score and religious authorities with an average score of 1.85.

Hungary

In the case of Hungary, the average scores assigned to the different institutions in

terms of their importance range between 1.28 and 2.69. The institutions deemed most

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important for Hungarian respondents were: health services with an average score of

2.69, police with an average score of 2.45 and local government with an average score

of 2.13. The institutions deemed less important for the wellbeing of the community

were NGOs with an average score of 1.57, religious authorities with an average score

of 1.44 and international donors with an average score of 1.28.

Italy

In Italy the responses assessing importance of institutions for the well-being of the

community ranged in average values between 1.67 and 2.59. The institutions that

were appreciated as being the most important among Italian respondents were the

municipality with an average score of 2.59, health services with 2.54 and regional

authorities with 2.41. The institutions deemed least important were the province with

an average score of 1.85, opposition parties with an average score of 1.81 and

religious authorities with 1.67.

Kosovo

In Kosovo the range of average scores given to assess importance of institutions for

community welfare is between 1.77 and 2.64. The most important institutions among

Kosovar respondents were health services with 2.64, municipality with 2.47 and

police with 2.35 average scores. The institutions deemed least important by Kosovar

respondents were the district council with 1.94, the ruling political coalition with 1.89

and traditional authorities with 1.77 average scores.

Mexico

In the case of Mexico, responses to this question varied in a wider range of average

scores between 1.05 and 2.91. The most important institutions among Mexican

respondents were health services with an average score of 2.91, police with an

average score of 2.72 and religious authorities with an average score of 2.62. Least

important for community welfare as appreciated by Mexican respondents were

opposition parties with an average score of 1.71, international donors with 1.10 and

NGOs with 1.05.

Russia

The responses to this question among Russian respondents varied in a range of

between 1.34 and 2.56 average scores for perceived importance of different

institutions for community welfare. The institutions most important for Russian

respondents were health services with an average score of 2.56, municipality with an

average score of 2.38 and police with an average score of 2.36. The institutions

deemed least important for community welfare were international donors with a 1.40

average score, and opposition parties and religious authorities both with an average

score of 1.34.

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Tanzania

In Tanzania, average scores in response to this question ranged between 1.35 and

2.73. The most important institutions for community welfare in the opinion of

Tanzanian respondents were local associations with 2.73 average score, NGOs with a

2.72 average score and health care providers with 2.36. The institutions deemed least

important by Tanzanian respondents were international donors with 1.65 average

score, ruling political coalition with a 1.43 average score and traditional authorities

with a 1.35 average score.

There is no data from Turkey for this question.

The one institution that was appreciated as one of the three most important for

community welfare across all case study countries was health service providers. Of

the seven countries for which data is available, in five cases some instance of local

public authority (either local government or municipality) was also ranked among the

top three most important institutions for community welfare.

Significantly, the two countries where local institutions of the state did not appear

among the most important for community welfare are the two out-of-the-region cases:

Mexico and Tanzania.

This importance given to local authorities contrasts, interestingly, with the diminished

impact attributed to national level political leaders in six of the seven cases, where

ruling political coalition and opposition parties showed to be among the institutions

perceived to make a smaller difference in the welfare of the communities in question.

Also, consistently high in perceived importance across cases is police, which ranked

among the top three institutions in all of the sample countries but for Italy and

Tanzania.

Perhaps not surprisingly, one case that stands out as significantly different to the rest

is Tanzania, where the two institutions perceived as most important for community

welfare were local associations and NGOs, even ahead of health services. Also,

distinctly for the rest of the case study countries, Mexican respondents ranked

religious authorities among the three most important institutions making a difference

for community welfare, while the opposite was the case in four other countries where

religious authorities ranked among the lowest in perceived importance.

Table 1. Summary of most and least importance institutions for community

welfare by country

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3 most important

institutions for community

well-being

3 least important institutions

for community well being

Bosnia Municipality

Health services

Police

Religious authorities

Opposition parties

Local associations

Hungary Health services

Police

Local government

International donors

NGOs


Italy Municipality

Health services

Region


Opposition parties

Province

Kosovo Health services

Municipality

Police

Traditional authorities

Ruling political coalition

District

Mexico Health services

Police


NGOs


Opposition parties

Russia Health services

Municipality

Police


Opposition parties


Tanzania Local associations

NGOs

Health services


Ruling political coalition


Identification of public officers

Question 6 asked the respondents to chose from a list the categories of people they

would define as public officers. They were given the options:

_Village/city counselor

_ Policeman

_ State school teacher

_ State university professor

_ Private doctor

_ Journalist

_ NGO activist

_ Priest/religious functionary

_ Attorney

_ Company manager

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This prompt was meant to explore the respondents’ way of conceiving the separation

between public and private sphere which is extremely relevant in performing and in

understanding the corruption practices. The question was of particular importance if

we take into account the commonly accepted definition of corruption as the “abuse of

a public officer for a personal gain”, but it resulted to be also illuminating to see how

the concept of public and private can be culturally variable.

Result for this question are not available for the case studies of Russia and Turkey in

which the question did not appear relevant to respondents.

Results from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Italy and Kosovo show that public

officers are at a great extend identified with people working for public institutions.

With slight differences in all these countries the categories of Municipal employee,

Policeman, State school teachers and State University professors got the higher

amount of preferences. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where this aspect appeared in a

more neat way, Policeman was indicated by the 95% of people, Municipal employee

was indicated by the 92%, State school teacher and State University Professor by the

82%.

In the case studies of Tanzania and Mexico these categories are indicated together

with other persons not always employed in the public institutions. In Mexico, for

examples, Private Doctors have been marked by the 70% of respondents and religious

functionaries by the 80%. In Tanzania Journalist was indicated by the 90% of

participants in the survey. The 80% of them also indicated the NGO’s and the

Religious Authorities. In the Tanzania case those categories even got an higher score

than the people working for public institutions. School teacher were indicated by the

59% and State University Professor by the 42%.

Out of these two peculiar cases, Kosovo is the country in the European continent

where categories of people not working for public institutions got the higher number

of preferences. Private doctors were indicated by the 13,3 % of respondents,

Journalists by the 28,6%, NGO’s by the 20,4%, Lawyers by the 28,6% and the

company managers by the 15,3%.

Comments added by the respondents highlighted some important element for the

understanding of the issue we meant to explore with this question.

For some categories like “journalist”, “attorney” and “company manager” in Bosnia

we got specifications like “it depends whether they work for public or private

institutions or company”. In this country and in Kosovo, the past socialist experience

emerges as an important factor. During socialism, in fact, the public authority

controlled the enterprises and the media sector. The privatization of these sectors is

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today still a work in progress so a consistent number of people belonging to these

categories are still employed by the State.

As the report from Tanzania showed the proclivity to indicate some figures like

journalist, NGO’s and religious functionaries as public officers can be explained by

their willingness to address public problems and thus by their social function.

More generally speaking respondents also showed to understand the definition of

public officer as a “persons working for the public good” and in many societies this

does not simply overlap with people working for the public institutions.

Trust in institutions

Trust is a complex social phenomenon, especially given the debates about its

dynamics, determinants and consequences. For example, it is frequently argued by

different researchers that countries with high levels of generalized social trust tend to

have more democratic regimes and better performing institutions. In any case, the

level of trust conferred upon different private and public institutions in a given society

may provide some inputs, if not exact indicators, as to the nature of relations between

the citizens and those institutions. Thus, without pretending to present a fully

adequate and representative picture of trust in participating countries, we have

nonetheless attempted to take a look at the existing levels of trust in different

organizations in those countries by asking the following question (Question 7):

“How much do you trust the following institutions” (from 1: lowest, to 5: highest

trust).

Although the list of institutions provided to the survey participants has slightly

differed across the countries, (e.g., EU was not on the list for Tanzanian participants;

Similarly, “Health Centers” and “State Doctors” were not separate options for the

same individuals), there was nonetheless quite a common group of institutions for the

informants across eight different countries.

As far as the results are concerned, the first observation has to do with the existence

of relatively high variances within and across the countries. For instance, the

interviewees’ trust in institutions in Kosovo ranged from the lowest 1.8 (traditional

authorities) to the highest 2.6 (healthcare providers) while the participants’ average

trust in Tanzania ranged from the lowest 2.1 (district council) to the highest 4.7

(media). Similarly, in Hungary, saving for three institutions that were rated below 3,

majority of the institutions were evaluated as trustworthy by getting scores of 3 or

more, highest being the 4, while in Kosovo no institution has the trust rating above 3,

highest rating was being just 2.6. On the other hand, healthcare providers/state

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doctors/health centers, along with state schools were rated relatively high in almost all

countries, while media comes first as the least trusted institution(except Tanzania).

Bosnia and Herzegovina: The respondents have chosen private health centers as the

most trustworthy institution with an average of 3.5, which followed by public schools,

local associations, and police force, all of which have trust ratings of 3 or more (3.4;

3.0; and 3.0, respectively). On the other side of the spectrum were cantonal

government, state government, and entity government, all of which average trust rates

below 2 (1.6; 1.9; and 1.9, respectively). In the case of Bosnia, other institutions

remained between these two groups, ranging from 2.8 (municipality), to EU (2.3) to

town government (2.1).

Hungary: Hungarian participants have given the highest rating of trust to state

schools (4.0) whilst the lowest one to media (2.0). State doctors, EU, local

associations, local government, local council, magistrate, police, religious institutions,

tax office, and international funding associations were also rated as mid to highly-

trusted institutions, all scoring above 3 (3.6; 3.5; 3.3; 3.2; 3.1; 3.1; 3.0; and 3.0,

respectively). After media, the least-trusted institutions in Hungary were EU and

(central) government, both carrying an average rating of 2.6.

Italy: Italian respondents have conferred upon the public schools their highest trust

(3.3), followed closely by police force, public health centers, private health centers,

and local cultural associations (3.2; 3.2; 3.1; and 3.1, respectively). On the other hand,

the respondents have listed central government as the least-trusted institution with a

score of 1.8, followed by church (2.0), media (2.1), tax office (2.1). Other institutions

were somewhere between above two groupings (EU: 2.6; region: 2.7; judges: 2.8; and

municipality: 2.9).

Kosovo: Citizens of Kosovo who answered the questionnaire appear to have lowest

trust toward the institutions of the country among those surveyed within the scope of

this study. Highest score goes to Healthcare providers (2.6), while the least-trusted

institutions for Kosovars include traditional authorities, religious authorities, ruling

political coalition, opposition parties, district council, and local associations, all

scoring below 2 (1.8; 1.8; 1.9; 1.9; 1.9; and 2.0, respectively). NGOs, international

donors, police, and village/municipality remain between these two poles (2.1; 2.3;

2.3; and 2.5, respectively).

Mexico: Church was the most trusted institution for the participants in Mexico (4.4),

while international donors got the lowest trust score (2.0). Health centers, state

doctors, and public schools have come second, third, and fourth in terms of the trust

20

conferred upon them (4.0; 3.8; and 3.8, respectively). Saving for local associations

and media, which have the average trust scores above 3 (3.1 and 3.0 respectively), the

remaining institutions have average trust levels ranging between 2.2 (judges) and 2.9

(community institutions).

Russia: Russian respondents conferred the highest-level of trust upon following

public schools (3.1), and state doctors (3.0), followed by local associations (3.0),

international organizations (3.0), health centers (2.9), and tax office (2.8). The least-

trusted institutions in Russia were judges (2.2), national government, local

government, and church (all sharing the trust score of 2.2). Other institutions’ trust

averages were somewhere between 2.3 and 2.5.

Tanzania: Media have the highest trust of Tanzanian participants (4.7), followed by

local associations (4.4). Police force, health centers, religious institutions, and public

schools were also rated as highly-trusted institutions (3.7; 3.6; 3.4, and 3.0,

respectively). Other institutions have trust scores that range between 2.1 and 2.6.

Turkey: State doctors, health centers, public schools, and mosque have the top spots

in terms of being the most-trusted institutions in the country (3.6; 3.5; 3.4; and 3.4,

respectively). The respondents have shown the lowest levels of trust towards the

media (2.3), EU (2.5), and international organizations (2.5), followed by judges (2.8),

and police (3.0). On the other hand, remaining institutions have gotten high trust

averages as well, all scoring above 3 (local associations: 3.2; village/municipality

administrations: 3.2; local governments: 3.1; tax office: 3.1; and national government:

3.1).

Experience of good or bad service

Question 8 asked: “ With which of the following institutions have you or members of

your family recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service:

Institution Good

Service

Bad

service


District council

21

Church/Mosque

Judges

Police force

Public healthcare

providers

Public schools

Tax office

Local associations


and organizations

Bosnia

In Bosnia the institutions where good service was most frequently reported are those

associated with essential public services: health services and public schools with 49%

and 48% of survey respondents reporting experience of good service. The most bad

experiences reported were associated with the state (national level) with and the

canton 55% and 53% of survey respondents reporting a bad experience respectively.

Hungary

In Hungary health services were mentioned with most frequency as instances of both

good and bad service experiences (60% and 40% respectively of respondents who

reported an experience with health services). Next associated with good service

experiences was city council (57% of respondents who reported an experience with

this institution), followed by state schools (64% of respondents having experience

with this institution). Ranked second and third in bad experiences reported were

police (62% of respondents with experience with this institution) and city council

(43% of respondents reporting an experience with this institution).

Italy

In Italy health services were the institution were most experiences were reported of

which 61% were characterized as good experiences and 39% as bad experiences. The

second institution where most experiences were reported was the municipality with

73% experiences characterized as good and 27% as bad. Thirdly, experiences with

public schools were reported as good in 66% of cases and bad in 34% of cases

reported.

Kosovo

22

In Kosovo, the largest number of positive experiences reported with an institution was

associated to health services with 69% positive experience

vis-á-vis 31% reporting a negative experience. A smaller number of respondents

reported an experience with public schools (34) but of these the experience was

overwhelmingly good (91%). Much more divided were the experiences with the

municipality as 51% of respondents who has an experience with this institution

reported good service and 49% reported bad service. In Kosovo, also, the highest

positive result for users of different institutions was associated with the church with

94% of positive experiences reported, however as a percentage of the sample this

group was quite small.

Mexico

In Mexico, the institution to which positive experiences were most overwhelmingly

reported was the church, with 90% of all survey respondents reporting experiences of

good services. 79% of survey respondents reported good experiences with public

schools as did 69% in the case of public health services. In the Mexican case the

institution that received the worst review of performance was the police, with 52% of

survey respondents reporting bad service experiences. It should be noted, however,

that police was actually the only institution that received a majority of bad service

reports.

Russia

Russia represents a singular case in so far as responses to this question goes. The

reason being twofold: a) for most institutions the vast majority of respondents

reported not having had any interactions or experiences to report and b) for most

institutions as well there was a sizable number of respondents who could not

categorize the quality of service received as either good or bad and therefore were

reported as ambivalent.

The institutions for which most experiences were reported are those associated with

basic public services such as health services (31% reporting bad experiences and 28%

reporting good experiences), public schools (with 25% of respondents reporting good

experiences and 17% reporting bad experiences) and police (with 25% reporting bad

experiences and 13% reporting good experiences).

Tanzania

In Tanzania good services were reported more frequently for local associations (64%

of respondents), church (63% of respondents), and health services (51% of

respondents). Alternatively bad services were reported among 67% of survey

respondents for the case of public schools, 44% of respondents in the case of health

services and 42% in the case of judges.

Turkey

23

In the responses to this question Turkey is also a case that stands out among our

sample in that for most of the institutions probed the reported experiences were

overwhelmingly positive. Good experiences were reported by survey respondents in

92% of the cases for mosque, 89% of the cases for health service providers, 85% for

public schools, 84% for local associations, 83% for the tax office, 83% for the

municipality. The institution that received the least favorable account of experiences

with services was international donors with 41% or respondents reporting bad service,

but even there a majority 59% reported good services.

Across the entire sample of cases studied, health services are consistently reported

among the institutions with better track record of good experiences. The same goes

for public schools, which were generally positively associated with reports of good

service except for the case of Tanzania where public schools were the worst

performing institution.

Local Issues

Most important problems

In Question 9 was asked. “What in your view are the most serious problems in your

community? List at least three starting from the most important”.

Asking citizens to identify problems in their community is often used a means of

assessing whether a government is in touch with the needs and concerns of citizens,

listens, and responds to those needs. Comparatively, results may show if a particular

issue continues to be seen as a problem, at what rate, and if people think it has been

resolved.

Graph 1 summarizes the presence of the issue “corruption” among the most important

for the local population.

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Graph 1. Number of times corruption was listed as a serious problem in own

community.

In Bosnia corruption in public institutions was mentioned by 70 respondents of the

total 100 surveyed (mainly mentioning health care and construction sectors). In

Hungary corruption was mentioned 11 times by the 103 surveyed respondents. Issues

that received most mention were those of security and unemployment mentioned 43

and 34 times respectively.

In the Italian case studies corruption was listed 12 times, buy the 140 respondents

surveyed (70 respondents in two regions each, north and south). There is a

discrepancy between northern and southern Italy, where they were listed 4 and 8

times respectively.

In Kosovo corruption was mentioned 48 times, preceded by unemployment (55 times)

and urban infrastructure (54 times) and corruption 48 times, by the 100 respondents

surveyed.

In Mexico corruption was not listed at all out of the 143 respondents surveyed.

In Turkey (100 respondents) and Russia (150 respondents) it is mentioned by only 2

respondents in each country.

In Tanzania, corruption was mentioned 90 times by the 113 respondents. Here

corruption included embezzlement, and can be seen as the most important problem in

the community, with other issues receiving 25 mentions. Poverty is the exception,

which was mentioned 65 times.

25

Overall, corruption is listed as a serious dominating problem in Bosnia (70 times) and

Tanzania (90 times). Kosovo can be placed in the mid-range with 54 mentions.

Italy and Hungary have an equal mention of 11 times each, as do Turkey and Russia

at 2 mentions each.

Ability to obtain service from institutions relying exclusively on own means

Question number 10 was aimed at investigating the relationship with institutions in

the scope of the ability of the respondents in obtaining services with their own means.

Respondents were asked: “With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel

that you are not able to settle a matter/obtain a service with your own resources?”

Multiple-choice was possible and the options were:

Options were: Municipality Health Centers (public)

Province Public Schools

Region Tax office

Church Local Cultural Associations Judges

The accessibility to information and the knowledge of the different procedures

supposedly play an important role in the way people relate to institutions, some of

which may require additional expertise in the understanding of how they work.

Respondents were also asked which institutions they feel are not responsive to their

needs for services by relying on own means. The question aims to ascertain whether

services from particular institutions could not be obtained without relying on

connections, bribes, gifts, etc. (possibilities mentioned by respondents). The phrasing

of the question allowed for various interpretations of what constitutes “one’s own

means.” Means were understood to entail education, connections, monies, although

not always.

In Bosnia 65% of respondents reported inability to obtain services from state

institutions relying on own means. The graphic representation demonstrates that

respondents were more frequently unable to obtain the required service with their own

resources by institutions placed at higher level of administrative hierarchy (State 65%,

Canton 60%, Entity 58% and Town 38%). Judges follow at 35% and are placed in a

worst position than public hospitals (32%). The municipality (27%), international

26

organizations (27%) and Tax office (26%), Church/Mosques (22%), Police forces

(22%) and the Local community (19%) are at mid-level. Public schools (12%) and

Local associations (11%) are at the lower end of the scale.

In Hungary, respondents declared rule of law institutions including courts and police,

25% and 21% respectively, as institutions where they can least rely on their own

resources. These are followed by the city council (18%) and tax office (18%), as well

as national hospitals (17,4%), and international organizations (16.5%). At the lowest

end of the scale are state schools (5.5%), religious institutions (3%), and local

associations (2%).

In Italy, significant differences can be observed between the two case-studies. In

Monza (north) the lowest reliance is with judges at 57% of respondents claiming non-

reliance on own means, while in Lecce it is at 28%. A distinction is also to be found

in regard to tax offices, with 56% and 27% reported in north and south respectively.

The largest distinctions exist in regard to health centers and municipality. Here the

relation is reverse, where 40% of respondents in the Lecce and 13% in Monza

reported inability to obtain services relying on own means in health center. For the

municipality the relation is 40% and 17%, Lecce and Monza respectively.

Commonalities are found in regard to local authorities (province and region). For

Lecce and Monza respectively, in regard to provincial government, the percentages

were 43% and 44%, and for regional government 38% and 48%.

In Kosovo the majority of respondents (72%) declared that they are not able to settle a

matter or obtain services at municipality relying only on own resources. Matters and

services mentioned pertained to issues beyond the basic services offered, such as

birth, death, wedding certificates, etc.” Tax offices (64.9%) are on the higher end of

scale, while health centers and public schools received the same response percent

(57.7%). Also limited contact with international and local organizations (25.8% and

9.2%), with police (15.5%), mosque/church (11.3%), and judges (7.2%), produced

lower scores.

In Mexico, municipality and state received highest levels of reported inability to

obtain the desired services on their own, with 59% and 60% respectively. This may be

partially a reflection of the general interpretation of the government as being

responsible for the problems of the region and at the same time ineffective in

providing solutions. But it may also reflect the fact that the municipality and state

government are the instances where citizens at the community level most often have

to seek resolution to their problems. These are followed by rule of law institutions:

judges (43%) and police force (50%). At the lowest end of the scale are tax offices

(27%), hospitals (23%), and local associations (13%). Religious institutions are

institutions where only 6% said they could not settle a matter relying only on own

means.

27

In Russia, the values are as follows: judges 41%, district council 34%, police force

32%, municipality 28%, tax office 15%, health centers 15%, international

organizations 8%, public schools 6%, church 6%, local associations 3%.

In Tanzania, the values are as follows: hospitals 96%, tax office 75%, police force

70%, municipality 67%, judges 66%, public schools 61%, district council 47%, local

associations 17%, international organization 16%, church/mosque 15%.

In Turkey, the values are as follows: judges 56%, district councils 52%, police force

50%, international organization 43%, tax office 41%, local associations 29%,

municipality 21%, hospitals 17%, public schools 16%, mosque/church 7%.

28

Graph 2. Lack of ability to obtain service from institutions relying exclusively on own means

29

Government at the municipal and regional levels - considering differences in governance structures

across the different countries - contain institutions and provide services that most respondents

indicated have a difficulty of achieving results relying on own means. Contributing to this is the

level of expertise required on the part of citizens to deal with institutional rules and structures. In

addition, bureaucratization was noted as a barrier, as well as inability to permeate the informal

structures of these institutions.

In Hungary and Turkey this level of government does not seem to provide such a high level of

difficulty, rather the judiciary, police force and international organizations are seen as less

penetrable in Turkey. Similarly, in Russia 41% of respondents claimed not to be able to resolve

issues on their own when deal with judges and courts.

For Bosnia, Italy, Kosovo and Mexico, state, municipal and regional governments are ranked as

those institutions with which people think have the least available means to resolve issues on their

own. However, in all of these countries, courts and health centers were reported as institutions,

which required significant reliance on other means.

In Tanzania, services in all of these institutions seem to create great difficulty for people to access.

The exceptions are local associations, international organizations, and religious institutions. This is

the country that overall has the highest percentages associated with all institutions.

In Hungary, although with small percentages distributed amongst all of the institutions, people

claim they are not able to rely on own means when dealing religious institutions, courts, and police.

Preferred problem resolution methods

The following question (Q11) was conceived as a consequence of the previous one. Once the

respondents had individuated those institutions they find hard to deal with, they were asked what

possible solution to obtain the desired service they would a third person. The question was

anticipated to lead to a consideration of what citizens, with varying degree of trust, past experience,

and means, believe to be most successful options (producing results) in dealing with institutions.

Respondents were asked: “How would you advise a person who can’t successfully deal with

institutions to resolve his problem?” Respondents were asked to circle one of the following possible

answers. “I would advise them to: (multiple answers possible):

I would advice him/her to:

_ask for intervention from a friend

_ask for intervention from a relative

_ask for intervention from an important person

_pay a fee

_give a small gift

30

_denounce the disservice to the competent authorities

_try several times until I get a good result

_avoid in general dealing with that institution

_don’t know

Graph 3. Preferred problem resolution techniques

In BiH, 29% would advise to denounce the disservice, 24% would advise to try several times, and

16% would advise to ask for intervention from an important person. In Italy, 63% would advise to

denounce the disservice, and 55% would advise to try several times. In Hunagry, 51.4% would

denounce the disservice, 56.3% would advise to try again, and 41.7% would advise to ask for

intervention from an important person. In Kosovo, 21% would advise to try several times, 19%

would advise to denounce the disservice, and 16% would advise to ask for intervention from a

relative. In Mexico, 43% would advise to denounce the disservice and 41% would advise to give a

gift. In Russia, 19% would advise to denounce the disservice, 16% would advise to try several

times, 15% to ask for intervention from an important person and 14% from a friend. In Tanzania,

80% would advise to offer a gift and 65% would advise denouncing the disservice. In Turkey, 35%

would advise asking for intervention from an important person, 26% to denounce the disservice and

18% to try several times.

In all countries denouncing a disservice and trying several times before reaching desired outcome

was a problem resolution technique most respondents would advise. This is particularly relevant in

the data for Italy and Hungary.

31

Gift giving is preferred in Tanzania and Mexico as advise for problem solving, although it is not

relevant for the other countries. Only for Kosovo a significant percent would advise to seek

intervention from a relative.

In Hungary, Russia, Turkey and BiH, advising to seek help from an important person scored a

relatively high percentage.

32

Institutions improving well-being

Question 12 was aimed at gathering the views of the interviewees about the institutions which could

help improve the general well-being of their society.

“Who do you think could help to improve the general wellbeing of your community?”

Possible answers were suggested:

_EU (Europe only)

_the state (national government)

_opposition political parties

_district council

_village/municipal council

_ police forces

_ judges and magistrates

_traditional authorities

_citizens themselves

_ media

_NGOs

_international organizations

_other (please specify)

For this question results of all the surveyed countries are available.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: 63% of the respondents in BiH considered the Citizens themselves the

most important insitutions for improving well-being. The State at the national level follow with a

percentage of 58%. EU was indicated by the 37% of the respondents. Entity council and the Local

community (mjesna zajednica) were considered among the less important insitutions and were

indicated respectively by the 15% and 14% if the respondents. Religious authorities deserved the

lower number of preferences (10%).

Hungary: In Hungary the 70% of the respondents indicated Citizens as the most important

institution. Government was chosen by the 77% and was followed by the City Council (46%).

Magistrature 13%, opposition parties 10% , media 7% were considered among the less important

institutions.

Italy: In Italy the Municipality has been considered the most important institution for improving

well-being of the community (87%). Local organization (79%) and the Region (63%) follow.

Institutions deemed the less important are Magistrature (20%), International Organization (13%)

and the Opposition Parties (10%).

33

Kosovo: The State have been indicated by the 22% of the respondent as the most important

insitution for improving well being. Citizens follow with the 22%. The Municipal Council was in

the third position but with a considerable lower percentage (10%). District Council (5%), Media

(3%), Traditional Authorities (2%) were considered the less important.

Mexico: The central government was indicated by the 79% of respondents, government and

Citizens themselves have been chosen by the 62%. Judges (31%), NGOs (22%), Opposition

political parties (17%) deserved the lower score.

Russia: Citizens themselves were considered the most important insitutions by the 74% of

respondents. Municipal Council follows with the 60% and the State with the 49%. Opposition

(19%), International organizations (15%), Judges (13%) were considered the less important.

Tanzania: NGOs (66%), Central government (52%), Media (49%) deserved the higher scores

while Mtaa government (22%), District Council (2%), Traditional authorities (0%) were considered

the less important

Turkey: The State was indicated by an extremely high percentage of respondents (72%). Judges

and magistrates (14%), Citizens themselves (12%) follow with a considerable low number of

preferences. Surprisingly the other options offered by the survey were indicated by none of the

respondents.

Citizens themselves was indicated by a considerable high percentage of respondents of BiH,

Hungary and Russia and resulted to be the most important resource for improving well being. In

Mexico and Kosovo we also registered a high percentage of preferences for this option.

The State resulted to be the most important institution for improving well-being in Kosovo and

Mexico but also deserved a high percentage of preferences in BiH, Hungary, Russia and Tanzania.

Municipality was indicated as the most important institution in Italy and resulted to be among the

first three more important institutions in Kosovo and Russia.

Religious/Traditional authorities were considered extremely irrelevant in countries like BiH,

Kosovo, Tanzania and Turkey.

Opposition parties are considered not important in Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Russia and Turkey.

Practices against good society

Respondents were asked in Question 13 about practices that in their opinion are incompatible with

the good development of society. They were asked: “In general, which of the following practices, in

your opinion, are spoiling the good development of society?”

34

Multiple choices possible:

_ Buying votes during elections

_ Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them

_ Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services

_ Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school

_Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids

_ Paying fees to have documents sorted out quickly

_Convincing journalists not to publish sensitive articles

_ Using scandals to get rid of political opponents

_ Using development funds for private purposes

In BiH 93% of respondents claimed that giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who

deserve them were practices spoiling the development of good society. In addition, 88% and 80%

reported that buying votes and using developments funds were spoiling the development of the

society.

In Hungary, respectively, 84%, 79% and 74% reported using development funds for private

purposes, buying votes during elections, and giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people

who deserve them/ Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids.

In Italy, 87%, 85% and 83%, listed giving jobs to friends, paying a fee to have documents sorted out

quickly, and using development funds for private purposes, respectively.

In Kosovo, 94% and 88%, respectively, claimed that buying votes during elections and giving jobs

to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them were spoiling the good development of

society. The same practices were also significant for Mexico, with 80% and 68%, respectively.

In Russia, 83%, 77% and 76%, also reported using funds for private purposes, giving jobs, and

buying votes, respectively.

In Tanzania, the overwhelming majority at 95% reported buying votes, 94% buying gifts to obtain

health services, and 91% giving jobs to friends and relatives instead of people who deserve them.

In Turkey, all options received a 100% response, apart for bringing gifts to be accepted at a good

schools which received 96% of responses.

35

Graph 4. Practices against good society

Buying votes during elections appears as a relevant concern and practice respondents considered

was ruining the good development of their societies. The only exception is Italy, where this is not in

the 80 percentile, as is the case with the 0ther countries.

Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them is regarded as a damaging

practice in all countries, without exception.

Contrary to all other countries, respondents in Mexico, Kosovo and Tanzania did not recognize the

use of development funds for personal gain as a damaging practice in their societies.

Respondents in Turkey were ready to condemn all of these practices as damaging ones. In

Tanzania, the overwhelming majority, 94%, stated that buying gifts for health services was spoiling

the development of good society.

Exchanging of confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids appeared to be a

relevant issue only in Hungary, while in Italy paying fees to get documents sorted out quickly is

considered to be one of the most detrimental practices for the development of a community.

Q14. Statement: Public sector officials who provide services do not act the way they should

Question 14 asked survey participants about their experience with public sector officials who offer

services in their community. Specifically, they were asked to state in their experience how true they

36

thought was the following statement: “public sector officials who provide services to my

community do not act the way they should.” As related to the previous questions, respondents have

been asked to state whether the actions of public officials conform to their expectations.

Options available were:

a) Not true b) Rarely true c) Occasionally true d) Often true e) Always true

In the surveyed countries, respondents considered the statement to be respectively “often true” and

“always true” with the following percentages:

- BiH: 53% - 16%

- Hungary: 43% - 6%

- Italy: 60% - 23%

- Kosovo: 46% - 1%

- Mexico: 47% - 48%

- Russia*: n/a (question not present in the survey)

- Tanzania: 22% - 62%

- Turkey*: n/a (question not present in the survey)

Graph 5. Public sector officials not acting as they should

In most of the countries the majority of people considered the statement to be often true, which

implies that people seem to be quite sure of the fact that public officers do not always act the way

they should, though they do not show to have complete distrust in their actions.

37

Mexico and Tanzania provided, though, different results, since they had both a majority of

respondents indicating that the statement is always true, that is that they consider it to be a common

practice for employees of the public sector not to act according to the rules, and to provide services

according to their own discretion.

Moreover, in Kosovo and Hungary very low percentages of people seemed to completely distrust

public officials, and therefore only respectively 1% and 6% of them considered the statement to be

“always true.” Results are not available for Russia and Turkey, for which the question was not

included in the final draft of the survey.

Socio-cultural norms and values

Q16. Social Norms

One of the goals of the survey was to investigate the social norms specific to various communities

and countries by looking at specific behaviours that were grouped in four major clusters: sociability,

fear, ‘corruption’, gift giving. As expressed by Question 16 of the survey.

The first cluster – Sociability – included four items:

1. Providing hospitality to guests

2. Spending time with friends outside home

3. Protect others

4. Enjoy meals with others

The behaviours described by the four items were generally considered very important social

customs. On average, providing hospitality and sharing meals with others were considered more

important than spending time with friends outside home and protecting others with some countries

like Kosovo and Tanzania acting as outliers for specific items (see Figure 16.1). Providing

hospitality proved an extremely valued behaviour in the case of Turkey (100%), Bosnia (84%) and

Mexico (80%). By contrast, only 26% of the respondents from Tanzania considered hospitality very

important. Responses from Russia (58%), Hungary (57%), Italy (55%), Kosovo (47%) ranged

around the middle value. Closely connected with the idea of hospitality, sharing and enjoying meals

with others is another way to measure sociability. Unsurprisingly, the results follow the same

pattern, even though at lower percentages: Turkey (95%) and Mexico (88%), followed by Kosovo

(73%) are at one side of the spectrum, while Tanzania (26%) was at the opposite end. Russia (31%),

Italy (45%) and Hungary (46%) are situated in the middle.

38

Graph 6.1: Sociability

The second cluster – Personal security – included two items:

Be cautious when discussing politics in public

Keep secrets to avoid harming others even if this is illegal

With the notable exception of Tanzania, where 74% of the people considered that one needs to be

cautious when discussing politics in public and Mexico, where approximately half of the

respondents had the same opinion (53%), in the other countries such issues are not considered

important. The country with the least concerns with personal security seems to be Kosovo where

only 4% considered this very important followed by Russia (13%), Italy (14%), Hungary (14%),

Turkey (12%) and Bosnia (21%). The second part of this cluster, concerning keeping secrets,

shows country positions such as Kosovo (2%), Italy (8%) and Hungary (8%) where few

respondents were willing to maintain secrets to avoid harming others even if that was illegal. By

contrast, the results from Mexico (48%), Tanzania (41%) and Russia (38%) point to the opposite,

showing that protecting others is of pristine importance even if illegal.

39

Graph 6.2: Personal security

The third cluster – “Corruption and informality” – included the following four items:

Avoiding bureaucracy

Being in good terms with important persons

Knowing the best person to ask a favour from

Satisfying personal requests for favours

The items included in this cluster relate less to the legal understanding of corruption and more to an

anthropological approach to the phenomenon (hence the use of the term “corruption and

informality”), which includes informal practices, networking, favour exchanges and avoiding

bureaucratic encounters. Avoiding dealing with bureaucracy is essential for respondents from

Tanzania (80%), but not essential for respondents from Kosovo (2%) and Turkey (8%). By

comparison, in the other countries, approximately one third of the respondents considered that it

was important to avoid bureaucracy as in Bosnia (24%), Italy (32%), Mexico (33%), Hungary

(33%) and Russia (42%). This may suggest that in almost all countries a portion of the population

believes that there might be alternative ways to deal with the state or local government institutions.

Avoiding bureaucracy can be ensured through networking, connections and favour exchange.

Networking - which can also involve maintaining instrumental relationships - is viewed as essential

by 70% of the Mexican respondents, 65% of people from Tanzania and 56% of the Turks. Only one

third of Russians (35%) and Bosnians (30%) consider it very important to be in good terms with

important persons, while the results from Kosovo (10%), Italy (16%) and Hungary (17%) show that

in these countries this is even less important.

40

Favour exchange – measured in this questionnaire through the last two items – i.e. “knowing the

best person from whom to ask a favour” and “satisfying personal requests for favours” – relates on

the one hand with networking and on the other hand with the laws of quid pro quo. The results on

the last two items are similar – for example, knowing the best person to ask a favour from is very

important for 88% of Mexicans and satisfying personal requests for favours is very important for

83% of them. The relation is also visible in the case of Turkey, where 62% indicate the importance

of knowing whom to ask a favour from and 64% the necessity to satisfy personal requests for

favours. Trends of similarity among the two questions, even though at lower values, can be

observed in the case of Russia (54% and 51%), Italy (25%. 36%), Hungary (26%, 37%). In two

cases, there is a gap between the two answers: in Tanzania and Bosnia. In Tanzania, 59% of the

respondents acknowledge the importance of networking and knowing the best person to ask a

favour from, but only 19% think it is important to satisfy personal requests for favours. Similarly, in

Bosnia the majority of respondents (62%) consider very important knowing the best person to ask

favours from, but only 20% would satisfy personal requests for favours. A very special case is

Kosovo, where none of these strategies seem to matter (respectively 5% and 3%).

Graph 6.3: “Corruption and informality”

The fourth cluster – Gift and reciprocity– includes four items:

Reciprocate received gifts in the same value

41

Reciprocate received gifts in time

Reciprocate gifts

Give presents during festivities

Gift giving and reciprocity are important values for the respondents. For example, 80% of the

Turkish respondents considered that reciprocating gifts is very important and 93% related this to

giving presents during festivities. Nearly half of the Mexicans (respectively 53% and 53%), Italians

(41% and 45%) and Hungarians (42% and 46%) had the same opinion. By contrast, only 14% of the

respondents from Tanzania considered important to reciprocate gifts and only 16% of them to

exchange gifts during festivities. Kosovo acts as an outlier in this case with less than 5% of the

respondents crediting the two strategies (3% and 2%). Reciprocating gifts in time and in value are

less important than the general principle of reciprocity. The temporal dimension seems to be more

important, especially in the case of Turkey (63%), Bosnia (41%) and less for Mexico (28%). The

same countries display care for equivalence of value in the gift giving process (Turkey 37%,

Mexico 25%, Bosnia 14%). At the opposite end, the respondents from the other countries do not

consider time and value as very important dimensions of gift giving.

Graph 6.4: Gift and reciprocity

Q17. Gift-giving and services

Question 17 asked: ‘Do you agree with the following statement: “gift giving creates a bond where

people know they will receive better treatment/service next time they visit the clinic/office?”

42

Graph 7. Gift and services

43

Q18. Statement: quality of services affected by personal relations

Question 18 asked: ‘Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the services

obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship with the service

provider?”

Graph 8 Quality of services and personal relations

Q19. Integrity dilemma scenarios

In Question 19 five scenarios were presented to the surveyed sample. These scenarios were

meant to test the perception of integrity by checking whether the respondents felt similar or

dissimilar with the main character of the stories. The scenarios take place in an unknown

foreign country.

SCENARIO A

In the district council, a new person has recently been appointed. This person is very

hardworking and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fees or gifts

from citizens to sort out problems. Because of this, he avoids people and lives a lonely life all

by himself, so that he will not be put under pressure for demands of favors. Thus, the local

people avoid him.

SCENARIO B

Mario is a very resourceful person; he does what he can to help his friends and relatives and

he knows a lot of people. When he needs a favor, he always finds someone to turn to, because

he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week, he was jailed for fraud and corruption.

Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him.

44

SCENARIO C

A family has plans to build a new house in another village. They have asked what the official

procedure is, and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months, everything starts to

become difficult and they realize they will not be able to resolve it without paying some fee to

the right person. They decide to leave the village and look for another where things go

according to the rules.

SCENARIO D

Peter has a small business preparing sandwiches, which he sells to local schools. Last year, he

was successful in winning a tender and gained a contract with one local primary school.

Unfortunately, the school head changed this year, and his contract expired. Before applying

for the next tender, he is looking for an influential person who will introduce him to the new

school head.

SCENARIO E

Lucy runs a local NGO for human rights protection. She is very active and well established in

the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an international

donor last year, so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In the end, she

failed, because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the money in order

to approve the projects. Next time, she will secure the proper agreements with them first.

Scenarios A,B deal with putative situations in which integrity is related to sociability and

favor granting behavior. The element which emerges out of these scenarios is that the

character has to chose between doing favors to others/being a sociable person and acting in a

transparent way. On the other hand, Scenarios C,D focus on individual strategies when

confronting transparency or lack of it in cases of services or offers (jobs) provided by local

public authorities. Here the choice is whether to accept corruption and lack of transparency

and stay in the system, or whether to exit it and follow transparent behaviors. Finally,

Scenario E introduces a wider context, where the character (who manages an NGO) is

confronted with corruption as access to bidding in development projects.

Concerning the first cluster sociability/favor granting vs. transparency, SCENARIO A was

picked up mostly by Turkish respondents as the most typical of scenarios (over 70%)

confirming that sociability may be seen in this country as the opposite of transparency. The

most common pattern in this story is a mid-range of answers (38 -42%) of respondents who

felt similarity with the introduced scenario, only Russia scored low (28%) providing

inconsistency with the sociability-corruption association.

SCENARIO B focuses on favor granting rather than sociability vs. transparency. Here results

are consistent with those of SCENARIO A, with even more accentuated trends, Turkey

45

scored at 72% whereas all other countries stayed in low position from 15 (Italy) to 25

(Tanzania) percent. The lowest score is that of Kosovo (3%) showing that granting favors is

in this country seen as absolutely coincident with corruption practices.

Concerning the nexus between institutional performance/exit strategies, for SCENARIO C

Italy (78%) has the highest choice of exit strategies in order to obtain institutional

transparency. Most of other countries show a preference towards an exit strategies even

though at a rate that is just above 50%. This indicates that at least 40% of respondents would

rather pay a fee or accept corruption than leave for a place where public authorities are

transparent. The top low cases are Turkey (9%) and Kosovo (6%). This not only shows a

degree of similarity between the two countries’ cultural mindsets, but it suggests evidence

given in anthropological studies that links to the territory are more important discriminates

than ethical standards.

In SCENARIO D where doing business and contracting with local authority (public school) is

opposed to transparency and integrity there is much less ambivalence of answers, most of the

countries’ respondents chose exit strategies with less compromises. The range of answers of

those who would pursue corruption goes from 9% (Italy) to 29% (Mexico and Tanzania) and

30% (Hungary). This data suggests that when coming to business and to private incomes there

is more awareness of the damages of lack of transparency, even though in three countries on

eight one person on three would rather follow the corruption solution.

Finally, SCENARIO E deals with bidding system in an international context for non-profit

organizations. This story may have a slight bias of intelligibility for those countries in which

international donor activity is more frequent and important (in the survey cases Kosovo,

Tanzania, Mexico, Bosnia). Tanzania (77%) is, as expected and demonstrated by the data

above, the case by far affected by the perception that corruption is necessary in order to win

international bids. A mid-high score is that of Kosovo (43%) confirming the salience of

NGO-s development projects and their dependence on corruption networks in the country.

Most other countries score low (below 20%) with Turkey (8%) and Italy (4%) as the two

cases in which respondents would not pursue corruption.

To conclude, from the analysis it emerges that there is far more ambivalence in the scenarios

in which sociability and favor granting behavior is opposed to lack of transparency, proving

that when pro-social behavior is at stake corruption can be difficult to eradicate. On the other

hand, when economic profit is at stake considerations about integrity are more evident. The

two extreme cases are those respectively of Italy, where exit strategies in both business and

public sector are more important and Turkey, where sociability and territorial belonging is

more important than integrity.

Q21. Value orientations

Question 21 investigated some value orientations in the countries in exam. Most of these

answers, with a 6-points scale response system are from standard sociological value surveys,

46

they were introduced in this survey in order to test the relevance of some selected values for

the socio-cultural elements that inform corruption or integrity.

The values enlisted in the survey are:

a) autonomy,

b) conformity with rules,

c) respect of tradition,

d) following advice from elderly,

e) religiosity,

f) attitude toward strangers,

g) sociability,

h) loyalty to superiors,

i) selfishness,

j) jealousy of wealth.

Concerning a) respondents from Mexico (28%), Turkey (37%) and Russia (48%) feel less

autonomy in their lives, whereas Tanzania (90%), Italy (81%) and Hungary (69%) are those

countries in which personal autonomy is felt as higher.

In the case of b), Russia (38%), Bosnia (54%) and Hungary (64%) present cases in which

conformity with rules is weaker, whereas in Turkey (89%), Tanzania (86%) and Italy (76%)

have the highest scores.

In c) Turkey (74%), Mexico (71%) and Hungary (68%) have high rates of respect of tradition,

on the other hand Kosovo (39%), Tanzania (42%) score mid-low.

In d) advice from elderly is strictly followed only by Mexican respondents (84%), with mid-

high scores from Turkey (64%) and Kosovo (54%). The only and striking low score is from

Russia (17%).

As for e), religiosity is felt as important in Tanzania (70%), Mexico (69%) and Turkey (62),

as unimportant in Hungary (8%) and Russia (3%), with however low scores in Bosnia,

Kosovo and Italy.

Attitude towards strangers f) is almost in all country the same, with very low levels of refusal

of strangers in the community save for the cases of Tanzania (42%) and Mexico (38%).

Sociability g) is a strong value for respondents from Turkey (86%), whereas it has mid-scores

in Tanzania, Italy and Mexico. Low values are in Russia (26%) and Kosovo (27%) where

economic conditions can affect the degree of social interaction expressed as “being often

visited by guests”.

As for h), being loyal to one’s superior is important respectively in Kosovo (78%), Tanzania

(73%) and Italy (66%) suggesting the salience of dyadic relations in these countries. Low

scores are to be detected in Hungary (19%), Bosnia (22%) and Russia (24%).

47

In the case of i), respondents from Mexico (62%), Tanzania (57%) and Kosovo (57%) are

more concerned with selfishness and egocentrism in social behavior, whereas in Hungary

(11%) and Turkey (15%) people have the least concern.

Finally, in the case of j), showing off that may cause jealousy is considered an issue in

Tanzania (72%) and Mexico (70%) where lower living standards may justify strategies

towards harmonization of social behavior, and somehow at a mid-range in Kosovo (43%).

Low consideration of this value is given in Turkey (14%), Russia (17%) and Hungary ( 19%).

48

Section Three: Country Reports

(Attached in Annex 3)

Annex 1:

WP4 Survey: Institutional performance and social values

A. Personal data

1. Sex 2. Age 3. Education level 4. Occupation

B. Local Institutions

5. Which of the following institutions are important for the wellbeing of your

community?

Institution Not important Fairly important Very important


District council

Ruling political

coalition

Opposition parties


(Not for Europe)

Health care providers


Police

Local associations

NGOs

International donor

organizations

EU (Europe only)

Others (please

specify)

6. Please tick all those in the following categories that in your opinion are public officers.

_ Village/city counselor

_ Policeman

_ State school teacher

_ State university professor

_ Private doctor

_ Journalist

_ NGO activist

_ Priest/religious functionary

_ Attorney

_ Company manager

7. How much do you trust the following institutions (from 1: lowest, to 5: highest trust)


National government

Local government

District council

Church/Mosque

Judges

Police force

State doctors

Health Centers

Public schools

Tax office

Local associations


and organizations

Media

EU (Europe only)

8. With which of the following institutions have you or members of your family recently encountered

cases of good service or of bad service:

Institution Good Service Bad service Reason for choice


District council

Church/Mosque

Judges

Police force

Public healthcare

providers

Public schools

Tax office

Local associations


and organizations

C. Local Issues

9. What in your view are the most serious problems in your community? List at least three starting

from the most important.

10. With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you are not able to settle a

matter/obtain a service with your own resources?

Institution Unable to obtain the

desired service on my

own


District council

Church/Mosque

Judges

Police force

Public

hospitals/health

centers

Public schools

Tax office

Local associations

International

organizations

11. How would you advice a person who can’t successfully deal with institutions to resolve his

problem? (more than one answer possible):

I would advice him to:

_ Ask for intervention from a friend

_ Ask for intervention from a relative

_ Ask for intervention from an important person

_ Pay a fee

_ Give a small gift

_ Denounce the disservice to the competent authorities

_ Try several times until I get a good result

_ Avoid in general dealing with that institution

_ Don’t know

12. Who do you think could help to improve the general wellbeing of your community?

_EU (Europe only)

_the state (national government)

_opposition political parties

_district council

_village/municipal council

_ police forces

_ judges and magistrates

_traditional authorities

_citizens themselves

_ media

_NGOs

_international organizations

_other (please specify)

13. In general which of the following practices are, in your opinion, spoiling the good development of

a society? (Multiple choices possible).

_ Buying votes during elections

_ Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them

_ Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services

_ Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school

_Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids

_ Paying fees to have documents sorted out quickly

_Convincing journalists not to publish sensitive articles

_ Using scandals to get rid of political opponents

_ Using development funds for private purposes

14. In your experience how true is the following statement: “public sector officials who provide

services to my community do not act the way they should”

a) Not true b) Rarely true c) Occasionally true d) Often true e) Always true

15. Do you feel you have the means to express dissatisfaction when the services provided by your

local practitioner/service provider are not appropriate? If yes, what are they?

D. Social norms

16. In your community, how important is to:

Custom Not important Fairly important Very important

Provide hospitality to

guests

Enjoy meals with

other people

Give presents during

festive celebrations

Reciprocate received

gifts


gifts in time


gifts in same value

Satisfy a personal

request of favour

Know who is the best

person to ask a favor

to

Protect a person if I

am in the position to

do it

Be in good terms with

important persons

Avoid bureaucracy

because it is

inefficient

Keep a secret not to

harm another person

even if this is not legal

Be cautious when

talking of politics in

public

Spend time with

friends outside the

home

17. Do you agree with the following statement: “gift giving creates a bond where people know they will receive better treatment/service next time they visit the clinic/office?”

18. Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the services obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship with the service provider?”

________________________________

19. The following stories have happened in other countries in the world. Please indicate if you would in principle agree with the behavior of the characters (1. strongly disagree to 6. strongly agree)

a. In the district council a new person has been appointed recently. This person is very hard-working and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift from citizens to sort out problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people avoid him.

b. Mario is a very resourceful person, he does what he can to help his friends and relatives and he knows a lot of people. When he needs a favor he always finds someone to turn to because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and corruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him.

c. A family has plans to build a new house in another village. They have asked what the official procedure is and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult and they realize they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person.

They decide to leave the village and look for another where things are going according to the rules.

d. Peter has a small business in preparing sandwiches which he sells to local schools. Last year he was successful to win a tender and gained a contract in one local primary school. Unfortunately the school head has changed this year and his contract has expired. Before applying for the next tender he looks for an influential person who will introduce him the new school head.

e. Lucy runs a local Ngo for human rights protection. She is very active and well established in the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an international donor last year so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In the end she failed because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper agreement with them first.

20. What is a leader in your community expected to do? (check all that apply)

a) Strictly follow the legislation governing his/her mandate b) Adhere to the rules of the community c) Provide goods and services to all citizens d) Provide rewards to those loyal to him/her e) Protect members of the community from intrusion from outside influences f) Act in a transparent way g) Follow the guidelines from their political parties h) Provide for the poor i) Make sure harmony prevails in the community j) Redistribute public budgets to reduce inequalities k) Other

E. Values

21. From 1 (not similar) to 6 (very similar) can you tell me how similar to you do you think this

person is to you:

a. He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as

possible.

b. He would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society

c. He thinks that traditions must be respected because they make up one person´s culture.

d. He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from

elderly people.

e. He is very religious because religion helps people to be part of a community and get together

regularly.

f. He thinks that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of the people don’t

want so

g. His house is often visited by guests and he has an intense social life

h. He thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue

i. He will try not to show his true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish or egocentric

j. He prefers not to show to others his economic standards of living to avoid jealousy

22. Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you

_ to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions

_ to believe only those in power can improve our living conditions

_to believe only our community as a strong group can improve living conditions

_ to believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not improve easily

23. Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you:

_to do all my best to help the community in which I live

_to do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves

_to do what I can to improve things according to the indications of those who administer the

country

_to do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to change things as everyone will

do his best too

Annex 2.

Political corruption in Japan

Davide Torsello, University of Bergamo

Japan has always been a complex, nonetheless fascinating, case study for research of its

political institutions. Political corruption has always been a widespread reality in Japanese

state and bureaucratic apparatuses well since pre-modern times. On the other hand, what

strikes the general observer is the more or less constant presence of Japan among the top

twenty least corrupt countries in major national-level indicators.

Many observers who are not familiar with Japanese cultural and social features would find it

difficult to attribute corruption to Japanese politics, if not for a number of “isolated” and large

scandals such as the Lockheed, the Recruit, the Zenekon cases (all discussed below) and a

number of less famous prewar cases. It appears that corruption has, in this country, mostly

remained at the level of grand scandals, in which senior bureaucrats, ministerial personnel and

large business corporations or conglomerates are implicated. The perception-based indicators,

indeed, signal this reality: Japanese citizens seem aware of large cases of corruption in

politics, and they have showed anger and disappointment towards them, as it is proved for

example by the worsened electoral performance of the major party, LDP (Liberal Democratic

Party), in 1994, as discussed below. Citizen’s concern with cases of misconduct by public

officials are, however, mostly affected by media coverage of such scandals, and it seems that

in social terms, Japanese are not ready to denounce corruption as a common phenomenon in

their daily life. This would align Japan with a good number of wealthy democratic world

country, that are not immune to this phenomenon, but still do not perceive it as a social threat

for common citizens. But is this really so? Are large scandals not enough perception stimuli

to make common Japanese believe that their country is not particularly affected by

corruption?

This chapter is designed to show that reality is far more distant from the optimistic

perspective rendered by aggregate indicators. Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in

Japanese politics, even though not at the petty street-level to which many less wealthy country

are accustomed. Its diffusion is largely dependent on the close-knit interaction between

political institutions, norms and values that characterize this society. On the one hand, a

number of shared values render the relationship between power holders, public officials in

general and business leaders a firmly interlocked structure whose inner dynamics are widely

unknown to the general public, as well as to the external observer. On the other hand, the set

of cultural biases among which the Japanese citizen can chose when judging and evaluating

the conduct of power holders is strongly influenced by the tacit consensus of the political

machinery. It is not an exaggeration to think that a good number of corruption cases have not

and will never be exposed to the general public in this country: this is possible not because

political or business leaders are more greedy in this than in other countries, but because socio-

cultural conditions allow for this tacit, although not passive because it is a cultural practice,

consensus.

This chapter is structured in four sections. In the first section I will deal with the relationship

between political corruption in Japan and some of the main features of Japanese politics,

introducing how the phenomenon has been treated mostly in political science literature, as

well as its recent developments. In the second section I will introduce a list of some of the

major corruption scandals in this country, following a historical perspective. Finally, section

three explores further the analysis of the socio-cultural features (norms, values and patters of

social interaction) that makes Japan an extremely complex case of study with regards to

informal and illegal practices. The final aim of the chapter is to provide a comprehensive

picture which introduces the case of Japan not only from the perspective of the typology of

corruption cases and the main causes of these phenomena, but more significantly of the links,

often of difficult detection, between cultural patterns and reasons for accepting or even

legitimating these practices.

The causes of corruption in Japanese politics

Two are the main causes that literature on Japanese politics impute to the origin of corruption:

the interconnection between political, administrative (public bureaucracy) and business

spheres, and the electoral system. The first cause, by some scholars named the “three-way

deadlock”, or “golden triangle” (Sugimoto 2003: 212) is by no means a product of

contemporary Japanese politics, since it has its roots in the feudal administrative structures of

the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868). In late feudal periods, the hard task of unifying a

nation divided into a large number of fiefs very often in war against another was slowly but

carefully achieved through the centralizing efforts of the Edo government. Among these, were

two mechanisms that proved particularly effective for paving the way for the development of

contemporary Japanese politics: the periodical visit system of feudal lords, and the rice

compensation system for public officials.

The mechanism of periodical visit (sankin kōtai) was based upon the requirement that local

lords (daimyō) , their families and their political establishment moved annually to the

capital, Edo, where they were forced to spend from 3 to 6 months. This practice was

established in 1635 and remained effective until the last years of the shogunate, in 1862. The

important addition to this system was that the lord’s whole family had to reside in Edo

throughout the year or, according to few allowed cases (such as those fiefs more loyal to

shogun), in one on two years. This system is said to have worked very well for improving the

transport and commercial infrastructures of the country, as well as for consolidating the power

of central administration institutions. On the other hand, the periodical visit system favoured

the consolidation of direct, face-to face relations. Not only was local politics became

subordinated to confrontation, mediation and lobbying in Edo, but local bureaucracy was

extremely mobile and more dependent on the informal moods and agreements taken in Edo

than on real local needs (Jansen 2000). This apparatus created the conditions for widespread

clientelism due to three structural aspects of the Tokugawa rule: the regulatory strength of the

central administration, the proximity between central and local bureaucracies, and the

economic dependence of the peripheries towards the rich merchant families, mostly based in

the Kansai region.

Concerning the second mechanism, in the Edo period public officials, most of which of

samurai origin, were compensated in kind, with rice. Rice was the money for all public

offices, excluding thus private and commercial enterprises, but this coexisted with the regular

monetary system based on gold, silver and copper. In ideological and cultural terms, rice is

one of the purest and ritually most effective (hare) elements in Japanese shintoistic practices,

whereas money is traditionally invested with impurity (ke) and venality, for which reasons

samurai were interdicted from conducting commercial activities, seen as polluting.

In this mechanism, public officials and warriors had to convert their salaries from rice to local

money and this was done through the medium of an extremely rich merchant class (chōnin),

that Confucian political values paradoxically relegated at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

This compensation system created a number of bottlenecks in the Edo economic system,

particularly when (frequent) shortages and famines weakened the financial equilibrium. More

importantly, the in-kind rice compensation increased the power of the monopolistic merchant

class which consolidated as the third ring of the political-administrative-economic powers that

ruled the country. This has often been viewed by historians as the modern origin of Japanese

capitalism at the point in which Japan abandoned its Edo period isolation in the last two

decades of the 19th century (Howell 1982).

Japanese capitalism has its roots in the three-way deadlock, more than other western

European countries, since the creation of the so-called zaibastsu (large business

conglomerates) in the early 20th century was possible thanks to a strong equilibrium between

industrial, financial and political forces, organized along the keiretsu system (Shimokawa

1985, Prowse 2012). This system eventually remained dominant until the postwar economic

boom of the country, when the introduction of the Shōwa constitution and the reforms of the

electoral system posed the formal bases of Japanese democracy.

In spite of the postwar institutional transformation, there is large evidence in Japanese politics

that the interconnection between the political, administrative and business spheres is still very

strong. There are different explanations of why it is so. First, bureaucracy in Japan exercises

control on a wide range of economic activities, that is esteemed to correspond to over 40% of

the nation’s gross product (Sugimoto 2003: 213). This high degree of regulation, which some

scholars correlate with high incidence levels of corruption, renders the political machine

extremely influential on the decisions on private enterprises (from licence granting to control

of production and even planning). Secondly, the system of subsidies to local governments is

biased towards maintaining central control of decision-making processes. Since prefectures

and local administrations have only limited rights on taxation policies, they heavily rely on

state financing, with limiting local planning power. Moreover, the common custom of rotating

ministerial positions with key local offices de facto constitutes a kind of reversed sankin-kōtai

mechanism, enabling national officials to exercise accurate control of the prefectures. Thirdly,

in a country in which free market competition is certainly not at the levels of US, Great

Britain and other northern European countries, large enterprises react to the heavy yoke put

on them by strong state regulation gaining certain particular and privileged spaces of

influence of ubiquitous ethical nature, such as in the case of the amakudari phenomenon.

The descent from heaven

Amakudari (descended from heaven) is the general term with which elite officials who enter

in post-retirement contracts in large private (or public) enterprises are called, as if they were

fallen from the sky. This practice, very common in Japan since prewar periods, allows a

double-track type of benefits, both on the side of the company and of the bureaucratic

apparatus. Companies, which are willing to pay high salaries for these positions, will inherit

the whole set of personal and clientelistic networks of the newcomers, who are often allowed

to occupy high executive positions, even if they are typically new to managerial skills. On the

other hand, the reverse is also through: amakudari mechanism allows the political sphere to

retain influential control over business sectors.

One of the causes of the amakudari phenomenon is the rigid hierarchical and age-based career

system in the public service. Recruits usually undergo a training period of 5-6 years, during

which they start to learn how the bureaucratic machine works. They are often rotated to

various (higher) functions and come to belong to different ministries. After the recruit has

become a section chief, he/she has already established significant personal connections with

higher officials, as well as has been instilled a sense of identity with one ministry. Mobility, at

this point, becomes both a vertical (career advance) and a horizontal (across types of

ministries) matter (Cheng 1988: 476-7). In the course of career movements, some rules stands

very firmly, such as seniority rules. Since an official who remains in one position during a

typical rotating period is an obstacle for other career advances he may be advised from above

to retire. However, the older the official, the more difficult it can become to force him to

retire, not only because he may typically have accumulated a tangible extension of his

interpersonal network. At this point, there are two options: the first is that the senior official

retires prematurely (i.e. before 55) and he is “converted” into amakudari, typically of a high

level, being hired by a high ranking company at executive level. The second option is that the

official resist pressures to leave his job and decides to stay in his position, blocking other

opportunities of career advance. In this case it may easily happen that at the time of his

retirement the official will not get an amakudari position, or he will get only one of lower

rank (Cheng 1988). In either cases, the amakudari system is functional both endogenously to

the career progress mechanism of Japanese bureaucracy, and to an exogenous level, to

maintaining ties between business and the public officials.

Some particular sectors are more constellated with amakudari career progression. Nakano

(1988) describes the practice of amakudari in the Japanese Ministry of Post and

Telecommunications. In his study, he illustrates that, in the period 1949-1996, 28 positions of

vice-minister were occupied by former graduates of the two major faculties of law in the

country, from the University of Tokyo and Kyoto (with only 3 exceptions: Okayama, Kyushu

and Hokkaido University). The second finding is that all major telecommunication industries

in the period above have employed amakaduri from different positions in the Ministry.

Finally, he showed that nine on ten vice-ministers in the period 1980-1994 have, after leaving

their public offices, become chairs of the most prestigious postal organizations such as the

Post Office Life Insurance Welfare Corporation, or the Postal Savings Promotion

Associations (Naakano 1998: 112).

The electoral system in Japan

The second structural mechanism which facilitates the insurgence of political corruption in

Japan is the electoral system. The Diet is in Japan composed by the House of Representatives

and the House of Councillors. The first has 480 members, three hundred of which are elected

from single-seat constituency, and the remaining 180 through a proportional representation

system. The latter is made up by 242 members, 146 elected by the prefectures in proportion to

their population and 96 from a national constituency (Hendry 2006: 214).

The electoral system envisaged, until its reform introduced in 1994, that each constituency

proposed typically 3-5 members and the designated number of candidates who gained the

higher number votes were elected. One problem with this system was that, proportionally, in

densely populated districts more votes were needed to be elected than in sparsely populated

areas, reaching disparities that could be fourfold between one seat in Chiba and one in

Shikoku (Hendry 2006: 217). This gap, which led to declare a number of elections

unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, could become an advantage for party members who

were particularly popular in more peripheral, typically rural areas, such as the LDP. Evidence

shows that attention of the Japanese government to agrarian policies, as well as the extremely

generous hands that have traditionally treated the primary sector (and particularly rice

farming) have roots in this mechanism. Therefore, in more recent electoral reform attempts

(1994, 2000) the number of seats chosen through proportional representation was reduced to

200 and further to 180.

The most controversial aspect of the Japanese electoral system concerns party financing.

Postwar Japanese politics has been characterized by a neat polarization between self-

supporting parties (in general left-wing parties such as the Socialist and the Communist Party,

now grouped together in the Social Democratic Party) and the party which needed, so to

speak, direct fundraising (the LDP). Different is the role of the Komeitō, which is supported

and sponsored by the powerful Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai. If left-wing parties

received most of their funds through publications, public events and labour unions, the LDP,

founded in 1955, became dominated by an extremely competitive inner factionism which

originated from the lack of self-financing tools. Due to the mechanism of electoral

preferences, candidates within the LDP had to face a fierce competition, often using very

similar slogans and arguments in order to grasp the highest amount of votes (Abe et al. 1994).

This gave origin to the strong factionalism of the party that ruled Japan since the time of the

postwar economic boom, but also to an invisible system of corruption and illicit economic

transactions. If according to legal prescriptions, candidates could spend only a limited amount

of money for their campaigns, and this amount was proportional to their constituency, in the

case of the LDP it is calculated that the limit has rarely been respected (Fukui and Fukai

2000).

Due to the lack of central organisational support from the party, candidates to the House of

Representatives had high expenses when running their campaigns and these expenses became

proportionally high with candidates who were more likely to be elected (Nyblade and Reed

2008). The creation of organizations for the support of this candidates (kōenkai) thus, became

a powerful financial tool for party financing. These organizations, on the one hand invested

money in lavish banquets, donations and in the worst cases (see the Tanaka case below) even

bribes, on the other hand they served as structures though which to challenge support coming

from private enterprises. Iwai (1992) has calculated that in the 1980s, at the peak of Japanese

economic boom, a typical LDP Diet member invested about 100 million yen per year in

electoral and support campaigns. Some of these contributions indeed included not only

targeted donations, but gifts sent in the number of ritual occasions observed by the Japanese

cultural etiquette (Blechinger 2000). This mechanism, which until the 1990s was absent or

almost insignificant in the left-wing parties, made the difference and was one of the factors

that accounted for the supremacy of LDP through the years. In spite of the competition among

candidates, it is clear that those who were able to manage and manipulate large electoral

basins would have been successful in a closing spiral according to which more money was

needed to achieve more support and consequently more support would generate electoral

success. On the other hand, it is easily understood how companies were interested to

perpetuate such system, since their direct involvement in party financing through this

competitive mechanism secured major rewards across time.

In 1994, when the left-wing coalition came to power, the Political Funds Control Law was

passed. This prescribed that Diet members made public all donations over 1 million yen, but

did not specify the maximum amount of allowed donations, as well as the number of

supporting organizations. The unexpected consequence of this law was that fundraising

institutions bloomed, fragmented in a number of smaller donations and foundations, each of

them typically contributing less than one million yen. Increased competition for funding

generated increased factionism within the LDP, and in particular those Diet members who

worked for the most lucrative ministries (construction, post and telecommunication, health

and agriculture) easily became object of blackmailing and unsolicited pressure by industrial

groups (Inoguchi and Iwai 1987, Blechinger 2000).

A second major change introduced by the 1994 Political Funds Control Law was the attempt

to shift responsibility for managing electoral funds from individuals to the single parties. One

of the measures towards this aim included the introduction of the state subsidy system for

political parties. In 2000, donations from unions, corporations or organizations to individuals

were rendered illegal: Diet members became only allowed to receive donations from one

individual (up to a maximum of 1.5 million a year), local and national party sections (without

limits). The outcome of this new regulatory system was that the parties (and mainly LDP)

broke down their supporting organizations in a number of smaller local sections within single

constituencies so to enable donors to perform their functions without limitations. An esteem

of 1999 situates the number of local party chapters per electoral district 19, on a national

average of 300,000 electors per district (Blechinger 2000).

It is, of course, hard to judge whether the changes in the electoral system have weakened the

political humus which clientelism and corruption can take root, as the scandals listed below

demonstrate, but one of the points that needs emphasis here is that increased electoral

competitions has in Japan, like in Italy (see chapter 6), generated less transparency.

Unfortunately, sound qualitative studies of the changes in the electoral system of Japan are

scarce (Steiner et al. 1981, Stockwin 1988, Johnson 1993). In an empirical quantitative study

on political corruption in Japan, Nyblade and Reed (2008) test (among others) two

assumptions: whether “intraparty competitions is likely to generate more cheating than

interparty competition” and whether “candidates with more political influence are more likely

to loot”1 (Nyblade and Reed 2008: 929-30). Their study shows, that if intraparty competition

increases, likelihood of cheating is also on the rise; whereas this latter tend to decrease with

increased inter-party competition, regardless of the viability of candidates. On the other hand,

very secure candidates (i.e. those with high probabilities of winning) are far more likely to

loot than marginal or emerging candidates. This result, which must be taken in consideration

with the due reservations of the type of reality rendered by statistical regression methods,

seems to stress the point that candidates with more resources, because they have already

established a network of support, are more likely to use these resources in illicit ways than

candidates who have not yet achieved political visibility.

History of political corruption in Japan

1 The authors substitute the word “corruption” with the two expression “cheating” and “looting”. Cheating is “the use of illicit means to enhance probability of being (re-)elected” and looting is “of public office illicitly for private material gain” (Nyblade and Reed 2008: 927).

Murobushi Tetsurō2 (2000), a free-lance journalist, is the only author who has dedicated in

Japan a comprehensive study to the history of major political corruption scandals in the

country. Over the period which covers about a century (1872-1998) from the time of the Meiji

Restoration (1861) to the burst of the bubble economy, Murobushi has identified 159 cases.

These are divided as follows:

1872-1915 13 cases

1916-1945 37 cases

1946- 1973 56 cases

1973-1999 53 cases

This temporal division shows that there is a degree of continuity in the postwar period, which

seems disregarding of the different phases of Japanese economic development. What follows

are short descriptions of the most famous scandals.

1872, the Yamashiroya incident. Yamashiroya Wasuke, purveyor of the Ministry of War

was forced to commit suicide through the traditional seppuku method because he was unable

to refund a huge amount of public money that was to him entrusted to buy weapon munitions.

Yamashiroya had invested that money, which amounted to the 1% of the country GDP of that

year, into raw silk products. Unfortunately, due to the fall in price of the silk, most of the

amount went lost. Thus Yamashiroya, after borrowing another minor sum from the

government, went to France to deal directly with French intermediaries. Here he had the

misfortune of communicating his story to a Japanese who lived in France and who had direct

connections to the Ministry of Interior, and this helped to expose the scandal.

1886, the Hairasage incident, also known as the Hokkaido Development Agency Assets

scandal. Kuroda Kiyotaka, the development commissioner for the northern island of

Hokkaido, in charge of its land reclamation project, had plans for strengthening the political

role of Hokkaido vis-à-vis Russia, by investing in infrastructures. Revelations of impropriety

in management of the assets of the agency triggered one of the most important political turns

of the Meiji period, i.e. the establishment of a constitution and an elected assembly (Mason

2012: 28). In 1881, news that Kuroda had proposed to sell an impressive portion of the assets

to a number of close friends originating from his same district caused public outrage. The

2 In spite of being a journalist and not an academic, Murobushi is esteemed by the major specialist of corruption in the country a san extremely knowledged and methodic researcher. In a personal interiew with Professor Kobayashi (Chiba University) on why Japanese academics write so little and they even rely on journalistic material, I received the answer that “paradoxally, it may be that journalists seem more free than academics”.

scheme was to sell a collection of holdings that would have been paid for by taxpayers money

of a value (at that time) of 30 million yen at about 400,000 yen payable in 30 years, and

interest-free. The Meiji oligarchs were forced to react to strong pressure coming from media,

as well as from a number of movements in favour of democratization of the country. As a

result, the sale was cancelled, the imperial assembly was established in 1890, followed by the

first Japanese constitution, known as the Meiji Constitution, in the same year, and the

establishment of the National Diet.

1902, the Textbook Scandal. In 1900, the Ministry of Education had established a

committee, led by Katō Hiroyuki, to evaluate existing school textbooks. The committee

terminated its work in 1903, selecting a number of textbooks which were deemed as

acceptable by the Meiji imperial government. In December 1902, however, a major bribery

scandal emerged in Osaka, which involved more than 200 people (40 were convicted) from

editors, teachers and prefectural officers. The scandal was apparently discovered when one of

the textbook companies director, who paid large bribes to prefectural agents to maintain his

elementary school textbooks on the allowed adoption list, forgot on the train a notebook

which contained detailed lists of the bribes and the bribed. The government took advantage of

these scandals to put all elementary school books under its control and eventually in April

1903 it proclaimed that all textbooks books had to be under national control (Khan 1997: 76-

77) .

1908, the Japanese Sugar Refining Corruption Case. This was historically the first

corruption scandal in Japan to be known outside the country, because it involved also foreign

companies. In order to cover up a number of losses, the directorship of the Greater Japan

Sugar Refining Company, which had agencies in the colony of Taiwan, bribed a number of

Diet members to secure the promulgation of a monopoly law. The government was expected

to buy and nationalize the company at an exorbitant price (Scalapino 1953: 263). The bill,

however, was not approved, and after disclosure of the incident, sixteen personalities, among

whom 12 Diet members, were indicted. The characteristic of this scandal was that the accused

politicians were from all political parties, causing a general public loss of trust in politics.

1914, the Siemens Case. This was the most spectacular corruption case in Meiji and Taishō

Japan. In a period when the Japanese navy was involved in a massive development project it

became known that Siemens AG had been acquired and maintained over years a monopoly of

supply in Japan through a system of 15% kickbacks to Diet and Ministry members. In 1914,

the British firm Vickers offered a more lucrative deal to a number of Japanese officials that

reached up to 25% of the commission fee. However, an expatriate employee of the Siemens

Tokyo office stole a document proving some previous cases of bribery and sold this to the

media agency Reuters. What followed was the immediate public exposure of the scandal, in

which a number of politicians and military officials were exposed, through the Japanese

media. Whether or not the Japanes officials were to be deemed guilty by Japanese laws, they

indeed were so under the British Corrupt Practices Act of 1906. Large scale and even violent

demonstrations erupted in the country in February 1914, particularly when the amount of the

loss became public, together with the news that the government was about to raise taxes.

Finally, Prime Minister Yamamoto and his cabinet had to resign, whereas a military court

reduced in rank two leading navy admirals.

1915, the Oura scandal. After Japanese entry in World War I, the cabinet led by Okuma

Shigenobu had to report to the Diet about highly increased expenses in the military sector and

was about to ask for more support in the country’s war involvement. However, the majority of

the lower house of the Diet was made by parties who openly opposed Japanese war actions,

thus the proposal was rejected. Okuma dissolved the diet and called for new elections on

March 25, 1915. In the elections Okuma was successful, although not winning the absolute

majority, and the draft law passed. It was only two months later that evidence was found that

Oura Kanetake, the new Home Minister under Okuma, had made funds available from one

organization to a number of Lower House representatives to pass the law for increased state

budget for military actions. Oura was forced to resign but not indicted, his secretary who

made the transactions operative was arrested, and after strong pressure Okuma himself

resigned and decided (an unordinary moves in Japanese politics) to definitely abandon the

scene.

1926, the Matsushima Brothels scandal. This constituted a particularly shameful corruption

scandal of Showa Japan. Among a number of politicians the most ugly targeted was Minoura

Katsundo, who had been seating in the lower house since 1890, and had to that time being

regarded as an integrity-embracing personality. Minoura, involved with Prime Minister

Wakatsuki, was a strong supporter of the planned move of the Matrushima brothels of Osaka

to a new site. Three companies competed for assignment of the estate lots in which the

brothels were expected to move, each of them attempting to bribe different politicians from

the three main parties. At one point Minoura himself lobbied in the Home Ministry to gain the

solution which was the most profitable to his own faction. In the course of several passages

for gaining influence, several hundreds of thousand yen of public money had been lost and the

case leaked, with pamphlets being distributed to the population that included names of the

businessmen and politicians allegedly involved (Mitchell 1996: 47). It was when two persons

(a public official from Osaka and a business man in the real estate) who were enlisted but

were external to the scandals protested and started legal action that Japanese citizens started to

learn about the true story. In the end, Minoura’s arrest and the fall of Watsuki’s cabinet

constituted a shock to the general public more than the complexity of the scandal which

included more than 20 political leaders and 30 business persons.

1929, the Echigo Railway scandal. In 1927 the Japanese government decided to expand its

railway connections and the first step was to acquire and incorporate local private railways in

the national Japan Railway company. In the Echigo region (today Niigata) the local railway

was owned by Kusumi Tōya, who confessed to have bribed a number of members from the

Lower House in order to buy railways lines at higher prices than the standard market value.

The difference was typically covering the “fee” paid to politicians. The scandal was largely

covered by the media and created a strong dissatisfaction with political parties and with the

link between economic and politics in the country (Sasada 2008: 83-4).

1934, the Teijin Incident. This is the largest and most known of Japanese pre-war corruption

scandals. In 1933, a group of investors named Banchōkai purchased 100,000 shares of Teijin,

a textile firm located in Taiwan. As the price share suddenly rose by almost 40%, rumours

emerged that the group had been manipulating the market. Using these rumours, that were

still unsubstantiated, ultra-right government factions accused officials of the Ministry of

Finance and members of the cabinet led by prime minister Saitō of fiscal irregularities and

bribery in accordance with the Bank of Taiwan. As a result, the president of the Tenjin

company, the vice-minister of Finance and the director of the Bank of Taiwan were arrested

on corruption charges. This, and the news that other 13 officials from the ministry were to be

imprisoned, led Saitō to dissolve the government in 1934. After a lengthy trial, all 16 accused

were cleared of charges, but the most significant outcome of the scandal was that it left the

general public with the perception that politics was profoundly corrupted in the country. This

argument was exploited in particular by ultra-nationalist right wing factions and association

and it is believed that the Tenijn scandal contributed to legitimize the political rise of these

factions and the violent escalation which followed in the 1930s (Mitchell 2002).

1948, the Shōwa Denkō scandal. Background to this scandal is the Reconstruction Finance

Bank, established immediately after the end of the war, for financial provisions to the war

damaged key industries in the country. Shōwa Denkō, a major chemical company, had been

established a tie connection with the bank, and investigations started when a large amount of

fertilizers had been found to be sold in the black market. From this incident it actually

became evident that the company had bribed an extensive network of state officials in order to

achieve funding through the Reconstruction Finance Bank. Funds (2.7 billion yen) were given

to the company not only to improve its production, but also to pay off its huge debts. This

scandal was described by local media as “a miniature picture of defeated Japan” and

contributed to strengthen the image of a country in which corruption was widespread.

Prosecutors indicted 64 people, only 2 of whom were ultimately convicted, but two of those

indicted, Fukuda Takeo and Tanaka Kakuei, were to become prime ministers in the future

years.

1954, the shipbuilding scandal. This was a major scandal that led to resignation of the

second Yoshida cabinet and also to the creation of the unified LDP party out of two factions

(1955). Members of the opposition Democratic Party accused members of the cabinet of

receiving extensive kickback payments from Hitachi Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

in return not only for government contracts, but also for subsidies. The most significant part

of this scandal was that it overtly showed how public procurement was, in Japan, subject to

external political influence. In 1947, the contested Article 14 of Public Procurement Office

was ratified as law. This article permitted the Minister of Justice to direct the Prosecutor

General in the investigation and disposition of criminal cases (Haley 2006: 65). The law was

designed to make prosecutors accountable, considering the fact that in prewar Japan there

have been many scandals of prosecutors influenced by right-wing factions (Schwartz and

Pharr 2003: 261). However, in the shipbuilding case, Yoshida made use of Article 14 to

prevent his secretary general (and to-be prime minister) Satō Eisuke from arrest. From this

scandal onwards the procurement office was thrown a dark light of mistrust and suspicion,

and its power eventually weakened as a result of failure to prosecute the indicted officials.

1965, the Fukihara Industry incident. According to this incident, the executive director of

the Fukihara Industry in Tokyo committed a large financial fraud by diverting a spectacular

loan of 3.1 billion yen from Daiwa Bank into a fake bank deposit at Mitsubishi Bank.

Fukihara had been supported by a number of LDP politicians, who received extensive bribes

in order, first to allow the loan and then to cover up the story. The most intriguing part of the

story concerns declarations at the Tokyo District Court (1966) left by Kurogane Yasumi,

testimony at the trial, and main supporter of the Ikeda cabinet. In his words, Kurogante stated

that “I was very familiar with the flow of money within the Ikeda faction, and because we

were confident that Ikeda would win we did not believe the large amount of money that was

rumoured of was actually necessary. Anyone who knew the political situation at the time

would have thought that 2 billion yen was an outrageous sum of money” (Watanabe

2013:109).

1976, the Lockheed Scandal. This is by far the most well-known scandal of political bribery

in Japan. The scandal invested Italy (where this lead to impeachment of the president Sergio

Leone) and Japan with an astonishing similarity of dynamics which suggests that a parallel

between these two countries’ murky intersection between business and politics is realistic.

The incident originated when a banking consortium led by Lazard Freres investment house in

New York acquired the bankrupted aerospace industry Lockheed. The main target of the

scandal was Japan’s Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei, whose integrity had been seriously

contested due to his direct involvement in three other fraud and corruption scandals. On the

other hand, Tanaka was one of the few Cold-War period prime ministers of Japan who had set

a clear agenda for expanding international relations, including those with China, the Soviet

Union and the Arabic world. This had allegedly made him an important target for what was

named the “Atlanticist financial circles” in New York .3 The idea behind this was that Tanaka

and his faction would have been delegitimated, in favour of Takeo Fukuda, the deputy Prime

Minister, who was instead in favour of a zero growth austerity policy. Lockheed, through

Japanese trading company Marubeni, made contact with prime minister Tanaka and arranged

for a bribe of 500 million yen to urge the Japanese airplane company ANA to buy its

airplanes in a bid competition with McDonald Douglas and Boeing. On August 23, 1972

Tanaka accepted the bribe, and in two months time the deal was struck. On August 10, 1973

on the back of the British Embassy a cardboard box containing 100 million yen was

transferred into the car of one of Tanaka’s drivers, the same was repeated three more times

until March 1st, 1974. The US media were not particularly surprised about the scandal, which

in Japan caused outrage of the public opinion. Tanaka was arrested and forced to resign both

as prime minister and from the party; what complicated his position was that his driver

Kasahara was arrested and forced to confess in a memo the bribery transferral. As

consequence of his denounce the police released charges against him and he committed

suicide running a hose from the car’s exhaust pipe into the interior. The case, which was

divided into four investigations, was concluded in October 1983.

1979, the KDD scandal. In 1979 a new corruption scandal invested the Japanese political

scene, which related to the state-run telephone company (KDD) that had become extremely

profitable thanks to monopoly of international calls and higher-than-market tariffs. The Asahi

Shinbun revealed that KDD had set a system of padded expenses to cover costs of

entertainment and even sex in foreign countries by senior managers. The amount for 1978

was calculated at an exorbitant 2.4 billion yen and it was proved that a number of government

3 See: http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1976/eirv03n17-19760426/eirv03n17-19760426_030-the_lockheed_scandal_in_japan.pdf

officials from the ministry of telecommunications were on the expenses list. The scandal was

widely covered and became a popular reading, on the wave of the Tanaka affair. The journal

Shukan Asahi eventually issued a parody competition of the case, in which the winning poem,

entitled “Political Alchemy” ran: “Scattering money right and left, buying too much and now,

trying hurriedly to hide, the mountain of furniture” (Thomas 1989: 55).

1988, the Recruit Scandal. This was another major scandal that involved insider trading and

corruption originated through Recruit, a human resources and classified ads company whose

chairman, Ezoe Hiromasa, offered number of shares to business leaders and senior politicians

in a subsidiary company, called Cosmos. The company went public soon afterwards and the

share owners achieved sudden profits of several millions of yen. Recruit purchased million of

yens’ worth of tickets to fundraising factions of LDP leaders. Over thirty Diet members were

involved in the affair, including prime minister Takeshita and former prime minister

Nakasone. As in other cases, Takeshita was led by this scandal to resign. At the end, only two

politicians were indicted, but none of them was a primary figure in the list of those involved.

It took over thirteen years to finally convict Ezoe of bribery and he was eventually handed a

suspended sentence. When considering that this was the largest corruption scandal after

Lockheed the degree of impunity of political leaders stays very high in this country (Kingston

2004: 24).

1992, the Sagawa Kyubin case. The Sagawa Kyubin trucking firm was found in 1992 guilty

of donating extremely high sums of money to politicians over a period of two decades. A

press report dealt with a single case of a cart piled up with the Tanaka bribe standard, 500

million of yen, to be delivered to the office of the LDP chief, Shin Kanemaru. Kanemaru,

other than taking the bribe, had used Sagawa to stop ultra-rightist harassment towards

Takeshita Noboru (former prime minister), by resorting to yakuza connections. Kanemaru

was forced to resign from politics and a raid into his house unveiled a treasure of 100 kg of

gold, 3 billion of yen in bond certificates and several stacks of cash (Kingston 2004: 24-25).

This scandal is said to have contributed to the end of LDP’s stranglehold on power, as the

party’s decades-long primacy was arrested by its defeat in the 1994 elections.

1993, the Zenekon construction scandal. This scandal clearly showed how it is possible for

amakudari to enhance bureaucratic power and function as effective linkages in the golden

triangle. In 1993, it is calculated that the five main corporations under the Ministry of

Construction (Japan Highway Public Corporation, Metropolitan Expressway Public

Corporation, Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation, Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority,

and Housing and Urban Development Corporation) employed over 16,000 workers and that

37 of their 48 directors have got their jobs as amakudari, whereas in the same year 9 former

bureaucrats of the same ministry were elected as Diet members (Bowen 2003: 88). In the

Zenekon large construction company) case the Public Prosecutors Office unveiled a

complicated and hidden mechanism of bribery in which contractors fuelled political

representatives with money in order to obtain and win bids. The mass media exposed a

number of cases in which executive directors of eight major construction companies, the

mayors of Sendai City and Sanwa Town, the governors of Ibaraki and Miyagi prefectures and

one member of the Diet were arrested, were charged of corruption and abuse of office.

2008, the Yamada case. This case is included in the US Foreign Corruption Practices Act

Enforcement Index, and concerns a lawsuit between Cleveland-based Argo Tech Corporation,

and Yamada Corporation that specialize in aviation and defense equipments. According to the

US company, Yamada had paid 900,000 US dollars to the Japan-US Center for Peace and

Cultural Exchange in order to serve as subcontractors for removing poison-gas shells left in

Fukuoka from the Second World War, and a part of that money would have served to bribe

some eminent Japanese politicians, among whom the former defense minister. Yamada denies

all the allegations, stating that in the past it helped Yamada to raise money and invested

capital in the company, and that in return it was given a contract lasting 50 years to distribute

ArgoTech products. The case is still in course4.

There are some points emerging out of the analysis of this brief historical data on corruption

cases in Japan. First, the pattern of these major corruption scandals is mostly the same, in

spite of the different time periods: a company or a cartel of companies bribes a number of

bureaucrats who help the company obtaining, winning a bid, a monopoly or eventually state

subsidies. In this process, senior politicians and Diet members are typically involved, as they

have the function to close the circle, between the three powers (bureaucratic, political and

business) mentioned above. There is little deviation, in the analyzed scandals, from this

pattern, a feature which is not extremely common in the literature of corruption in democratic

states, where, on the contrary, corruption assumes many forms and operates in different fields

(see below the Italian case). Perhaps one recent development is the increased number of

scandals that occur abroad, or that involve Japanese companies with business activities in

other countries, as the Yamada case suggests.

Secondly, the extent to which corruption operates to produce changes at the level of political

institutions, but not at that of the establishment, is different from other countries, such as Italy

4 Fore more details: http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2009/3/4/another-look-at-argo-tech-v-yamada.html.

and Hungary, discussed in this volume. In Italy the scandals which led to Clean Hands

movement had as their major consequence that of reshuffling the political establishment,

killing the already dying Christian Democratic Party, but nothing really changed at

institutional level. In Japan, some of the scandals treated above had major consequences in the

political transformation of the country: the Hairasage incident (1886) paved the way towards

the establishment of the two houses as well as the promulgation of the constitution; after the

Tenjin scandal ,ultra-rightist parties and factions gained further legitimacy towards the

process of Japanese entering in World War II; the Lockheed scandal served as the model by

which media denounces of corruption scandals gained sophistication and became more

conspicuous; the Zenekon scandal influenced the electoral performance of the LDP, which

was defeated after decades of supremacy in Japanese politics.

Thirdly, the number of convicted politicians and bureaucrats that emerge out of the main

scandals is extremely exiguous. In spite of the common trait of these scandals being the final

murky or cover operation by senior politicians and ministry officials, typically, the

personalities who were indicted and found guilty in the investigations were mostly business

leaders and some minor bureaucrats. This is a complex point that does not simply account for

the degree of impunity to be found in Japanese political corruption scandals, but it is actually

related to socio-cultural factors that allow for the low degree of accountability in investigation

patterns. One of these factors is the difficulty that public prosecutors encounter in finding

witnesses who are willing to denounce or testimony in cases of misconduct. Hasegawa (2007)

a public prosecutor, indicates the main challenges of public procurement in Japan as

following: the number of procurement officers is too exiguous with respect for the number of

cases, if one considers that Tokyo’s Procurement Office (the largest in the country) had about

40 officers; suspects or witnesses often refuse to talk in front of authorities; the investigation

process is “often hindered by the suicide of individuals being questioned or important

witnessed, a contributing factor that has significant effects on criminal investigations […] in

Japan a person being questioned often commits suicide to avoid any inconvenience being

caused to their organization or immediate supervisor if he/she belongs to an organization”

(Hasegawa 2007: 474).

The cultural factors of Japanese corruption

In what follows I will identify a number of cultural factors that account for the permanence of

corruption in Japanese politics, its difficult eradication and its weak perception at public level.

As most of the above mentioned scientific literature on corruption suggests, this is a

phenomenon widespread in the Japanese golden triangle, which has not particularly increased

or decreased according to historical conditions neither, and this is striking considering for

instance the Italian case, it has significantly changed its forms over time. Several scholars

point out, more or less explicitly, that the main reason for the “immobility” and permanence

of Japanese political corruption is its inherently cultural aspect (Cheng 1988, Yayama 1990,

Woodall 1996, Sugimoto 2003, Choi 2007, Reed 2008, Kawata and Papp 2013, Watanabe

2013). Blechinger (1998) and Choi (2007), for instance, admit that Japan is characterized by

low levels of corruption at the mid-low levels of bureaucracy and in what social science

defines as patterns of “petty corruption” (see Chapter One), but by extremely strong and

resistant networks of power in top-level bureaucratic office holders and in key ministries. One

simple way to contextualize this affirmation is to consider the number of prime ministers that

were implicated in (and who in most case resigned for) cases of bribery in the period 1946-

1994. This number is 11 on 21 prime ministers, i.e. more that 50 percent of the overall

number, a piece of data which can hardly be equalled, even in corruption-stricken Italy.

However, this number is, again, alone not illustrative of the Japanese case, since resigning and

bearing the shame of the implication (but not of the conviction, since only two prime

ministers have been arrested for corruption in postwar Japan) is itself a cultural practice that is

highly valued in a country defined by American anthropologist Ruth Benedict a “shame

culture” (Benedict 1946).

The famous contribution of Ruth Benedict to the shame argument in Japanese culture can be

summarized in three propositions. The first is that Japanese culture is influenced by a

common feeling of shame which is expressed in different ways according to circumstances,

gender, age, the social status and roles of individuals. The second is that in Japanese society

shame is not an emotion that necessarily needs concealment, as it often is in other societies.

The third is that, according to Benedict, western (she used the case of the USA) societies give

primary importance to public expressions of guilt rather than of shame, whereas in Japan the

opposite would be true. These propositions have been object of extensive study, criticism and

confutation by at least two generations of anthropologists, sociologists and social

psychologists (see for a critical review in anthropology Creighton 1990). In spite of the

several forms of criticism about the strong essentialization inherent in these proposition,

however, several studies have provided empirical demonstration that shame is an important

element of Japanese socialization patterns, as indeed it also serves as a marker for power,

social status and differences among Japanese (Befu 1971, De Vos 1973, Okonogi 1978,

Hamaguchi 1982, Kumon 1982, Lebra 2009).

The most relevant explanation of why shame matters for analyzing corruption practices and

the perception of their impact on Japanese society departs from the working distinction

between shame and guilt. Benedict recognized that shame, unlike guilt, is an allocentric

notion, that focuses and draws origin from the interaction between individuals, i.e. it is not

directed to the self who is ashamed but to the external social environment towards which

shame is conveyed by an emotional attitude. Guilt, on the other hand, would function in the

opposite direction, bringing the emotive response originated in the external world to the

individual, who is reflecting it rather than outperforming. Lebra (1973) suggests that being

part of a shame culture has, among its socio-cognitive implications, the requirement of being

able to manage shame externalizations. In Japanese society, it has been noticed that stark

manifestation of shame are avoided as these may be interpreted by others as synonym of

personal weakness. On the other hand, full avoidance of showing shame is to be deemed as

non social form of behaviour (Lebra and Lebra 1974). This has led some Japanese scholars to

introduce the difference between what would count as “public” versus “private” shame

(Sakuta 1967). Whereas private shame is a psycho-cognitive condition which is not exclusive

of Japanese culture, public shame would constitute a cultural marker for Japan (Lebra 1983).

In order not to be socially disruptive, these theories propose, shame needs to be rendered

public, or properly externalized in a culture in which this is a more common pattern of

socialization than guilt. Public shame would be expectable in several circumstances in which

the self is taken between two extremes: appearing different and extravagant, and conforming

properly to expectations about emotional externalization. The Japanese choice would go along

this latter one, considering the well known avoidance for conflict, rupture of social harmony

(wa) and individualistic patterns of behaviour that distinguish Japanese culture (Nakane 1965,

1970, 1983).

If expressing properly shame can be considered a social value in Japanese society, being able

to take responsibility for one’s own action is similarly esteemed as a proper form of

behaviour, but with an important difference: the role played by difference is social tasks.

Anthropologist Nakane Chie has written extensively on the topic of how social roles affect

not only sociability patters, but also emotional expressions in Japan (Nakane 1972, 1977).

Starting from the well-known argument that Japanese individuals become socially mature

persons (hitomae, literally “in front of the people”) when they are able to properly face

interpersonal relations and gain full responsibility of being part of groups5 (shudan), Nakane

describes one of the conditions through which expressions of this responsibility are

5 For criticim on Japanese groupism and the idea of “vertical society” (tate-shakai) developed by Nakane see for instance Befu 1980, Smith 1983, Kondo 1990, Hendry 1992.

transmitted in Japan, i.e. the belonging to a frame, that she terms ba. Ba is in Japanese

society not only the physical place of belonging, the workplace or a place where an hobby is

cultivated, it is the frame of reference through which the individual achieves social adaptation

(tekiō) and matures as a social person. What would characterize Japanese culture, in this

perspective, is that a number of social norms and values account for the social positioning of

the individual which is more an allocentric than an egocentric process. Therefore, in this

context, belonging to a ba, and being able to understand its proper language, logics,

coherences and incoherences, and particularly rules is of pristine importance.

In this perspective, for instance, the figure of a bowing prime minister, implicated in

corruption scandals, who resigns in front of the Japanese citizens is not odd and even not

unusual. Japanese citizens may understand that the externalization of shame is a positive,

socially constructive (instead of disruptive) action, but this does not imply that they are ready

to forgive him because of this, or that they are ready to believe in the cleanliness of politics.

The pattern is that, with few exceptions, resigning politicians come back to the scene after

some years, usually re-appearing in the following elections, is this a sign of arrogance or

defiance? Or is it a demonstration that “systemic corruption” is hard to fight even in a wealthy

democracy like Japan? And even if so, why is perception of corruption so low in a country in

which major scandals continue to happen? In order to attempt some answers to these

questions it is useful to return to the cultural theory paradigm and consider what are the social

norms and values that allow, as a range of choices among which Japanese move in temporal

and spatial frames, justification of or cause reaction against corruption. In what follows I will

consider one of the most debated topics on Japanese society, i.e. the practice of gift-exchange.

Gift-exchange in Japanese society

One of the most common explanations to the resilience of political corruption to major

institutional and historical transformation in Japan is the use of a cultural explanation that

focuses on the importance of gift-exchange practices and ideas. It is worthy noticing that in all

the non-anthropological scholarly works quoted above in this chapter, with no exception, gift-

exchange is eventually indicated as the cultural practice that justifies corruption and related

practices (clientelism, exchange of favours, informal deals, and abuse of office). Even in a

non-academic context, the aforementioned single most important Japanese journalist to have

published a dozen of books on corruption, Murobushi Tetsurō), who is a respected writer also

by academic standards, has written a book related to corruption entitled: The theory of gift

giving and the theory of gift receiving (Murobushi 1989). This constitutes an unusual mixture

of technical and semi-scientific essay in which the author uses anthropological and historical

evidence from the origins of Japanese culture to explain how gift-giving and reciprocating

practices have turned into corruption (wairo).

Gift-giving and reciprocity patterns constitute one of the most debated topics in Japanese

society both from anthropologists, sociologists and consumer behaviour specialists (Hendry

1995, Rupp 2003, Yoda and Harootunian 2006, Homick 2007). One of the assumptions that

this rich literature makes is that in Japan the number of annual and life occasions in which

gifts are given and received is in average much more numerous than in, for instance, western

countries. The folklore and anthropological literature has identified two major types of

recurrences that are traditionally observed (apart from occasional gifts), these refers to annual

ritual occasions (nenchugyōji) or those who refer to festivities and ceremonies related to the

lives of individuals (kankonsōsai). Among the former, the most relevant for the case of

corruption practices are the two occasions of seibo and chugen, held respectively in the first

two weeks of January and in the mid of August. These two are dates in which Japanese

typically indulge in gift exchanges and they relate to the two major festivities (and often the

only holidays) in the country: New Year (O-shogatsu) and the Festival of the Deads (O-bon).

In these two occasions major department stores sell beautifully wrapped gift boxes that

contain items ranging from relatively cheap gifts (handkerchiefs or cosmetic products) to

expensive ones (import alcohol, whisky and food). The chosen gift is shipped by the store

itself and has to reach the beneficiary following a complex etiquette of timing of arrival,

wrapping and politeness of the language of the accompanying card (Hendry 1993). The two

occasions, without a clear distinction, constitute moments in which, to the mind of Japanese

consumers, relationships of social obligation (giri no kankei) or of affection (ninjō no kankei)

can be soothed or reciprocated according to necessity.

Ceremonies related to the life cycle of individuals are not different from those of other

countries, but they are nonetheless observed with a particular care in Japan. These include

ceremonies held at the birth, ceremonies during childhood, at coming of age, marriage, during

years that are considered as unlucky according to numerology practices, wedding, retirement

age, 80 years of age and funerals (Martinez 2004, Papp 2013). Political factions leaders and

senior bureaucrats need to show careful awareness of these practices and of their dates if they

want to maintain their network of supporters and count on them during the elections (Sone

and Kanashi 1989, Iwai 1992, Blechinger 2000). The advantage of these events,

comparatively to the two annual gift-giving occasion described above, is that they guarantee a

personal exchange of gifts, one in which, because of the importance of the event, the giver (or

patron) is expected to intervene personally at the ceremonial occasion dedicated to the

receiver (client) or one of his/her close relatives.

Gift-exchange is, in Japan, a cultural expression of indebtedness. As an Inuit proverb goes:

“Gift is the whip for the dog”, in Japanese society the extreme sophistication of gift-exchange

etiquette has been related to the interpersonal dependence that this practice generates,

producing chains of reciprocity which cannot be broken (Befu 1983). The reciprocity pattern

is inherent in any gift practice, as abundant anthropological literature has showed (for a

critical literature review se Hann 2006), however, in Japan the true nature of the gift lies in the

actors’ willingness not to interrupt the tie that it creates. Befu (1968, 1983) maintains that one

of the reasons why Japanese wrap gifts so attentively is because this practice, other than

providing aesthetic satisfaction, it conceals the value of the gift, that is a potentially disruptive

factor in exchange relations. What generates a sense of obligation in Japanese etiquette of

gift-exchange is not simply the value of the received object or money, but the very idea that

entering an exchange relation produces a number of obligations the responsibility of which

needs to be taken properly. This sense of responsibility in reciprocity ties (goshu) is strictly

related to the frame in which the individual operates, i.e. it becomes stronger if an individual

is a power holder, or is in the position to influence a number of other group members. This

sense of responsibility is fostered, in emotional terms, by the kind of empathic dependence

that psychological literature defines as amae (Doi 1981, Johnson 1993, Smith and Takako

2000, Yoshitaka 2003). Amae is an emotional status in which peers belonging to the same

group demonstrate, often in extremely subtle and unspoken ways, affection and empathy in a

mutual relationship of dependence. On the other hand, however, horizontal ties are combined

with vertical ones in an amae relationhip, hence this notion also applies to benevolent,

compassionate and even paternalistic behaviours that characterize group leaders in dealing

with their subordinates (or clients). This type of empathy is itself perceived as a kind of gift,

and hence belongs to the same logic of reciprocity as any exchange of material object.

Rightly as in the case of gift exchanges for ceremonial occasions of life events the family of

the celebrants compiles an attentive list of the received gifts, their value and the names of the

givers, senior faction leaders were very careful in annotating all their gift expenses. Tanaka

Kakuei, the most quoted and blatant example, used to employ accountants who were in charge

of registering the names and amount of money provided to members of his support

organization. In some cases the Tanaka kōenkai organized generous electoral banquets which

ended with a show of cardboard boxes full of banknotes accompanied by secretaries wearing

white gloves. These men, after dimming the lights, started distributing the banknotes among

participants, proportionally to their influence and expected vote basins (Schlesinger 1999).

The cultural foundations of corruption in Japan

It would be of course naïve to expect to justify corruption in Japan merely in cultural terms.

The first part of this chapter demonstrates that a number of structural aspects of Japanese

politics, such as the power grip of the golden triangle, the features of its electoral system, the

characteristic of the country’s economic development in the prewar period and the long

postwar supremacy of the LDP are among the most commonly used explanations. Japan is not

a country endemically affected by corruption, as national indicators show, and the lower

levels of Japanese bureaucracy are cleaner and more transparent than those in other wealthy

democratic countries. However, corruption exists in Japan, and the number and scope of the

scandals described above is a clear proof. What makes corruption a peculiar phenomenon in

Japan is its continuity and stability of patterns across time, but more significantly, the way

how it fits in a range of cultural practices, values and social norms that render corruption itself

a cultural practice.

The most common aspect related to corruption is the widespread and extremely sophisticated

practice of gift exchange in Japan. Gifts constitute instruments and materials for cementing

social relations and making them last across time, which, in a culture in which the individual

achievement are subjugated to group and organizational needs and logics has a much more

profound significance. Of course this aspect is not characteristic of Japanese society alone,

but what is worthy considering is how the horizon of choices that are dictated by the norms

and values that still dominate Japanese society is significantly restricted by practices such as

those of gift exchange. If gift patterns bind people, ideas about public vs. private shame and

the pressure of social strategies that posits the individual in chains of social relations also

exert powerful influences that dominate the public life. Corruption is not easily denounced by

common citizens or, worse, by those who work in similar organizations (from political to

business) in which murky practices take place. The denounce of common cases of suicide

among testimonies of corruption cases is only one example of how an instilled sense of

obligation, dependence and reciprocity towards the organization in which one works can be a

much heavier burden than the choice to lie or to keep the secret over an illegal practice. In this

sense corruption in Japan has remained at the high level of the political establishment because

in order to function, and to be recognized as a cultural practice, it needs a careful and as-wide-

as-possible entrenchment of different spheres of the public and private life. Without a large,

although hidden, basis of consensus, Japanese grand corruption would cease to exist, not only

because of its expected structural force (of being functional to all the three corners of the

triangle), but mostly because of its cultural legitimacy, based on the creation of extensive

chains of reciprocity. This is not to say that corruption is perceived as being of public

usefulness, as noticed by ethnographic researches in India or Africa (see Chapter Two),

because Japanese citizens have extensively proved to be horrified and preoccupied with the

spreading of this phenomenon. The main reason for the enduring role of this phenomenon in

Japanese politics is that many of the ideas and values underlying these practices are also some

of the most resistant features in changing Japanese society, and hence they belong to social

norms and values.

Annex 3

Section Three: Country Reports

Italy,

Hungary

Bosnia

Russia

Turkey

Kosovo Tanzania

Mexico

1

ANTICORRP - ANTICORRUPTION POLICIES REVISITED

GLOBAL TRENDS AND EUROPEAN RESPONSES TO THE CHALLENGE OF

CORRUPTION

WORK PACKAGE 4 - THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF CORRUPTION PRACTICES

WP4 SURVEY

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE AND SOCIAL VALUES

ITALY

PROF. DAVIDE TORSELLO

COORDINATOR

MARIA GIULIA PEZZI, DAVIDE TORSELLO

RESEARCHERS

BERGAMO, 2014

2

Contents

INTRODUCTION

2. METHODOLOGY, SAMPLING AND FIELD

3. LOCAL INSTITUTIONS

3.1 Institutions important for promoting well-being

3.2 Public officers

3.3 Trust in institutions

3.4 Experience with institutions

4. LOCAL ISSUES

4.1 Problems in the community

4.2 Ability to obtain services from institutions relying exclusively on own means

4.3 Preferred problem resolution techniques

4.4 Institutions important for improving well-being

4.5 Practices against good-society

4.6 Statement: "Public sector officials who provide services to my community do not

act the way they should"

4.7 Means to express dissatisfaction

5. SOCIAL NORMS

5.1 Importance of social customs

5.2 Statement: "Gift-giving is related to better treatment/service"

5.3 Statement: "Personal relations affect quality of service"

5.4 Agreement/Disagreement with different scenarios

6. VALUES

6.1 Self-identification with character, from "not similar" to very similar"

6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you

6.3 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most important to you

3

CONCLUSIONS

Introduction

The following report is based on data collected during ethnographic fieldwork, as a

part of the ANTICORRP project, Work Package 4 - The Ethnography of Corruption. In

particular, it deals with the results of a survey conducted in Italy on a small sample, divided

in two groups: inhabitants of the cities of Monza (Northern Italy) and Lecce (Southern Italy).

The results will be presented as a whole, although we are aware of the fact that neither of the

two cities can be considered as representative of the very regionally diverse Italian reality. As

a consequence of that, differences at a macroscopic level will be pointed out, in an attempt to

take into account relevant issues that have arisen.

The aim of the survey is to collect information on how different areas of the public

and private life are perceived by the respondents, and in particular: public institutions, local

development, local customs, and values. The main focus of the questions is to investigate

how people deal with the problem of corruption (if perceived at all), its effects, practices,

social and cultural norms, as well as with the anti-corruption discourse, both at a local and

national level. It is important to stress that the word "corruption" itself is not directly used in

the survey, with one exception in section D, where it is used to address one of a series of

hypothetical scenarios. Avoiding direct references to corruption as a phenomenon was a

choice based on the awareness that corruption itself is hard to define and to frame, since it

consists of multiple practices not always perceived as fraudulent or illegal, which are not

necessarily fitting the social understanding of object corruption. Using a word that has such

strong moral and social implications in the public discourse would have possibly influenced

the results of the survey, and make the respondent feel at unease or bias their responses when

dealing with such matters.

The survey target has been the ordinary residents in the above mentioned cities, in an

attempt to give a bottom-up perspective of the relationship between the citizen and the

institutions at multiple levels (from local to nations and supranational), as well as to underline

how the citizens relate to such institutions in matter of social trust and ability to interact with

them.

The survey is aimed at providing comparable data among the countries it has been

conducted in, in the scope of the WP4 research. Therefore it serves a double purpose:

4

attempting a comparison within two different areas in Italy, as well as providing information

which could be used in a wider, comparative framework.

2. Methodology, sampling and field

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the results of this survey were obtained with

a sample of 140 respondents, equally divided between the two cities of Monza and Lecce.

The questionnaire was translated into Italian from the original in English, with only

minor changes to adapt it to the Italian political and institutional reality. The preliminary

indications on how to select the respondents was to provide only one survey per household

and that the surveyed should be male/female in working age, between 18-65 years old.

The research has been conducted in two different moments for the separated areas,

namely September-October 2013 for Lecce, and November-January 2013 for Monza. The

methodologies which have been majorly used were the hand-to-hand distribution, inviting

respondents to get in contact with relatives and friends who might have applied to our

research sample, so to create a network of self perpetrating survey circulation; and the

collection via email and social networks, given the fact that the survey in this case has never

been published on any platform, but was rather compiled by respondents who were

subsequently involved through a snowballing method. As a consequence of such an approach,

a face-to-face relation between respondents and researchers hasn't always been possible.

Having chosen Monza and Lecce as sample cities was due to multiple factors.

First, the accessibility of the two areas by the researchers who have conducted the

surveys. Second, a pre-existent network of acquaintances, which in both cases facilitated the

starting up of the distribution and collection process. Third, a relative similitude between the

two cities in terms of demography and industrial development, though well aware of the

striking differences between the two regions they are situated in - Lombardy and Apulia -

from a cultural, political and historical point of view.

Monza - Lombardy

• Population: ~123.500 inhabitants (Lombardy ~9.9 Mlm)

• Capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza

• Economy: it is the most important economic, industrial and administrative centre of

the Brianza area, supporting a textile and furniture industry, featuring small to

medium enterprises, with few relevant exceptions. Its province is also considered to

be one of the wealthiest in Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brianza

5

• Features a large number of immigrants, both from other Italian regions (mainly from

the south) and from abroad. Foreign immigrants are about 1/10 of the entire

population.

• In the last 20 years it has been led by right-wing parties, with the exception of years

2002-2007

• Civic activity on anti-corruption is growing and the anti-corruption discourse if

getting more and more relevant in the public agenda.

Lecce - Apulia

Population: ~90.000 inhabitants (Apulia ~4 Mln)

• Economy: one the most prosperous of southern Italy, but still mostly based on

agriculture, food related industry and above all tourism

• Political stability over years, mostly right-wing orientations, although very frequent

changes in local allegiances

• Over the last 5 years increase of north-bound migration. Foreign immigrants are also

present, with a ratio of about 1/15 of the entire population.

• Corruption is not a main topic in media/civil society discourses, in spite of clear

clientelistic basis of local politics

As summarized by Table 1, the sample is constituted as follows:

Number of people surveyed: 140: 70 living in Monza, 70 living in Lecce

• Gender: 76 males (54,3%), 54 females (45,7%)

• Age: the most represented age group is that of people between 25 and 35 years (35%),

followed by 35-45 (26,4%), 45-55 (21,4%), 55-65 (8,6%) and finally 15-25 and over

65 years old (both 4,3%)

• Education level: the majority of the respondents claimed to have a university degree,

either BA, MA or PhD (59.3%). The rest of the surveyed sample has a high school

degree (34,3%), middle school (3.6%), technical degree (2.1%). None of the

respondent have obtained a primary school degree only.

• Occupation: the answers to this question were various and somewhat hard to

categorize. We have divided the provided information into the following subgroups:

public sector employee; private sector employee; occupation that requires expertise -

both as employed or freelance - including doctors, lawyers, accountants and

6

university professors, when it was not possible to determine whether in the public or

private sectors; self-employed or freelance (i.e. journalists, photographers,

consultants, workers in the fields of advertisement and communication); employed

(mostly commerce and retail); business - large scale entrepreneurs; housewives;

students; retired and unemployed.

Gender Monza Lecce Total

Male 31 45 76

Female 39 25 64

Age

15-25 7 0 6

25-35 23 26 49

35-45 19 18 37

45-55 11 19 30

55-65 10 2 12

65 + 1 5 6

Education level

Primary 0 0 0

Middle school 3 2 5

High school 30 18 48

College/University 35 49 84

Technical 2 1 3

n/a 0 0 0

Occupation

Public sector employee 4 15 19

Private sector employee 25 17 42

Workers in the private sector (commerce, retail, etc) 3 7 10

Housewife 1 2 3

Occupations that require expertise (doctors, engineers, lawyers

and so on) 12 8 20

Retired 6 5 11

Self-employed or free-lance (consultants, journalists,

advertisement...) 7 2 9

Student 5 5 10

Unemployed 5 9 14

Business -- large scale entrepreneur 2 0 2

Region

Monza (North) 70 0 70

Lecce (South) 0 70 70

Table 1 Sample

7

Getting access to the sample hasn't always been an easy task. Since we were already

familiar with the two locations we had decided to survey, we could count on a number of

already well established networks to start our sampling from. Nevertheless, the decision of

submitting only one survey per household proved to have fairly limited our contact range.

As a matter of fact, another element has made it necessary for us to rely on other

forms of distribution, such as the internet and contacts through social networks, rather that

face-to-face surveys: the intrinsic nature of the cities chosen for our research. In the case of

Monza, it has been pretty difficult to physically meet with potential respondents, even at

weekends, due to their hectic way of life and multiple everyday obligations. Furthermore, it is

common for people living in Monza to work in the neighbour city of Milano, or in the

province, where most factories and industries are located. Due to that, Monza inhabitants

don't necessarily spend most of their day in the city where they reside, which required

alternative contact methods. Moreover, most of the respondents, which were personally

approached, didn't seem to have the will or the time to fill in the survey straight away, and by

that to discuss with the researcher about questions, doubts or eventual comments, but rather

postponed answering the questions to a "free moment".

The only people which seemed more eager in spending time commenting the survey

were retired people and unemployed. The case of retired people, though, posed another

problem: some of them seemed (or claimed) to not have fully understood the questions, and

therefore needed help. One interviewed woman, while filling in the survey, kept lifting her

head up, with a doubtful look in her eyes, and saying "Why are you asking me that?",

somehow implying she felt at unease with the questions because she considered herself not

involved with such matters. Interestingly, some of the questions made her reconsider her

behaviour and her attitude towards the investigated themes, and to the extent that she started

wondering whether she had been acting correctly until the present day. At the end of the

survey she seemed to be puzzled about everything and she begged not to use her survey for

this research. Other respondents claimed that the survey was pretty long and they didn't know

when or if they would have managed to compile it, which in fact delayed significantly

collecting time, made it necessary for us to remind these respondents about the survey

multiple times.

Lecce presented a somewhat similar situation. Here a larger portion of respondents

worked in the public administration, compared to Monza, and in general they had time for the

compilation. The survey was in general positively welcomed, as some informants stressed

that although difficult, the themes by it introduced were highly relevant and timely. In some

8

instances the respondents overtly declared to prefer the online compilation to the presence of

the interviewer, which in most of the cases was accepted. Concerning the topic, we have

encountered fewer occasions, comparatively with Monza, of “resistance” or “reluctance” to

engage in answers with the theme of corruption, since it was recognized as one of the most

complex and serious problems of the political conditions of the region. Two respondents even

pointed out to the lack of the word “corruption” in the survey, which for them was

unjustified.

3. Local institutions

The first part of the survey was supposed to investigate how people relate to different

kinds of institutions, both at a local and national level, and how do they evaluate their

importance for the society they live in.


The first question was

"Do these institutions play an important role in promoting the general

well being of your community?"

Respondents were given a list of institutions and were asked to rate them either as not

important ‒ fairly important ‒ very important.

The proposed institutions were:

Municipality

Province

Region

Government coalition

Opposition Parties

Health Centres

Church

Police

Local cultural associations

National NGO's

EU

Other

9

It is important to note that not all the respondents indicated values for every provided

choice, some of them just evaluated those institutions that were relevant for them. These were

very few cases, but as it can be noticed in Chart 1, results do not relate to all 140 completed

surveys.

Some respondents also indicated alternatives in the section named "other", though not

always providing a "rate", while others have provided a rate without giving an option.

Answers included: social associations (2), cultural institutions, aggregation centres, voluntary

service (2), NGO's, labour offices, schools (5), universities (3).

Municipalities were recognized as the institutions that play a bigger role in granting

people their well being, with 62,7% of the respondents (137) thinking they are very

important. Health centres also scored pretty high, with 56,8% of the surveyed people (139)

thinking they play a very important role. The institution which proved to be considered as

less potentially effective is the Church, with an average of 10,9% of the interviewed (137)

giving it the highest rate.

Results are in general quite various, the most striking fact being probably the lack of

confidence in opposition parties, which score pretty high as "not important" (39,7% of 136)

and definitely low as "very important" (21,3%). Similar result can be seen in the case of the

Province.

7

46

734

54

6

60

14 2246 39

4

44

63

7040

53

54

62

6472

6355

7

86

2762 64

29

79

15

5943

2740

50

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Who do you think could help to improve the

general wellbeing of your community?

not important fairly important very important

Figure 1 Institutions important for promoting well-being

10

1

22

3

2130

3

34

311

22 2422

34

34

21

29

30

28

35

4436 29

5

45

12

31 26

9

36

6

30

13 1114

30

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Monza

very important

fairly important

not important

5

24

312

23

2

25

10 1023

154

21

28

35 19

24

23

33

28 27

26

25

2

41

1431

3719

43

9

29 3016

25

20

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Lecce

very important

fairly important

not important

Figure 2 Institutions important for promoting well-being - Monza

Figure 3 Institutions important for promoting well-being - Lecce

11

3.2 Public officials

The second question of this section is aimed at understanding what kind of

institutional figures do people perceive as being public officials.

"Please select among the following working categories, those that

according to your understanding apply to public official".

This prompt is particularly important if we take into account the commonly accepted

definition of corruption as the "abuse of a public office for personal gain". Individuating a

working category as public officer, or not, kind of preselects the perception of possible

fraudulent actions and corruption attempts.

As chart 2 shows, almost the totality of the respondents ‒ 137 out of 140, 97,8% ‒

indicated policemen (and policewomen) as public officers. High scores have also been

collected by Municipality employees (75,7%), for obvious reasons, since they're mostly (but

not all) employees of the public sector.

Figure 4 Public official

106

137

64

49

25

6 3

18 16

3

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Who represents a public official?

Municipality employee

Policemen

State school teacher

State university professor

Private doctor

Journalist

NGO Activist

Priest

Lawyer

Firm manager

12

Figure 5 Public official - Monza

Figure 6 Public official - Lecce

Municipality

employee

27%

Policemen

35%


15%

State university

professor

10%

Private doctor

7%

Journalist

0%

NGO Activist

0%Priest

3%

Lawyer

3%

Firm manager

0%

Public official - Monza

Municipality

employee

23%

Policemen

29%State school

teacher

15%

State university

professor

13%

Private doctor

5%

Journalist

2%

NGO Activist

1%Priest

6%

Lawyer

5% Firm manager

1%

Public official - Lecce

13

3.3 Trust in Institutions

Trust is a very important component of the relationship between citizens and the

institutions. It has been reported by many authors (i.e. see Rothstein) that countries with high

levels of generalized social trust tend to be more democratic and have better performing

institutions, and trust in trust can be considered as a mutually reinforcing phenomenon. That

should imply that those institutions that are more trusted in, tend indeed to provide better

services, based on some kind of "positive social pressure". On the other hand, countries that

have a low levels social trust, tend to develop negative values such as envy, cynicism and

pessimism, which in the end lead to the increase of the so called "personalized trust" (Uslaner

2002), which implies that people only trust close friends and family members and distrust the

people outside those circles.

Attempting the evaluation of such a complex phenomenon, which includes a series of

historical, social, cultural and economic variables, with one survey question can be

considered risky and not representative of the reality. Nevertheless we have tried to at least

obtain an impression of how people relate to different areas of the institutions they (almost)

daily find themselves confronted with.

The prompt was

"How much do you trust the following institutions"

were the surveyed people were asked to rate each option with a number from 1 (lowest) to 5

(highest).

In the Italian survey, the provided options were:

Municipality

Region

Church

Parish

Judges

Police

Health Centres (public)

Health Centres (private)

Public Schools

Tax office

Local Cultural Associations

Media

EU

14

As in the question about well-being providers, not all respondents rated each given

option. These have been very few exceptions, but in a few cases (municipality, region, church

and media) results are not provided on the totality of the surveys, but rather on a maximum of

138 or 139.

Results are revealed in two different figures. The first one shows the average rates gained

by each institution. It can be noticed that higher levels of trust are relative to public schools

(3,3), public health centres and the police force (both 3.2), followed by private health centres

and local cultural associations (each 3,1). It could be arguable, if we agree on what has been

reported at the beginning of this paragraph, that people seem to trust more those institutions

that are closer to them, or with which contacts are (or need to be) reiterated for various

reasons.

Those institutions which scored below the average of 2,5 are indeed the National

Government, Church and Parish, Tax offices and Media, and all these results shall lead to

further questions which should probably be deeply analyzed during interviews. The low trust

in the government was somehow to be expected due to the latest events in the Italian politics

2.92.7

1.82

2.3

2.8

3.2 3.2 3.13.3

2.1

3.1

2.1

2.6

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Trust in Institutions 1-5 (average)

Figure 7 Trust in institutions (average)

15

and in the frequent changes of Prime Ministers and Ministers. The current economic crises

surely also has an influence on the perception of such high level institutions, as well as on the

trust in tax offices, some of which have been recently been in the spotlight due to corruption

practices.

The low rates obtained by Church and Parish are also definitely worth some further

considerations, especially in the case of Italy, which is considered to be a country with a

strong Roman Catholic tradition, that highly influenced the perception of morality and values.

It would be interesting to conduct an in depth research on how these two elements cohabit,

and on if and how people are aware of the ascendancy that religion originated elements of the

culture might have on everyday life.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Trust in institutions 1- 5 (absolute)

1 2 3 4 5 n/a

Figure 8 Trust in institutions (absolute)

16

57

14

23 26

16

28

57

38

12

2721

10 9 8 10 9

37

1915 1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Experience with institutions

Good Service

Bad Service


As mentioned in the previous paragraph, trust in institutions might be influenced by

the interactions occurred between the service providers and the citizens. It can be implied that

having received a good service could increase levels of trust, as well as the opposite.

Respondents were asked to rate their experience with different institution with which

they had to deal recently. The question was:

“With which of the following institutions have you or members of your

family recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service”

The possible choices were very similar to those of the previous question: in the Italian

survey, the provided options were:

Municipality

Province

Region

Church

Magistrature

Police


Public Schools

Tax office


People were asked to state whether they had received a good service or a bad service

and eventually motivate their choice. Assuming that not all the respondents had to deal with

each institution in the latest period, the figure is related to those who have provided answers.

Figure 9 Experience with institutions

17

19

6

1214

910

20

15

7

14

17

75

65 3

25

14

8

00

5

10

15

20

25

30

Experience with institutions - LecceGood Service

Bad Service

The overall results are somewhat controversial. The three institutions that have proved

to have provided most "good services" - Municipality (57), Public Health Centers (57) and

Public Schools (38) -, are the same ones that seem to have supplied a "bad service"

(respectively 21, 37, 19). That implies that the data shall be considered separately for the two

cities, since they might be different both in the quality of services and in the expectations of

the citizens.

Indeed, when we take a look at the answers separately, it is evident how the

perceptions are different in the two cities.

In Lecce, the experience with institutions was overall considered as mainly positive,

with some exceptions, particularly in the case of the Municipality (19 positive vs 17

negative), Public Schools (15 positive vs 14 negative) and the interesting case of Health

Centres, which received a majority of negative rates (25 vs 20). Province and Tax Offices are

considered to be the ones which generally provide the worst services.

The respondents had also the possibility to motivate their answer by adding a short

description.

In the case of the Municipality, the main problems were indicated as being the too

complicated bureaucracy, the lack of transparency in some procedures and the lack of

Figure 10 Experience with institutions - Lecce

18

38

811 12

7

18

37

23

5

13

4 3 4 2 5 6

12

5 7 10

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Experience with institutions - MonzaGood Service

Bad Service

computerization, the employees not being friendly or polite. One respondent wrote that that

main problem with the Municipality is actually it's "clientelism", which affects the overall

performance.

No examples of "good services" were given, apart from a respondent who indicated "I

have a relative working there" (survey #54, Lecce), implying that personal acquaintance with

an employee should be a sufficient reason for having a "good service".

The critical issues individuated for Helth Centres were mainly their supposed slowness

in providing services, and again the lack of politeness and competence of the employees,

which seem not to justify the high costs of the medical services. On the other hand, two

surveyed people maintained that their expectations were fulfilled by the health centers.

Public schools in Lecce received almost an even amount of bad and good rates. The

main problems encountered were the lack of competence of the teaching staff and their

inability to adequate to new realities, as well the obsolete teaching programs.

Looking at the answers provided for the other institutions, the most frequent comment

was that employees are not competent, not motivated and that they work too slowly (i.e.

judges), also as a consequence of the high bureaucratization of most of the procedures.

Figure 11 Experience with institutions - Monza

19

The results of the survey for the city of Monza were very different. First of all, there is

an overall majority of positive ratings for all the institutions, with higher peaks than in Lecce.

Negative ratings are very few, and mostly concentrated in the Health sector.

As for in Lecce, though, the Municipality, Health Centers and Public Schools have

provided better services, though the comparison is on a totally different scale (respectively

38vs4 - 37vs12 - 23vs5).

The problems encountered in the Municipality of Monza were mainly the lack of

interest for "real" problems, as for example the poor condition of the pavements (ref. survey

#23, Monza), and again the bureaucratization of the procedures. No positive rates were

motivated.

In the case of Health Centres, "bad services" were influenced by the long waiting lists

for medical services, for which one might wait up to six month, or even one year. No remarks

were made on the competence of friendliness of employees, though that's not the case of the

ratings given to Public Schools, where the main issue seems to be once again the lack of

competence of the teachers.

The slowness of the procedures and the high bureaucratization have been yet again

addressed as the biggest problems encountered with the other institutions, especially with the

Magistrature and Tax Offices.

20

4. Local Issues

The second section of the survey was aimed at investigating how the respondents

relate to the role that institutions might - or might not - have in the improvement of local

issues, but also to look at the strategies which might be put into act in order to obtain a certain

service.


The first question of the section required the respondents to list three main problems

encountered in the city of residence, in an open format:

“What in your view are the most serious problems in your

community? List at least three starting from the most important."

As in the previous case, the results for the two cities are represented separately, in

order to take into account the differences between the two realities. The provided answers

were very various and required general categorization. It is also important to notice that,

especially in the case of Monza, not all the respondents filled in the question.

Anyhow, it can be noticed that though some similarities exist, the perception of

problems in the community is definitely influenced by the area where one lives.

The problems which are felt to be most important in Monza are those of

Transports/Infrastructures, which is probably explainable by the fact that in the last five years

the city has suffered the renovation of one of the busiest streets that serves as a link between

the cities of Milan and that of Lecco, which crosses the eastern part of Monza. These works

have greatly influenced the viability, which was only restored a couple of months ago with

the opening of the longest urban tunnel in Europe.

Other relevant problems have proved to be the inadequacy of services and resources,

the lack of cultural events (esp. dedicated to younger people), the shortage of schools funding

as well as the outdated didactic programs, and the lack of competence/indifference of workers

either in the public and the private sectors.

21

The category named as "Other" included different issues which couldn't easily be

integrated anywhere else, as bullying, lack of trust in institutions, the abundance of big malls

to the detriment of small business, lack of services dedicated to the elderly, gender

differences in the accessibility to services and jobs, the slowness in fostering innovations and

so on. Other relevant answers were "power positions are held in the hands of incompetent

people", "citizens not being aware that their actions have an influence on the whole

community" and "people are not protected from illicit activities, neither when the fact has

already occurred, nor in the prevention phase".

In Lecce, the perception of problems addresses different issues. First and foremost,

"unemployment" seems to be to be strongly felt, which makes particularly sense if we

consider that a fair number of the respondent from Lecce declared not to be working at the

time.

"Values", "Environment" and "Transport and Infrastructures" collected also high

scores. Given examples were the lack of respect for things that belong to the community,

vandalism, no civics, too much traffic and lack of public parking lots, people not obeying to

the rules of waste collection, etc. Among the answers included in the "Other category", fairly

relevant were the inference of the Church in public affairs, no transparency in the public

office, a general "mafioso" attitude, expensive rental contracts, no welfare policies addressed

to families and elderly, "living in Italy and especially living in the south of Italy" (ref. survey

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Problems in the community

Monza

Lecce

Figure 12 Problems in the community

22

#38 Lecce), plus various references to a supposed familistic behaviour, which would prompt

the citizens to worry for their own well-being rather than to work on the issues which could

increase the general comfort of the whole community.

4.2 Ability to obtain services from Institutions relying exclusively on own

means


the scope of the ability of the respondents in obtaining services with their own means. The

accessibility to information and the knowledge of the different procedures supposedly play an

important role in the way people relate to institutions, some of which may require additional

expertise in the understanding of how they work.

Prompt:

“With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you

are not able to settle a matter/obtain a service with your own

resources?”

Options were:

Municipality

Province

Region

Church

Magistrature


Public Schools

Tax office


The data are presented both as united and separately for the two cities. If we consider

them as one, it can be seen that those institutions which are recognized to be most difficult to

deal with are Province, Region, Magistrature and Tax Office. The last two have obtained

homogeneous results, which were to some extent predictable, since both require specific

knowledge which might not be at everyone's reach. Province and Region are two institutions

23

12

31 34

3

40

9 11

39

4

27

30 27

10

20

28

11

19

8

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Non-ability to obtain services with own means

Lecce

Monza

with which the citizen alone doesn't have to deal very often, unless for peculiar issues linked

for example to construction, taxes and soil usage. For this matter, the interviewees might feel

at unease when having to deal with such complex procedures on an occasional basis.

It can be noticed, nevertheless, that the problems with both Magistrature and Tax

offices seem to be much more relevant for the inhabitants of Monza, while the opposite is

valid in case of the Region for the people living in Lecce.

Other differences can be noticed in the case of the Municipality, which seems to be

much more "obscure" for Lecce inhabitants, as well as Church, Health Centres and Local

associations.

Figure 13 Non-ability to obtain services with own means

24

25

18

121 0

4744

21

1

21

13

24

2 1

41

33

15

40

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

intervention

from a

friend

intervention

from a

relative

intervention

from an

important

person

pay a fee give a small

gift

denounce

the

disservice

try several

times

avoid

dealing with

institution

don’t know

Preferred problem resolution techniques

Monza Lecce


The following question was conceived as a consequence of the previous one. Once the

respondents had individuated those institutions they find it hard to deal with, it was asked to

them what would they advise to a third person as a possible solution to obtain the desired

service.

“How would you advice a person who can’t successfully deal with

institutions to resolve his problem?” (More than one answer

possible):

I would advise him to:

Ask for intervention from a friend

Ask for intervention from a relative

Ask for intervention from an important person

Pay a fee

Give a small gift

Denounce the disservice to the competent authorities

Try several times until I get a good result

Avoid in general dealing with that institution

Don’t know

Figure 14 Preferred problem resolution techniques

25

The most preferred options were "denounce the disservice to the competent

authorities" and "try several times until I get a good result", which stress a relative trust in

institutions and the belief that even in case of encountered problems, a solution might be

available. Noticeably, these options have been chosen by a slight majority of inhabitants of

Monza.

The second set of options which gained the most votes was that which individuated

personal relations - either formal and informal - as a way to obtain a service, in particular:

Ask for intervention from a friend: 46 votes

Ask for intervention from a relative: 31 votes

Ask for intervention from an important person: 36 votes

What is interesting to notice, in this case, is the difference between the two

geographical areas: whereas people living in Monza tend to rely on informal relations based

on acquaintance or family ties, inhabitants of Lecce largely prefer the intervention of "an

important person", whether known personally or not.

"Avoiding dealing with the institution" seems also to be an option, since it received 36

preferences.

On the other hand, "pay a fee" received a total of 3 votes, and "give a small gift"

received one, which might imply that people usually don't see "petty corruption" as the most

preferable way to obtain a service which should be granted anyway. It could also be

maintained that the single person is rarely the first one to start the process which leads to

corruptive practices, since other options are usually preferred (as reported by the figure).

Paying a fee or giving a gift are probably chosen when no other attempt at dealing with the

institution (or with the single person representing it in that specific case) has been successful,

or even when more or less directly requested.

26

32

43

10

63

87

30

20

31

79

13 13

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

“Who do you think could help to improve the general well-

being of your community?”


The next question, which aimed at gathering the views of the interviewees about the

institutions that could help improve the general well-being of their society, was worded as

follows:

“Who do you think could help to improve the general well-being of

your community?”

Given options:

UE

Ruling Government Coalition

Opposition Parties

Region

Municipality

Police and Army

Magistrature

Media

Local Organizations

International organizations

Other (please specify)

Figure 15 Institutions important for improving well-being

27

Not all the respondents indicated a preference (though they were a very small

minority), therefore the data presented do not reflect the totality of the survey.

Results show that Municipality, Local Organizations and Region are considered to be

the institutions that have more means when it comes to improving the life of a community. A

comparison of the data obtained in the two sampled cities didn't show relevant differences

and therefore the figure shows the results as unified. The three institutions which collected

the most positive remarks are those which are definitely the closest to the everyday life of the

citizens. Remarkable is the high score obtained in this case by the Region, unlike in previous

questions, which could be due to the fact that "Regions" are responsible for providing

important services, as for example Public Health, a field which has showed to be very

important for the respondents.

"Ruling Government coalition" proved also to be considered as an important

institution, while "Opposition Parties" were the ones to get the lowest results, a fact that

reflects the peculiar moment of uncertainty that has been affecting the politics in Italy in the

latest years, and especially at the present time.

Among the respondents who chose "Other" as an option, the provided alternatives

(when given) where:

Monza: "local administrations shouldn't be managed by politicians, but rather by

experts", "a culture of legality", "citizens", "anything that is not related to the State", "the

single citizen, whereas he's honest and responsible for his actions", "volunteering",

"activities which would improve the self-awareness of people, i.e. conferences,

psychological support at fair prices, and various practices as Reiki and bio-dance" and at

last "I don't believe that this possible".

Lecce: "private initiatives", "citizens", "a higher critical consciousness of my fellow-

citizens", "schools", "mass layoffs", "self-awareness of the citizens, who shall feel

responsible toward their actions and the public affairs".

It seems clear that respondents wish that the single citizen serves as first change factor

in improving the well-being of their community, though an increase of self awareness,

respect and responsibility towards the public affairs, in opposition to a sort of "familistic" (or

one could say NIMBY1) approach that appears to be fairly widespread.

1 NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard): concept that applies to people who advocate some proposal, but oppose

implementing it in a way that would require sacrifice on their part.

28

4.5 Practices against good society

Question number 15 was aimed at obtaining the views of survey participants about the some

practices that are incompatible with the development of the society:

“In general which of the following practices are, in your opinion,

spoiling the good development of a society?” (Multiple choices

possible).

Buying votes during elections

Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve

them

Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services

Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school

Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public

construction bids

Paying fees to have documents sorted out quickly

Convincing journalists not to publish sensitive articles

Using scandals to get rid of political opponents

Using development funds for private purposes

Figure 16 Practices spoiling the good development of a community

48 5836 33

47 5740 37

56

56

64

4237

54

62

41 43

61

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Practices spoiling the good development of a community

Lecce

Monza

29

Though all the hypothetical practices proposed are potentially harmful for the good

development of a society, results show that not all of them are actually perceived as such.

Once again answers have been relatively homogenous in the two groups, and though

show some general discrepancies with the data provided by question number 11 (see

paragraph 4.3 "Preferred solution techniques"), where most people maintained they would

denounce a disservice to the competent authority. This question posed the problem of what

could be considered as an issue potentially damaging for the development of a community.

The top three practices to be considered mostly detrimental were:

Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them (122)

Paying fees to have documents sorted out quickly (119)

Using development funds for private purposes (117)

Followed by

Buying votes during elections (104)

Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids

(101)

All the above mentioned issues are somehow related to the problem of the potential

lack of competition existing in a society, which would diminish the chances of fairly

accessing services, job positions and funds.

Practices involving the use of media and the public opinion obtained an average of 80

votes each. Surprisingly "Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services" and "Bringing

gifts to be accepted at a good school" were the two options which obtained the lowest scores

(respectively 78 and 70), which is to some extent in contradiction with the results obtained in

the above mentioned question (see par. 4.3), where most people stated that paying a fee of

giving a gift was the least favorite option in order to solve an issue with an institution. It can

be maintained that, though the respondents wouldn't pick it as a "good solutions", they also

don't consider such practices to be negatively affecting the fair development of their

community, stressing once more the difference between how "grand corruption" and "petty

corruption" are perceived on a moral basis.

30

Not True

0%

Rarely True

13%

Occasionally

True

50%

Often True

34%

Always True

3%

Monza

4.6 Statement: “public sector officials who provide services to my community

do not act the way they should”

As related to the previous questions, respondents have been asked to state whether the

public officials' actions conform to the expectations. The question was worded as follows:

In your experience how true is the following statement: “public sector

officials who provide services to my community do not act the way

they should”

a) Not true b) Rarely true c) Occasionally true

d) Often true e) Always true

Results are provided separately for Monza and Lecce, as the answers showed some

differences.

In Monza, 50 % of respondent claimed that the statement is occasionally true, while

according to none of them it is not true, and only a small amount of them (13%) thinks that it

Figure 17 Statement: “public sector officials who provide services to my community do not act the way they should” -

Monza

31

Not True

0%Rarely True

1%

Occasionally

True

53%

Often True

26%

Always True

20%

Lecce

is rarely true. A little more than one third of the surveyed chose "often true" (34%), "always

true" scored 3%. It is clear that most people in Monza think that public officers do not always

act the way they should, though they do not show to have extreme distrust in their actions.

Inhabitants of Lecce showed to consider the action of public officials as less

compliant to their obligations. None of the respondents and only a 1% of them, seemed to be

positive about the statement being "not true" or "rarely true". The other 99% individuated

high chances of distrustful actions by public officials, so divided: 53% "occasionally true",

26% as "often true" and 20% as "as always true". Results show that in Lecce it is considered

to be a common practice for employees of the public sector not to act according to the rules

and to provide services according to their discretion.

Figure 18 Statement: “public sector officials who provide services to my community do not act the way they should”

- Lecce

32

4 61 3 2

30

3

8

67 7

36

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Internet General Claim Complaint to

the mangers

Complaint to

the authorities

Media None

Means to express dissatisfaction

Lecce

Monza


The last question of this section asked the respondent to state whether they thought

they had the means to eventually express their dissatisfaction about the services provided:

"Do you feel you have the means to express dissatisfaction when the

services provided by your local practitioner/service provider are not

appropriate? If yes, what are they?"

According to the great majority of the respondents, it is not possible for the citizen to

express discontent, or anyway it wouldn't be effective. A complaint to the managers of the

service, or directly to the authorities (i.e. police, Magistrature), seem to be the most viable

option, as well as trying to get visibility on the matter on media such as newspapers, or

through the internet, and especially the social network Facebook.

In general anyway, the surveyed of both cities appear to be aware of the fact that there

is no effective mean or power which is in the position to protect them from disservices and

Figure 19 Means to express dissatisfaction

33

from practices not compliant to the rules. These results show a high level of distrust in the

ability of the authority to protect the citizens' interests.

5. Social Norms

The following section of the survey was aimed at having a deeper look into what the

respondents consider to be positive social norms and how to they rely to them.


Participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of customs below on

the scale of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very important”.

“In your community, how important is to:

Provide hospitality to guests

Enjoy meals with other people

Give presents during festive celebrations

Reciprocate received gifts


Reciprocate received gifts in same value

Satisfy a personal request of favor

Know who is the best person to ask a favor to

Protect a person if I am in the position to do it

Be in good terms with important persons

Avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficient

Keep a secret not to harm another person even if this is not legal

Be cautious when talking of politics in public

Spend time with friends outside the home"

In general, answers appeared to be mostly concentrated on average values, that is for

all the provided customs, people mainly chose the "fairly important" option.

In particular, there have been some differences in the answers given by citizens of the

two cities.

34

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50














Spend time with friends outside the home

Importance of customs - Monza

very important failry important not important

In the case of Monza, "Spending time with friends outside the home" has been

reported to be considered as very important by 23 people, the highest score. Other relevant

customs gathering a high number of choices were "Avoid bureaucracy" (19) and "Know is the

best person to ask a favor to" (17), which are in line with the results obtained in other

questions on the matter.

As previously mentioned, the option "fairly important" was chosen for most customs.

In particular, the highest scores were obtained by: "Protect a person if I am in the position to

do it" (41), "Give presents during festive celebrations" (38), followed by "Be in good terms

with important persons", "Satisfy a personal request of favor", "Provide hospitality to guests"

(all 35), which seem to imply that inhabitants of Monza tend to give a relatively high

importance to personal relationships and reciprocity.

On the other hand, the customs which have been considered less important were: "Be

cautious when talking of politics in public" (45), "Enjoy meals with other people" (35),

"Reciprocate received gifts in same value" (36).

Figure 20 Importance of customs - Monza

35

0 10 20 30 40 50 60















Importance of customs - Lecce


As it can be seen in the following figure, the custom that is considered to be the most

important in Lecce, was instead "Be in good terms with important persons" (29 choices),

followed by "Know who is the best person to ask a favor to" (28) and "Reciprocate received

gifts" (26), which seem to imply that inhabitants of Lecce are quite self aware of the "cultural

competences" which are necessary to effectively deal with their social environment.

Fairly important were considered to be "Satisfy a personal request of favour" (43),

"Protect a person if I am in the position to do it" (42), "Enjoy meals with other people" (38),

the first two being in common with the results obtained in Monza, while the third was

considered to be one of the least important customs.

Some similarities appeared also in the category "not important": as in Monza, "Be

cautious when talking of politics in public" was considered not to be relevant by 52 people,

"reciprocate gifts of the same value" was second with 24 preferences, but in opposition to

Monza, inhabitants of Lecce don't take "Avoid bureaucracy" into high consideration, since it

obtained 22 preferences and is therefore the third less important custom.

Figure 21 Importance of customs - Lecce

36

5.2 Statement: "Gift giving is related to better treatment/service"

The following two questions were asked in order to get a better understanding of how

people perceive different modes of personal relations to public officials. The first question

was about gift giving and was phrased as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “gift giving creates a

bond where people know they will receive better treatment/service

next time they visit the clinic/office?”

Respondents were given 5 options:

1) Strongly disagree

2) Quite disagree

3) Neutral

4) Fairly agree

5) Totally agree

Results are shown by the following figure:

Figure 22 Statement: "Gift giving is related to better treatment/service"

24

1815

10

2

37

12

6

12

2

strongly disagree quite disagree neutral fairly agree totally agree

Statement: "Gift giving is related to

better treatment/service"

Monza Lecce

37

Also in this case we can see some slight differences in the perceptions of citizens of

the two cities, though the general results are compatible with those obtained for question at

paragraph 4.3, where "giving a gift" was one of the preferred solution option to have scored

the less choices.

Most of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement, although we had a

majority of people from Lecce expressing disagreement (24 vs 37), but still indicating that

giving a gift to a public official is somehow an inefficient practice when looking for a better

service. Only 22 surveyed people fairly agreed, ad 4 totally agreed, showing again that only a

minority of people find such practices to be profitable or would engage in them.


The other case question is not about gifts, but about the link between personal

relations with the institutions and the quality of the provided services. Question has been

stated in the survey as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the

services obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal

relationship with the service provider?”

14

21

12

18

4

28

15

6

15

5

strongly disagree quite disagree neutral fairly agree totally agree

Statement: "Personal relations affect

quality of service"

Monza Lecce

Figure 23 Statement: "Personal relations affect quality of service"

38

In opposition to the previous question, we can observe that a slight higher number of

respondents seemed to fairly or totally agree to the statement. These results could be better

explained if put into relation with those of question at paragraph 4.1 about the main problems

encountered in the community. In that case, a total of 16 respondent had reported issues

related to the lack of interest of the public officials about their job and the needs of the

community, as well as their supposed unfriendliness and lack of competence, which

somehow influenced not only the quality of their work, but also the personal relationship with

the citizen.

Nevertheless, it must be noted that still a great majority of the respondents didn't seem

to agree with that statement at all.

39

strongly

disagree

quite

disagreedisagree quite agree agree

strongly

agree

Lecce 10 8 12 11 12 17

Monza 17 11 11 8 13 10

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Story A.

5.4 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios

Participants to the survey have been given some hypothetic scenarios in order to

understand behavioral patterns and social values. There have been five scenarios in the

survey.

The given prompt was:

“The following stories have happened in other countries in the world.

Please indicate if you would in principle agree with the behavior of

the characters”

The participants have been asked rate the scenarios, according to how they felt about

them, on the scale of “Strongly disagree”, "Quite disagree", “Disagree”, “Quite agree”,

“Agree”, “Strongly agree”.

Story A.

In the district council a new person has been appointed recently. This person is very

hard-working and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift

from citizens to sort out problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all

by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people avoid

him.

Figure 24 Story A.

40

strongly

disagree

quite


strongly

agree

Lecce 31 18 13 2 5 1

Monza 15 15 20 9 3 8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Story B.

The rates given by the respondents are somehow difficult to interpret, since the

percentages are quite homogeneous. What could be implied is that the hypothetic scenario is

itself controversial and respondents have found it hard to either agree or disagree with it.

Story B.

He is a very resourceful person, he does what he can to help his friends and relatives

and he knows a lot of people. When he needs a favor he always finds someone to turn to

because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and

corruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him for

what he has done to them.

In the case of this scenario, we can see that the respondents generally disagreed with

it, with a total of 81% percent of people providing a negative response (33% "strongly

disagree", 24% "quite disagree", and 24% "disagree"). Such a result suggests that

interviewees mostly condemn corruption practices and their effects, and do not consider

people who have been guilty of these crimes as worth of esteem.

Figure 25 Story B.

41

Story C.

A family has plans to build a new house in a village. They have asked what the official

procedure is and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult

and they realize they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person.

They decide to leave the village and look for another, where things are going according to

the rules.

When asked to rate this scenario, 57% of the respondents claimed to "strongly agree"

with it, 20% of them "agree" and 5% "quite agree", for a total of 82% of people being in

accordance with the decision made by the hypothetic family to leave the "corrupt village" for

another, where things run the way they should. These results are once again in line with those

for question at par. 4.3, where "paying a bribe" was the solution option to have scored the

least. That proves that, in general, people tend to avoid paying bribes when a second option is

available.

strongly

disagree

quite


strongly

agree

Lecce 7 3 8 1 11 40

Monza 1 2 3 6 18 40

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Story C.

Figure 26 Story C.

42

strongly

disagree

quite


strongly

agree

Lecce 38 10 13 6 2 1

Monza 22 26 6 7 3 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Story D.

Story D.

He has a small business in preparing sandwiches which he sells to local schools. Last

year he was successful to win a tender and gained a contract in one local primary school.

Unfortunately the school head has changed this year and his contract has expired. Before

applying for the next tender he looks for an influential person who will introduce him the new

school head.

Also in this case, the great majority of the respondents disagreed (42% "strongly

disagree", 26% "quite disagree", 14% "disagree", total 82%) with the given scenario, which

implied the use of personal relationship to powerful people as a legitimate way to win over

others in a competitive environment.

Figure 27 Story D.

43

strongly

disagree

quite


strongly

agree

Lecce 44 15 6 4 0 1

Monza 39 13 12 1 1 4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Story E.

Story E.

She runs a local Ngo for human rights protection. She is very active and well

established in the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an

international donor last year so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In

the end she failed because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the

money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper agreement with them

first.

This figure shows that a total of 92% percent of the respondents did not seem to

hypothetical practice of assuring a politician the share of the value of a tender. 59% of the

surveyed strongly disagreed, 20% quite disagreed and 13% disagreed, leaving a small number

of people who found the scenario to be morally acceptable.

Figure 28 Story E.

44

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similarQuite similar Very similar

Lecce 0 0 6 7 30 27

Monza 1 4 1 7 30 26

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Statement A.

6. Values

6.1 Self-identification with character from “Not similar” to “Very similar”

In the survey, we have tried to understand how the participants relate themselves

some values through gauging their association with a list of statements.

A Five-scale tool involving the following options was used in evaluating portrayals of

each hypothetical character: “Not similar”, “Quite dissimilar”, “A little dissimilar”, “A little

similar”, “Quite similar” and "Very similar".

Portrayals of characters stated in this group begin with an explanatory sentence:

"How similar to yourself is the person described by the following

statements"

Statement A.

He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less

as possible.

Figure 29 Statement A.

45

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 2 5 5 7 40 11

Monza 2 2 3 8 32 23

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Statement B.

As it can be noted, the great majority of the respondents declared to feel either "quite

similar" (60) or "very similar" the statement, hence they try to live their lives as autonomous

individuals. It is important to note that the one person not feeling similar to it, as well as the

four people who stated they are quite dissimilar, all live in Monza. Other results were

basically homogeneous in numbers for the two cities.

Statement B.

He would not break the rules, because rules are what make order in a society.

Figure 30 Statement B.

Also in this case, we had a large number of surveyed people responding that they're

mostly keen following the rules, since 72 people answered the statement is "quite similar" to

themselves, and 34 picked the option "very similar". Among the respondents who affirmed

that they somehow do not feel that the statement applies to them, we had a slight majority of

people living Lecce (total of 12 vs 7 in Monza).

46

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 3 9 6 19 14 19

Monza 2 3 5 22 20 17

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Statement C.

Statement C.

He thinks that traditions must be respected because they make up one person’s culture.

Though in this figure a peak of respondents feeling only "a little similar" to the

proposed characteristic is present (41), we also had a high amount of people considering

themselves either "quite similar" (34) or "very similar" (36). No substantial differences

between answers given in the two cities can be evidenced, although people feeling dissimilar

to the statement were negligibly more in Lecce.

Figure 31 Statement C.

47

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilarA little similar Quite similar Very similar

Lecce 2 5 7 19 18 18

Monza 0 6 7 22 22 12

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Statement D.

Statement D.

He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from

elderly people.

Figure 32 Statement D.

Notably, the great majority of the respondents (111 altogether, which makes 80,4% of

the total), affirmed to feel somewhat similar to the statement.

48

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 23 11 6 11 12 7

Monza 15 15 12 13 9 3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Statement E.

Statement E.

He is very religious because religion helps people to be part of a community and get together

regularly.

Figure 33 Statement E.

Questions about religious values proved already to give controversial results in

this survey (see section 1. Local Institutions). Inhabitants of the two cities seem to have a

variegated perception of the importance of religion in their lives. Almost 60% of the

respondents claimed to feel somewhat dissimilar to the statement, with a peak of 38 people

(27,7%) being totally dissimilar. It shall be noted that this answer was provided mostly by

inhabitants of Lecce (23 vs 15 in Monza).

On the other hand, 40% of the surveyed people appeared to feel a similarity to the

statement, with 7,2% of them stating to be "very similar".

It could be maintained that, although most people claimed not to be very religious, or

as in other questions, not to have a good relationship with the religious authorities, there is

still a fair amount of the surveyed (up to 40%), that thinks that religion and its values are an

important part of their lives and serve as a meant to maintain and reinforce a community.

49

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 42 8 10 2 7 2

Monza 20 23 7 8 8 4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Statement F.

Statement F.

He thinks that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of the people don’t

want so.

Figure 34 Statement F.

The great majority of the respondents claimed not to agree with the statement, which

demonstrates that citizens of the two municipalities are generally well-disposed towards

foreigners. It should be noticed, though, that most of the people who assured to feel

somewhat similar to the given statement live in Monza. It could be maintained that the reason

lies in the fact that people living in the North of Italy have to deal with higher numbers of

foreigners residing there, and therefore might feel their presence as more problematic due to

various reasons (i.e. higher competition in the job market in a moment of economic crises). It

shall also be noted that in the North political parties who have been leading a propaganda

against immigrants and foreigners have been pretty strong in the last years, though their

power is currently decreasing.

50

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 4 8 14 16 23 8

Monza 3 12 7 13 21 13

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Statement G.

Statement G.

His house is often visited by guests and he has an intense social life.

Figure 35 Statement G.

This statement has some relations to previous questions related to social life and

hospitality (see par. 5.1). As earlier claimed, respondents seem to give importance to

spending time with friends and have an active social life. Not particular differences can be

noted in the answers provided by inhabitants of the two cities, we can see a majority of

people feeling similar to the proposed statement: 20,7% chose " a little similar", 31,4% "quite

similar" and 15% "very similar". About one third of the surveyed people (46 out of 140),

though, claimed not to have a very intense social life.

51

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 4 3 5 10 24 23

Monza 1 5 10 8 28 17

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Statement H.

Statement H.

He thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue.

Figure 36 Statement H.

It can be seen from the figure above that rates to this statement have been very

positive: 66,6% of the respondents felt either "quite similar" or "very similar" to the proposed

scenario.

52

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 14 19 6 14 10 7

Monza 4 13 18 17 9 7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Statement I.

Statement I.

He will try not to show his true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish or egocentric.

Figure 37 Statement I.

Answers to this question gathered mainly in the middle. Most surveyed people

claimed to be either "quite dissimilar" (23,1%), "a little dissimilar" (17,4%) or " a little

similar" (22,4%) - total 62,9%. The motivation could rely in the fact that appearing selfish or

egocentric are characters that usually imply a negative connotation, and the question itself

entails a disposition in showing true negative feelings, which might not be socially

acceptable. Respondents might have felt at unease with expressing their compliance with

such a statement, and therefore didn't give themselves away in either being too similar or too

dissimilar to it.

53

Not similarQuite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little


Lecce 23 14 8 11 9 5

Monza 8 16 9 15 17 4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Statement J.

Statement J.

He prefers not to show to others his economic standards of living to avoid jealousy.

Figure 38 Statement J.

In this case results are presented separately for the two cities in order to stress the

difference among provided answers. As it can be noticed, the majority of inhabitants of Lecce

claimed not to feel similar to the statement, and therefore think that one's economic standard

would not influence other people's perception of him. That is not the case of the inhabitants

of Monza, which seem to have a much more variegated perspective on the matter, and

generally tend to avoid showing off.

54

my living conditions

can be changed

mainly through my

actions

only those in power

can improve our

living conditions

only our community

as a strong group can

improve living

conditions

no matter what my

actions are our

conditions will not

improve easily

Lecce 25 5 31 9

Monza 30 1 25 13

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Which statement is the most appropriate to

you?

6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to

you:

One of the last items in the survey has made the participants choose from the following

statements, the one that mostly apply to them:

Choose from the following list the statement that is the most

appropriate to you

to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my

actions

to believe only those in power can improve our living conditions

to believe only our community as a strong group can improve

living conditions

to believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not

improve easily

Figure 39 Most appropriate statement

55

Two statements got the highest - and equal - amount of choices (each 40%): "to

believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions" and "to believe only our

community as a strong group can improve living conditions", which are the two options with

a positive connotation. Second was "to believe not matter what my actions are, our conditions

will not improve easily" with 16% of the preferences, which denotes somehow a fatalist

attitude. Remarkably, "to believe only those in power can improve our living conditions"

gathered only 4% of the choices, which once confronted with the results obtained in previous

questions is not so surprising. For example, as we can see in Figure 3 - Paragraph 3.3 "Trust

in institutions", the National Government was the institution to have gathered the lowest

score (1,8 average from 1 to 5) and was considered to be the one having the least means to

improve the well-being of a community.

56

I do all my best to

help the community in

which I live

I do all my best to

improve only the life

of my family, others

will do by themselves

I do what I can to

improve things

according to the

indications of those

who administer the

country

I do what I can to

improve my living

standards, but society

won't improve

anyway

Lecce 50 6 2 11

Monza 34 3 8 24

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Which statement is mostly true to yourself?

6.3 Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you:

Participants have been asked to choose “the most important” statement for

themselves. Question is as follows:

Choose from the following list the statement that is mostly true to

yourself:

to do all my best to help the community in which I live

to do all my best to improve only the life of my family,

others will do by themselves

to do what I can to improve things according to the

indications of those who administer the country

to do what I can to improve my living standards, but

society won't improve anyway

61% of the respondents, the majority, claimed to do all the best they can to help the

community in which they live, a data which is in accordance to the results of the previous

question.

Figure 40 Statement mostly true to oneself

57

On the other hand, a remarkable 25% of the surveyed - the majority living in Monza,

stated that despite one's effort to improve their living standards, the society as a whole will

unlikely amend. The remaining 14% was equally divided between the other two options.

58

Conclusions

The results of the survey conducted between September 2013 and January 2014

provided valuable information on trust and experiences with local institutions, as well as

serious problems in the community, the quality of services provided by institutions and

access to these services, and social norms and values in two Italian cities, namely Monza and

Lecce. When relevant, results have been presented separately for the two realities, in an

attempt to provide an exhaustive report of the most salient findings.

The first section of the survey was aimed at investigating how the respondent relate to

local institutions on the basis of their relationship with them, on trust and on the satisfaction

(or lack of) with the services provided at multiple levels. Municipalities and Health Centres

have proved to be the two institutions which are considered to be the most important when it

comes to provide the well-being of a community, on the other hand Religious

Authorities/Church, were considered to be the least effective in doing so. The results obtained

by the National Government and its Opposition Parties also demonstrate that Italian citizens

seem to have a problematic relationship with the highest authority of the country, probably

related to the scandals and government changes which have recently affected the political

life.

When asked about their trust in institutions, surveyed people confirmed their

perceptions by individuating in the Church and in the National Government as the two bodies

to be less trustworthy, followed by Tax Offices and Media. The results obtained by Church

and Parish shall be probably further investigated in the scope of understanding how and if the

values portrayed by these institutions effectively have an influence on social norms and

customs, although not directly perceived as such on a rational, explicit level.

Experiences with institutions are also conforming to the results obtained with the first

two questions, even though with some differences between the two sampled cities. In general,

it can be maintained that Municipalities and Health Centres are once again considered to be

the ones which provide better services, though in Lecce there was a slight majority of people

having experienced a disservice with this institution, mostly based on the lack of organization

and the long waiting lists. Inhabitants of Monza seemed to have collected, in average, much

better experiences with each institution indicated in the survey, while in Lecce that was not

always the case.

59

The second section of the survey was intended to investigate how the respondents



service.

The results were quite various when the data obtained in the two cities were analyzed

separately. First, it was asked what were the most serious problem in the own community.

Major problems were altogether encountered in the Transports/infrastructures field and in the

supposed inadequacy of services and resources, mostly meant as lack of funding for activities

dedicated to the poor, younger people and elderly. Lecce, anyway, seemed to be the city

where most problems were to be encountered, or at least where the respondents appeared to

be more aware of such issues. In particular, beside the already mentioned

Traffic/infrastructures field, also Unemployment, Environment and Values. Regarding the

latter, some respondents have individuated in the so called "familistic behaviour" one of the

most detrimental attitudes toward the community.

Secondly, the respondents were asked to state with which local institution they

thought they could not obtain services relying on own means. Province, Region, Magistrature

and Tax Offices were individuated as he most problematic, although in this case it was the

inhabitants of Monza mostly feeling at unease when having to deal with them, especially in

the last two cases.

Moreover, as a consequence of the previous question, surveyed people were asked to

indicate a possible solution to obtain the desired service from the above mentioned

institutions. The great majority chose "denounce the disservice to the competent authorities"

and "try several times until I get a good result", pointing out that people are supposedly ready

to stand for their rights and try pursuing a legal conduct when dealing with institutions. What

is interesting to notice when looking at the scores obtained by other proposed solutions, is

that whereas people living in Monza tend to rely on informal relations based on acquaintance

or family ties, inhabitants of Lecce largely prefer the intervention of "an important person",

whether known personally or not.

Surveyed people have also been prompted at indicating which institutions shall have

more means in the improvement of the well-being of their community. Results show that

Municipality, Local Organizations and Region are considered to be the most important. A

comparison of the data obtained in the two sampled cities didn't show relevant differences.

60

A list of hypothetical practices against good society was then proposed to the

respondents, asking them point out those which were incompatible with the good

development of a society. Although all the possibilities were potentially harmful, results

show that not all of them are actually perceived as such.

Once again answers have been relatively homogenous in the two city-groups, and

though show some general discrepancies with the data provided by the previous question

about the preferred solution techniques, where paying a fee of give a gift where the two least

favourite. Surprisingly, "Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services" and "Bringing

gifts to be accepted at a good school" were the two options which obtained the lowest scores,

that is, people didn't seem to consider them too damaging. It can be maintained that, though

the respondents wouldn't pick them as "good solutions", they also don't consider such

practices to be negatively affecting the fair development of their community.

Respondents have also been asked to state how do they relate to the statement "public

sector officials who provide services to my community do not act the way they should, and in

both cities the great majority considered it to be either "occasionally true" or "often true",

making it clear that their expectations on how a public service should work are not always

met, or at least that they have the perception that in public offices things don't run the way

they should.


they had the means to eventually express their dissatisfaction about the services provided. 90

interviewees out of the total 140 answered "no", other options provided included making an

official complaint, whether to the institution or to the manager of the services. A small

number of people claimed they would turn to Media and Internet.

The third section of the survey was dedicated to social norms and local customs.

First, the respondents have been asked to evaluate the importance of the latter from a

given list, on a scale from "not important" to "very important". Results have been various and

showed some difference among the perceptions of the inhabitants of the two target cities. In

Monza "Spending time with friends outside the home" seemed to be the most important

custom, "Protect a person if I am in the position to do it" was the first among the fairly

important ones and "Be cautious when talking of politics in public" was the least important.

In Lecce, instead, most important was "Be in good terms with important persons", "Satisfy a

personal request of favour" was fairly important and finally once more "Be cautious when

talking of politics in public" was considered not to be relevant.

61

The next two questions were asked in order to get a better understanding of how

people perceive different modes of personal relations to public officials, including gift-

giving. The majority of surveyed people believed that gift-giving doesn't lead to obtaining a

better treatment/service, and they didn't even seem to particularly agree with the fact that the

quality of services provided can be influence by the personal relation to the workers in the

institution, although in the second case a slightly higher number of respondents seemed to

fairly agree.



survey. Respondents have generally reported to disagree with hypotetical corruption practices

and find themselves in accordance with virtuos attitudes, with no relevant differences among

the inhabitants of the two cities.

The last section of the survey was dedicated to values. We have tried to understand

how the participants relate themselves some values through gauging their association with a

list of statements portraying different characters under the explanatory sentence "How similar

to yourself is the person described by the following statements".

Results showed that respondents indentify themselves positively with trying to be as

autonomous as possible, not breaking the rules, being loyal to superiors (which could though

be a double-edged sword, in case the superior engages in illicit activities) and think that

younger people should learn from their elderly. On the other hand, they didn't seem to believe

that religion plays an important role in the society and also that strangers should be not

accepted in a society, if the majority doesn't want them. Surveyed people showed ambivalent

feelings towards traditions having to be respected, about leading an intense social life and not

having to show their true (negative) feelings. One statement proved to be particularly

problematic, namely the one about avoiding to show the real economic standards to keep

away from envy and jealousy. In this case, answers have been pretty different in Monza and

Lecce.

One of the last items in the survey has made the participants choose the one that

mostly apply to them, from two groups of statements. It emerged that the great majority of

them believes that living conditions can be changed mainly through their actions and that

only the community as a strong group can improve living conditions, which were the two

options with a positive connotation. In accordance to that, they also claimed to do all the best

they can to help the community in which they live.

ANTICORRP ANTICORRUPTION POLICIES REVISITED

WORK PACKAGE 4- THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF CORRUPTION PRACTICES

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE AND SOCIAL VALUES IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (BiH)

AUTHOR: DR. ZAIRA TIZIANA LOFRANCO

WP4 COORDINATOR: PROF. DAVIDE TORSELLO

MAY 2014, BERGAMO

2

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3 2. METHODOLOGY, SAMPLING AND FIELD DESCRIPTION..................................................4 3. LOCAL INSTITUTIONS

3.1. Important institutions .............................................................................................................7 3.2. Identification of public officiers............................................................................................10 3.3. Trust in institutions................................................................................................................11 3.4. Experience with

institutions.............................................................................................................................13

4. LOCAL ISSUES

4.1 Serious probems in community...............................................................................................16 4.2 Ability to obtain service from institutions relying exlusively on own means.........................18 4.3 Preferred problems resolution techniques................................................................................20 4.4 Practices against good society.................................................................................................23 4.5 Institutions important for improving well-being.....................................................................24

5. SOCIAL NORMS

5.1 Importance of customs.............................................................................................................26 5.2 Statement: gift giving related to better treatment/service........................................................28 5.3 Statement: personal relations affect quality of service............................................................29 5.4 Agreement/Disagreement with different scenarios..................................................................29 5.5 Leadership expectations...........................................................................................................33

6. VALUES

6.1 Self identification with character from "True of myself" to "Not at all true of myself".........34 6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is most appropriate to you........................39 6.3 Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you...........................39

7. CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................................40

3

INTRODUCTION

This country report presents result of a survey about performance of local instiutions and social

values" carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter BiH). It is a part of a wider research

about corruption practices in this countryes approached with an innovative ethnographic

metodology and "bottom-up persepctive". Results of the survey will be here treated not as mere

statistical data but analyzed and commented with data deriving from interviews and participant

observation.

Ethnographic research and survey in BiH started in a particular conjuncture marked by

consequences of protests against corruption of institutions that took place in the whole country from

the 4th of February 2014 and ended with the requests for resignment of local goverments.

Furthermore, the day of my arrival in Sarajevo (March the 12th) coincided with the beginning of the

visit to the country of Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for the Foreign Affairs and

Security policy, who declared the fight against corruption as the priority for the "road toward

Europe" of BiH1.

The same day some representatives of the BiH civil society organizations met some delgates of the

Bosnian Parliament to propose amendaments to the Law of Public Procurement as well as to a set of

laws which could improve transparency in the local politics. Eldin Karić, the president of the

Anticorruption network (Antikorupcijska mreža organizacija civilnog društva u BiH) declared that

politicians who will not have accepted the proposed amendaments would have openly opted for

corruption2.

As this snapshots demonstrate, corruption practices and anticorruption initiatives are very actual

issues that in BiH intersect norms, rethorics, interests and moralities of different subjects: citizens,

activists, local and foreign institutions.

Notwithstanding the popularity the issue deserved in the public opinion and in the institutional life

of the country, the study of corruption and anticorruption practices is visibly marked by a poor

involvement of the local academic community while it benefits from the leading role of the NGOs

and associations in producing informations, surveys and country reports. However, civil society

organizations' work suffers from an instable foreign funding and their proposed plans for

institutional change is very often framed in an unquestioned concept of corruption and corrupted

practices. As anthropologists have shown, corruption is a changing phenomenon and in order to

shed light on its socio-cultural roots a dyacronic analysis of concept of moralities and values is

1 Grabovac A. 2014, Oslobođenje 13 mart 2014:3 2 Kamenica E. 2014, Oslobođenje 13 mart 2014:2

4

needed (Pardo I. 2004:2)3. This is particularly valuable in a transition country like BiH that is

experienced systemic trasformation but also war dynamics. The latter sped up involvment of the

countries in the context of globalization where "the nature and dynamics of corruption and abuses

of power in contemporary society are increasingly strongly connected to national and international

processes" (Pardo I. 2004:7)

Survey and participant observation thus became an occasion to explore in depth behaviours and

social values etrenched with practices of corruption in this changing context.

METHODOLOGY, SAMPLING AND FIELD DESCRIPTION

The report presents results from a first period of fieldwork research begun the 12th of March 2014

and ended the 04th of May 2014.

During this period interviews were carried out with Eldin Karić the president of Anticorruption

network of civil organizations.4 It was also possible to participate to the annual meeting of its

members.5 This was a very useful experience to have an exaustive picture of the anticorruption

activism in BiH. Interviews were also carried out with the spokepersons of protesters that after the

February and March events continued to stand in front of the Bosnian Presidency building to

denounce corruption of politicians and to ask for radical reforms. Particular attention have been

paid to media discourses about corruption (social networks, channels of the national television,

channels of cable television, printed newspapers and magazines).

Notwithstanding this, the main focus of this first part of the research was placed on the survey. The

latter in many cases turned to be a starting point for in depth interviews with respondents which

often have alternative answers to those offered by the survey texts or have examples of their lived

life to quote and support their option choice.

Survey was carried out with inhabitants of the two neighbouring cities of Sarajevo and Eastern

Sarajevo (Istočno Sarajevo)6. Sarajevo is the capital city of the state of BiH and occupies an

urbanized area of 141,5 sqm and has 279,416 residents.7 Eastern Sarajevo include pre-war suburb

territory of Sarajevo that is now under the Republika Srpska administration. It has a wide area of

3 Pardo I. (2004), Introduction in Pardo I. (ed.), Between Morality and the Law. Corruption, Anthropology and Comparative society, London, Ashgate: 1-17 4 Interview with Eldin Karić carried out 10th of April 2014 5 The meeting was held on March the 28th in Hotel Saraj, Sarajevo. 6 The new-born city was proclaimed in 1992 under the name of Serb Sarajevo but has been re-named Eastern Sarajevo in 2005 by The Bosnian Consitutional Court that considered it dicriminatory for the returnees of non-serb nationality. 7 City of Sarajevo's official web site: http://www.sarajevo.ba/en/stream.php?kat=78

5

1450 sqm with a population of 100,00 residents .8 Although after the Dayton Agreement Sarajevo

and Eastern Sarajevo have been divided by administrative boundary between the Federation of BiH

(Fbih) and the Republika Srpska (Rs),we will refer to those two cities with the collective definition

of "Sarajevo area". They both were in fact part of the capital city of BiH in pre-war time so their

citizens share a common past institutional experience. Furthermore past residence in Sarajevo still

bring citizens of Eastern Sarajevo to deal with Sarajevo local instiutions competent for issuing

documents. Although ethnonationalist parties presents local insitutions of Sarajevo and Eastern

Sarajevo as respectively representative of Serbs and Croato/Musilms population, the distribution of

State agencies and offices across the two cities territory justify the choice to not consider the

research field delimited by the administrative boundaries that should remark ethnic divisions

between the two cities.

This approach has entailed a careful translation of the survey text to be adapted to the local context.

The language standard had been a very sensitive issue in political and identitarian ethnonationalist

politics in the 90s, so the translation has been conducted in collaboration with a local translation

agency that assured the use of a local written standard of the language (ijekavski).

For a few words like "Municipality" a double version in Serbian and Bosnian language was

included in the text ("Opština/Općina"). The survey was printed in Latin alphabet although 10

respondents (over 45) from Eastern Sarajevo wrote answers in Cyrillic.

The adaptation of the survey to the context involved also a multiplication of the listed institutions.

As an effect of insitutional fragmentation of BiH set by the past socialist local self-managment

(lokalna samouprava) and by the Dayton Pace Agreement, the expression "District Council"

present in the original English version, had to be multiplicated in Mjesna Zajednica (Local

Community); Grad (City) Kanton (Canton); Entitet (Entity). We will enter into details of

competence of each of this insitutions in the following sections of the report. Here it is important to

remark that the high number of local institutions highlight an abnorm growth of the public sector in

post-war period that has been indicated as a fruitful background for corruptive practices as this

organization amplifies the discretional power of politicians on passing laws and procedures at all

levels of governmental and judicary powers. 9 Using political patronage and nepotisms, political

elites occupy key postions in institutions (judiciary, media, academic community, etc..) and act as a

closed circle of interests.

Respondents were selected in the personal social network of the anthropologist who had already

carried out ethnographic research in the Sarajevo are and with the use of the "snowball" technique.

8 City of Istočno Sarajevo's official web site: http://www.istocnosarajevo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106&Itemid=68 9 Blagovčanin Srđan (2009) , Korupcija u BiH, Friederich Ebert Stiftung, Sarajevo, Juni 2009:4

6

Foreign nationality of the anthropologist (Italian) was not an obstacle in carring on the survey. It

was indeed facilitated by the previously acquired knowledge of local language by the

anthropologist. Generally it was possible to register disponibility to talk about bad experiences with

local officiers and about their corruption even in public places.

The sample of respondents encompassed 100 people which were a quite equal proportion male

(49%) and female (51%). All of the respondents were over 18 years old. The majority of them were

in the working age (between 18 and 65 years old).

Results form survey show the high education rate in the Sarajevo area. The majority of respondents

(51%) has an high education degree or studies at the University (10%). The 30 % has a midlle

school degree. Only two people declared to have finished the compulsory eight year schools

(primary plus middle school). No one declared to have no education.

This particular high education standard can be explained by socialist governement investment in

public education considered the marking feature of a urban working class employed in modern state

companies (preduzeće) or insitutions and marked by a higher standard of living if compared to rural

inhabitants. Furthermore, higher education rate is also supported by the post-war increasing number

of public and private universities in the Sarajevo area.10

In this survey data regarding respondents' employment condition hihlighted a prevalence of

employees in the public sector (35%) today costituted almost entirely by a huge number of public

administration offices. The number of people whose income depends on the public budget is

increased by retired people. Athough only 7 respondents in our survey were retired, in BiH this

category is over represented if compared with employed people.11 Furthermore part of retired

people were still in the working age but entitled to pension as military disabled or as relatives of

dead soldiers.

Among survey respondents 34 people were employed in the private sector but the majority of them

were self-employed in their small buisness (grocers, photographers, drivers, cooks). 15% were

employed in private sector with occupation that require expertise. Only two of them represented the

local entrepreneurial class and generally directed small scale businness. The majority were

employed in foreign firms or organizations as program manager or with other clerk functions.

Transition to the market economy, was followed by privatization of the wide public productive

system. Privatization often implied corruption, deindustrialization and unemployment of the pre-

war workers that very often became redundant and got fired by the new managment.12

10 University of Istočno Sarajevo (public); Iternacionalni Universitet u Sarajevu (private), International BURCH University (private), Sarajevo School of Science and Technology (private). 11 http://www.seebiz.eu/u-bih-izjednacen-broj-zaposlenih-i-broj-penzionera/ar-55446/ 12Following the February street protests that started from the industrialized areas of the country, members of Account asked the Bosnian politicians to revise process of privatization with the partecipation of NGOs and trade unions. See:

7

The Unemployed respondents in our survey were the14% . Half of the unemployed were comprised

in the age range of 25-45 years old. Some of them did not openly declared to be unemployed but

answered pointing out their education level that usually was an university degree that did not allow

them to enter the labour market. The unemployed in the higher age ranges were also high qualified

but differently from the younger ones lost their jobs after the economic crisis (35-45 years old) or

because the last war (55-65) and were anable to re-enter the labor market. We also registered cases

of respondents with high qualifications but helding positions for which no expertise is required as

was the case of one young woman of 32 years old who completed her master study in Sociology but

worked as merchant in a furniture shop.

Table 1. Basic Characteristics of Survey Respondents Gender n. MALE 49 FEMALE 51 Age 15-25 16 25-35 25 35-45 23 45-55 21 55-65 8 65- 7 Education level Primary 0 Middle school 2 High school 30 College 51 Technical 17 None 0

Occupation % Employed in the public sector 35 Employed in the private sector 34 Retired 7 Student 10 Unemployed 14 Occupations that require expertise 47 White collars employee in the private sector 15 Self -employed-occupations that do not require expertise 14 Location: Sarajevo area (BiH) Sarajevo 55 Eastern Sarajevo (Istočno Sarajevo) 45

http://www.account.ba/novost/9777/mreza-account-trazi-od-vlasti-ako-zaista-zelite-zaustaviti-korupciju-ispunite-ovih-10-zahtjeva

8


This section is made up of a set of 4 questions aimed at visualizing respondent indication of

important insitutions for the public good; identification of public and private insititutions; trust in

institutions; bad and good experience with institutions and motivation for choice.

3.1 Important Institutions The repondents answered to the follwing questions:

"Which of the following institutions are important for the wellbeing of your community?"

Options given to respondents were: Not important =1; Fairly Important=2; Very Important=3

The question assumes a common understanding of concepts of "community" that on the contrary

revealed perplexities and subjective interpretation. Some of the respondents included in the segment

of highly educated, expressed incertitute over the meaning of the definition "your community" and

objected that this can be attached several meanings in BiH (religious, ethnic, urban, national,

neghbouring community).

The complex and fragmented institutional architecture assigns to insitutions different functions and

power on different administrative sectors and ethnic delimited territories. For this reason the

administrative extension and socio-cultural identity of the community appeared to part of the

respondents an essential element in order to evaluate the importance of the insitutions for the public

wellbeing. In BiH State insitutions are responsible for Foreign policy and trade, customs and

monetary politics, immigration policies, international communications facilities, Interentity

cooperation in terms of transportation, air traffic control.13 Entity and Cantons (in FbiH) are

responsible for all the other administrative sectors in their territories which are governed through

Municipalities and Local communities (Mjesna Zajednica).

Notwithstanding these preliminary considerations, answers to the survey demostrated a general

understanding of the term "community" as a ethnically and religious neutral small-scale territorial

community where the Municipality is considered the most important insitutions for assuring the

public good. The latter in fact, deserved the higher avarage evaluation (2,69). Police and healthcare

providers follow with 2,61 and highlight the importance of giving an adequate response to concrete

problems that mark everydaylife of the small local community. Insitutions which are centres of

powers at higher level are considered less important and religious authority are considered

absolutely the less important (1,85).

13 Costitution of BiH: http://www.ccbh.ba/public/down/USTAV_BOSNE_I_HERCEGOVINE_engl.pdf

9

Graphic 1. Important Institutions

2,69 2,61 2,462,25 2,20 2,19 2,14 2,06 2,02 1,90 1,89 1,88 1,85

2,61

Mun

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Hea

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are

prov

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Ent

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Int

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Can

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EU

Rul

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NG

Os

Loc

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soci

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Opp

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part

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Rel

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usau

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itie

s

Among foreign insitutions International donors and organizations get an higher evaluation (2,20)

than EU (2,06). Non governative organizations were considered sligtly more important than local

cultural associations. In the extra space given for alternative answers, 5 respondents particularly

stressed the importance of education and cultural institutions for the wellbeing of the community

and 3 persons indicated judges and magistrates.

Verbal comments to the question in some cases revealed radical criticism to the assumptions that

underpinned the questions. One of the respondent (male, 38 years old) simply considered our

question too idealistic because in BiH insititutions do not work for the common good but are moved

by more nepotistic and personalistic interests.

Another repondent considered that the importance of insitutions is linked in BiH to the political or

personal relations they have with to the ruling party:

"All the institutions as fairly important. Always there is an in-between option. The basic thing is who

is on the governing position. Here all the institutions are important if they are connected with the

ruling party. Institutions have influence only when is in question their possibility to dispose of an

amount of money. They will have money only if they are partners, lovers or members of the ruling

party. In this case the party will help. In different cases it will not" (Respondent n.33, male 50 years

old).

Another respondent (female, 39 years old) supported this position by quoting some concrete

examples from her community that underlined problems deriving from the system that she defined

of "partitical corruption" (partijska korupcija) because "it acts at the lower levels of insitutional

life". She explained that in her community economic development is blocked by the fight between

the Party that rules the Municipal Council and the ruling party in the Town Government which is

the same party who governs the Entity Government. Even if the two parties in questions share the

same ethnonationalist ideology, clashes of interests arouse around people to put in key insitutional

10

places. She also explained that she had been working for a public firm founded and financed by the

Town govenment and its ruling Party. After a couple of years, the firm had serious financial

problems and the employees did not get their salaries for months. During the electoral campaign she

decided to personally address the leader of the Entity government and president of the antagonist

party but this resulted to be an unseccesful strategy. After this experience she concluded:

"Here it is not a problem to talk even to the President of the Entity. I personally talked to him face to

face during the electoral campaign. He promised that he would solve our situation but he didn't! The

real problem is that our firm was not founded by his party. That's why he did not want to pay our

debts".

3.2 Identification of public officers The second questions invited the respondent to mark categories that could be considered public

officers.

Results clearly shows that people had no hesitation in acknowledging officiers who has public

functions. Notwithstanding this, for some jobs like "journalist", "attorney" or "company manager"

we got specifications like "it depends if they are employed in Sate or private institutions or

companies". During socialism, in fact, the public sector controlled the entreprise and media sectors

that have been today highly but not totally privatized. Religious functionaries have also been

indicated by a low percentage (8%) of respondents as well as private doctors (4%). Those two

categories have been included on the logic that they carry out a public function. Public functions is

here intended in its meaning of "doing somenthing for the public good". In this sense the category

of people who work for the public good do not always coincide with people working for public

institutions. Following this logic, one of the respondent pointed out that in Municipality only people

who have an University degree (competences) can be considered public officiers. The others are put

there by the party and do not act for the common good (respondent n.63). Similar position was

shared by an architect working with a permanent technical position in one of the Sarajevo area

municipality. She pointed out the difference between professional and political role in public

institutions, talking about the frequent querrels she has with her head of office that had been

choosen by the ruling party and had no expertise in the field of urbanism. She told us:

"My head of office has a degree in economy and very often want to sell portion of urban space to the

investors on the reason that she wants to earn money for the Municipality. On the contrary I am aware

that I have to organize the public space in the interests of citizens. When the ruling party will change

and she will be substituted by a new head of office decided by another ruling party, I will have to deal

with citizens complaints".

11

Graphic 2. Public officers95%

82% 82%

11% 8% 8% 7% 4% 0%

92%

Pol

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Mun

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3.3 Trust in institutions The respondent were asked the following question:

"How much do you trust the following institutions (from 1: lowest, to 5: highest trust)"

As Davide Torsello illustrated trust dynamics are complex and can be constructed on both

subjective and objective level (Torsello D. 2003:13). Furthermore he points out that trust melt

together different variables like peoples' personal experiences, interests, moral values and emotions

(Torsello D. 2003:14)14.

The product of this complex dynamics, brought our respondent to place their higher degree of trust

in the Private Health Centres with an everage mark of 3,46. Explainations of their answers was

14 Torsello D. (2003), Trust, Property and Social Change in a Southern Slovakian Village, Münster, Lit Verlag

Graphic 3. Trust in Institutions

3,46

3,04 3,002,82 2,81 2,72 2,61

2,41 2,33 2,31 2,21 2,17 2,151,95 1,89

1,64

3,40

Hea

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Cen

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Pub

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Loc

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Pol

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Jud

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t

12

supported by considerations linked to the quality of the service deemed higher than that offered by

public insitutions. Health centers are perceived as depoliticized, which seems a warranty of

professionality and kindness of the employed staff.

One of the respondent narrating the experience of her daughter first control after her birth,

confessed that she had great expectations about the event which were disappointed by the treatment

she get in the public hospitals. Doctor was neither cheerful nor careful with the baby. During the

visit, that lasted a few minutes, he even used a very cold stethoscope that made the baby cry. After

that she decided to go to a private health centre where, notwithstanding the high sum she had to pay,

she was very satisfied by the service. Health centres are also able to offer a better service very

quickly so that they are choosen by respondents who have to deal with serious health problems

and/or simply have not time to go though the long lasting procedure required by the public health

system. Furthermore, health centres are very often the solution to some restriction imposed by the

Law on Healthcare service in the two Entities.15

In BiH attempts to nationalize public services led to an health insurance system that guarantee

citizens the right to access cheaper public healthcare and low cost medication only in the territory of

the Entity of residence. As confirmed by respondents, regardless of their degree of satisfaction with

the local healthcare system, they could not go to the hospital or buy medication in public health

centres located in neighbouring places or in places on the state territory which belong to the other

Entity.

Although deserves the higher level of trust, private healthcare centres are not economically

accessible to low-income categories of citizens which turn to the State doctors which got a quite

high level of trust (2.81). Their good evaluation depends on a media of bed and good experiences

the respondents had wih doctors in their lifetime. Furthemore, as one of the respondent highlighted,

trust in doctors does not always go together with trust in the Bosnian healthcare system that is

deemed responsible for the frequent disservices and scarce motivation of the staff.

A completely opposite discourse has been made for Public schools which are trusted at an avarage

level of 3,40. In the education field, the public sector seem to offer more guarantees of a better

service than private schools and universities whose service standards are considered arbitrary and

not under the controll of state education public agencies. Local associations follow with an avarage

mark of 3,04 considered unpoliticized and hardworking to solve some social problems and to

protects the weak categories of citizens. Police is trusted with an avarage mark of 3,00 often

motivated by policemens efficiency in protecting citizens from public disorders and petty

criminality present in different neighboruhoods of the surveyed area. Municipality also deserves a 15 Federation Law on Health Insurance (Federation BiH Official Gazette no. 30/97); Law on Health Insurance (Republika Srpska Official Gazette no. 18/99).

13

high level of trust (2,82) which is placed as a result of a frequent interaction and very often personal

knowledge of employees. The same can be said for the Local community (2,61) while institutions at

an higher level of the administrative architecture were placed by respondents at the bottom of their

trust ranking. Town (2,15), Entity (1,95), State government (1,89), Cantonal government (1,64).

Lack of frequent interaction with these instiutions tasked with specific functions, their instability

caused by party clashes and frequent cases of corruption have been used by respondents to justify a

low level of trust. Trust in International donors and organizations is placed at an avarage rate of

2,72 while EU is trusted at a lower level (2,31). This result anyway seems to be the effect of a

contrasting evaluations. EU is looked on by many of the respondents because of the powerful

political role it plays in BiH and of the pressure it makes on the local governments. One of the

respondent alluded to a secret agreement between local corrupted politicians and EU functionaries

at detriment of the citizens. He declared: "Every time EU makes some reforms, the consequences

are felt on the income of the retired people or of the working class". Other (fewer) respondents, on

the contrary, placed in the EU their higher degree of trust. EU is in these cases considered the only

possibility to change the politics of the untrustworthy local governments.


The following question has been asked in order to measure the experience with the insitutions: "With which of the following institutions have you or members of your family recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service?" As general remark it should pointed out that the concept of good and bad services vary among

respondents. Furthermore, the good service not always is intended as the service provided in

accordance with the law. In one extreme case, for example, the respondant evaluted the service

of public healthcare providers as good with the motivations that they are willing to falsify bill of

health to let people stay home from work.

Furthermore, as the graphic demonstrates, percentage of good/bad services received should be

compared to the frequency with whom people turn to the listed institutions to solve their

everyday problems.

The graphic shows numerous cases (marked with N/A) in which respondents avoided to answer

basically because they did not have any experience about asking service to that insitution.

Reasons for this are both of structural and practical order.

When the services given by the Canton are in question, the lack of evaluations by some

respondent resident in Eastern Sarajevo is motivated by the absense of the Cantons in their

Entity's territory that presents a different administrative structure with respect to Fbih.

14

More generally is it possible to observe that the very stratified administrative structure led

people dealing with insitutions that are placed at higher level only if they cannot avoid it. People

prefer to ask and get the needed service at the lower level that is the Municipality (only 13% had

no experience with it) also because, as they explained, procedures to get a service from

institutions at the Entity, Canton, State level imply more bureaucracy and last longer.

With reference the these specific insitutions perceived as higly politicized, some respondents

highlighted that service are not asked because of a lack of trust determined by poor quality of

the service received in the past or by insitutions unwillingness to provide services to people who

have not personal knowledge of functionaries or do not dispose of sum of money to pay the

functionary. Particularly people working as small scale entrepreneurs in private sector expressed

the concept that is not worthwile to refer to insitutions because representative of the insitutions

show disinterest for the citizens needs and everyday problems.

One of the respondent, owner of a small restaurant in Sarajevo, affirmed: "I do not ask for

anything, I do not expect anything from them because even if I turned to them I won't get

anything. So that I do not want to be disappointed. I work and I do not rely on anybody" (n. 52,

female, 48 years old).

A similar concept have been expressed by the owner of a photo shop in Sarajevo. The owner of

a fast food in Easter Sarajevo, told us:

"You can write my name and surname or, if you want, I will sign my declaration. I never get anything from the Municipality. I have to thank only my father who funded this shop. I have been to the Municipality only once to ask for a permission to widen my shop. They told me they I will get it but after one year my request is still there and I got no answer!".

In some cases however, the reason for complaining highlight a quite deceptive concept of

"service" that overlaps with that of "help" (pomoć) that is theoretically underpinned by concept of

humanity and with more personal treatment and discretionality with respect to service of public

insitutions that should be given according to the rule of law and under the priciple of an equal

treatment for all the citizens. From answers of this kind emerges the need to explore the variable

concept of service also in relations to the respondents' perception of citizens rights in institutions

that has probably been influenced by shifts through socialist and humanitarian experience of war.

It should be also observed that, the request of "help" insted of a "service" could be more

comprehesible if directed towards institutions like Local associations, International donors

organizations and Religious authorities that, anyway, are not so much addressed by the

respondents. 46% of them had no experience of bad or good services from the Local associations

and Church/Mosque; 48% from the International donors organizations. The reasons mentioned by

respondents are of different kind. They though these insitutions "have no material resources"; "

15

are politicized or corrupted"; "work for personal interests at the same extent of the public

insitutions".

For insitutions like judges, police forces or tax offices the lack of experience had been explained

by the exceptionality of life cases in which people need to address to them.

The more frequent cases of good services seem to be experienced with the Public healthcare

providers (49%) who were appreciated by participants for their constant effort or humanity in

providing services in general practicioners offices or in public hospitals.

Notwithstanding this, a quite high number of respondents (37%) declared to have experienced bad

service. Reasons for this are corruption, bribes, scarce quality of the service explained in terms of

lack of kindness, professionality or knowledge and long waiting to get the service. One of the

respondent denounced a case in which the doctor prescribed the wrong medicines.

Also for the Muncipality we registered a high numer of satisfied people (40%) but a higher

number of disappointment (47%) due to the incompetence of employees or long lasting

burocratic procedures. Public schools (48%) were also praised by the major part of the

respondent for the good service they offer and their efforts notwithstanding their scarce

resources. Only the 18% declared to be dissatisfied.

The referred experiences with State institutions are marked by an evident gap between the few

good services (8%) and the considerably high number of bad services (55%). Disappointment

by respondent have been motivated by corruption, disinterests for citizens, instability of the

Graphic 4. Experience with institutions

55%

47%

45%

53%

44%

35%

45%

18%

41%

21%

28%

6%

7%

11%

13%

28%

28%

19%

36%

49%

48%

23%

33%

24%

39%

13%

48%

36%

43%

37%

46%

36%

30%

14%

34%

36%

46%

48%

26%

34%

37%

40%

State

Municipality

Entity

Canton

Town

Local community

Church/ Mosque

Judges

Police force

Public healthcare providers

Public schools

Tax office

Local associations

Int. donor organizations

N/A

Good

Bad

16

institution and inefficiency of the employed people and as one respondent put it "formalism

instead of substance" that stand for long-lasting beaurocratic procedure.

Ultimately it should be remarked that in all the mentioned reasons for satisfation or

dissatisfaction with the services provided by the institutions, the respondents did not reported to

discrimination on the bases of citizens ethnic identity. Only in one case (respondent 23), the bad

service received by Canton has been motivated with the statement "They hate Serbs".

4.LOCAL ISSUES This section of the survey asked respondents to identify main problems in their community and

to explore available and preferred resolutions. Efficiency of institutions to resolve the felt

problems but also people perception of the efficency of the resolutions procedures made

available by the insitutions.

4.1 Serious probems in community To this puropse participants in the survey where first asked:

"What in your view are the most serious problems in your community? List at least three starting from the most important".

Graphic below shows the number of times the problem has been mentioned by respondents

regardless of the order in which they mentioned it.

As the graphic above shows Corruption in public insitutions in its different forms of bribery or

nepotism has been mentioned by 70 respondents over 100.

However, it is worth to point out that Unemployment has been indicated as first (and then more

serious) problem by the 32% of the respondents while Corruption has been indicated by the 24%.

Graphic 5: Serious problems

70

19

16

16

16

16

12

11

10

9

7

6

5

5

54Corruption and Bribery

Unemployment

Insecurity

Economic politics

Environmental issues

Poverty

Unefficiency of public administrators

State organization

Bad government

Education system

Health care system

Bad public transport

Citizens moral deterioration

Mantainance and order (Buildings, Stray dogs)

Ethnic conflicts and divisions

17

As regarding the problem of Unemplyment, not many specification were given. One respondent just

expressed concerns for unemplyoment caused by the high number of employee in the public

insitutions that leave no room for the turn-over. Another participant lamented particularly the

unemployment of the more educated segment of the population.

When we come to corruption, the complaints regard different dynamics and violations of the law in

different political and economic sectors. Participants to the survey mentioned bribery in the

healthcare sector as in the construction one. They denounced the habits "of giving and keeping

bribes (mito)" an lamented the uncapability of the law to protect citizens from illegal request of

money. Respondent n. 39 referred about a more concrete case regarding the Sarajevo water supply

Company that "extort money to people (reketira) who ask for certifications". Corruption of police

forces was also denounced in one case. Respondent n.36 mentioned corruption entailed by

employment of people along political lines. In other cases nepotism was mentioned with reference

to the employment system. Furthermore, in several cases corruption was intended with the word

"Thieves" or "Theft" to which somebody added "in the institutions" or one other specified with the

expression "misuse of public money". "Political parties occupy everything" according to one

respondent. "They are irresponsible" for a participant in the survey who made reference to the

uncontrolled way in which politicians borrow money from the International Monetary Fund with

high costs for citizens. The uncontrolled public expense was also mentioned as well as the lack of

transparency in the administrative procedures and the poor rule of law in BiH.

Other categories of problems can also be linked to corruption like "the Unefficiencies of public

administration" where according to respondents procedures are too slow and the employed people,

hired along political or nepotistic lines, have not the adequate knowledge and expertise.

The Bad economic policy has been another of the mentioned problems in the concrete form of the

lack of a economic development plan and a poor managment of the privatization issue. The blind

sale of public entreprise have been often entranched with cases of corruption.

Unsecurity denounced by 19 respondents have been linked to the presence of criminals and the poor

protection of people and their properties.

Environamental issues is a problem for 16 respondents one of which talked about "ecologic crisis"

in Sarajevo. Principal mentioned problems were waste, dirtiness of public spaces, and the

uncontrolled and progressive erosion of green spaces in the urban area to build up malls funded by

foreign investors.

16 people also mentioned poverty intended strictly as lack of cash money (bezparica) or by a bad

living standard caused by unemployment and lack of social warranites for the vulnerable categories.

18

The State organization is a problem for 12 people who believe that the governing structure do not

facilitate cohordinations among institutions and causes tardiness of interventions. The election of

the head of government by politics was another reason of concern.

The bad goverment has been quoted by 11 peoples one of which considered the social distance

between citizens and representatives of institutions: "They do not know us. They do not have the

clear picture of society". Laziness, delinquency and government instability were also mentioned.

The bad Institutional performance in the education and in the health care system was considered a

problem by respectively 10 and 9 people due to lack of investments in these sectors and the

presence of private universities.

Infrastructures and quality of the urban public transport were indicated by 7 people while problems

like building mantainance and stray dogs were mentioned by only 5 people. 6 respondents referred

to problems of moral deterioration of citizens, lack of education, lack of trust in insitutions and in

other fellow citizens.

Only 5 people mentioned as a problem the presence of ethnic conflicts and divisions. All the

respondent listed it as third order problem that was presented in 4 cases as an obstacle to the

community well being and institutions efficiency. In one single case "ethnic and religious hate" has

been deemed a problem as it is a cause for individual discrimination.

4.2 Ability to obtain service from institutions relying exlusively on own means This question was meant to explore the possibility of citizens to get service from institutions relying

exclusively on procedure provided by the law.

"With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you are not able to settle a matter/obtain a service with your own resources?" High percentage of respondent left the space blank for some insitutions due to the specific request

of the answer to mark only cases in which people were unable to obtain the desired service on their

own. Blank spaces however cannot be interpreted automatically as "possibility to obtain". Several

respondents in fact commented that they had no experience in turning to the listed insitutions for

reasons already mentioned in paragraph 3.4.

19

Graphic demonstrates that respondents were more frequently unable to obtain the required service

with their own resources by insitutions placed at higher level of administrative hierachy (State 65%,

Canton 60%, Entity 58% and Town 38%). Surprisingly Judges, who should assure the rule of law,

follow (35%) and are placed in a worst positions than the Public hospitals (32%). Municipality,

International organizations (27%) and Tax office (26%) are presented as quite problematic. At a

lower extent is not possible to get the service with legal procedure from Church/Mosques (22%),

Police forces (22%) and the Local community - MZ (19%). Public schools (12%) and Local

associations (11%) are considered the less problematic.

Answer of the impossibility to get service with their own resources were frequently followed by

accounts of a very developped bribery system that affect all the insitutions.

One of the respondent also suggested that by "own resources" in BiH it should be intended

"money". He stated: "If we intend by 'one own means' money and you have it, than you can obtain

whatever you want. Nowadays this has become normal here but it should not be like this"

(respondent n.49, male 52 years old).

Another respondent commented on this question:

"It is impossible today to get even the humble jobs if you do not know someone and if you do not go

to the general practicioners office with the white enveloppe [with money] they will book your medical

examination by specialists after a lot of time". (Respondent n.44, female, 49 years old)

We were also referred that in BiH:

"You have to buy everything and if you do not have money, then you get nothing. My daughter works

as a nurse in an hospital and to get a permanent position she should pay someone." (respondent n.55,

female, 64 years old).

What is interesting in some comments is that moral condemnation of bribery did not entailed

reference the principle of integrity and transparency that should rule the public sector.

Condemnation was rather grounded on the the fact that in the bribery system, the access of key

Graphic 6. Unability to obtain the required service65%

59%

38% 35% 32%27% 27% 26%

22% 22%19%

12%

60%

Stat

e

Can

ton

Ent

itit

y

Tow

n

Judg

es

Pub

licho

spit

als/

heal

thce

ntre

s

Mun

icip

alit

y

Inte

rnat

.or

gani

zati

ons

Tax

off

ice

Chu

rch/

Mos

que

Pol

ice

forc

e

Loc

alco

mm

unit

y(M

Z)

Pub

lic s

choo

ls

20

resources like job or healthcare are linked to the availability of cash money which is indeed a scarce

resource for many of the interwiees.

In some cases paying a bribe is also considered an investment when important things or persons are

in question. In a country like BiH where unemployment represents one of the biggest problem, to

get a stable job in the public institution is considered a great deal and a way to have stable income

and living standars in a very instable context. One of the respondent referred of a case of friend who

decided to invest 5000 KM (2500 EUR) to pay a bribe in order to get her son employed in the Post

Office. The woman explained that the invested money will be repaid in a few months because her

son will earn 800 KM monthly and an additional sum for meals.

Another respondent of 38 years old unemployed and in search of a job, informed me that for posts

in public insitutions it even exist an informal price list. He also considered that investing money for

getting job is very risky because you give money under the counter and it happens that the bribe

taker took the money and did not give the job back.

A young woman of 37 years old, confessed that when her father had seriuos health problems, she

"obviously" looked for the best surgeon in the hospital and immediately paid him the requested

amount of money. As she made clear: "I knew it was illegal but when important things like lives of

the loved ones are in danger you do not think about the law".

When cash money is lacking, knowing the right persons can be an alternative strategy. Respondent

n. 55 referred that she asked for the help of his brother's friend who is a doctor, in order to find a

place in the overcrowded public hospital for her mother who was affected by a cancer.

A young unemployed participant to the survey contested that the use of connections could be

labelled as corruption when the search of a job is in question.

"I think that the use of connections is corruption when it is in question the use of private

resources (money, bribe) but when is job in question then we are not speaking of corruption. I

would use connections to make my CV examined by employers as they always select only

four or five which belong to persons they know".

4.3 Preferred problems resolution techniques This question is aimed to identify people's preferred problems resolution techniques when dealing

with insitutions. To this scope the repondent is requested to figure out the resolution technique

he/she would advice a friend who faces disservice. The posed question is the following:

"How would you advice a person who can’t successfully deal with institutions to resolve his problem? (more than one answer possible)"

21

How the graphic shows, preferred resolution techniques indicated by respondents have been

"Denounce disservice" (59%) and "Try several times (51%)". In a global reading of the survey

results, thos two options seem to be preferred as they are deemed solution consistent wiht the legal

procedure and then considered "the right thing to do". However, these two solutions were ticked

together with other strategies which, on the contrary, represent informal or illegal way out of the

problem.

One of the respondent clarify this apparent contradiction by establishing a cronological oder among

the solution he would advice/ or put in place in the suggested situation. He would thus try first the

legal ones and then the remaining ones. The graphic suggest that among the alternative solutions the

preferred ones would have been those in which the social resources are mobilized. Options like

"Ask for friend's intervention"; "Ask for a relative's intervention"; "Ask for the intervention of an

important person" were all together indicated by the 59% of the respondents. The mobilization of

economic resources suggested by the option "Give a small gift" or "Pay a fee" are an option chosen

by a lower percentage of repondents. Respectively 5% and 17%. These are probably considered the

last options and/or reserved to solve problems of great or vital importance, due to moral

condemnation reserved to people who ask money to offer public services and given the general bad

economic condition of people (see paragraph 4.2).

"Avoid dealing with that insitutions" is the choice of disillusioned people which do not even turn to

institutions to solve their problems (see paragraph 3.4).

It is useful to point out that the preferred resolution technique of "Denounce disservice" seems to be

less feasible on the bases of answers to the question 15 of the survey in which respondents where

asked:

" Do you feel you have the means to express dissatisfaction when the services provided by your local practitioner/service provider are not appropriate? If yes, what are they?"

Graphic 7. Preferred problems resolution techniques

9%2%

16%

8%

2%

29%

24%

7%3%

ask for friend's intervention

ask for relative's intervention

ask for intervention of important person

pay fee

give small gift

denunce disservice

try several times

avoid dealing with that institution

don't know

22

70% of the respondents considered they do not have means to express dissatisfaction. Only 30 %

think that means are available. Among the quoted means they dispose of we find: presenting a

written complaint to national competent authorities; pursue the functionary, denounce the disservice

to professional associations and chambers, Ombudsman or NGOs for the safeguard of human rights

which provide legal advisory service, alert media. Notwithstanding, even people who think that

some means exist, are not sure about the efficacy of these. Frequently a difference is made between

the means existing according to the law and the the means available in practice. One of the

respondet affrmed "In practice I do not dispose of efficient way to express dissatisfaction though in

every pubic institutions a complain procedure exists" (respondent n.100). Similarly another one,

affirmed that the existing means are difficult to put in practice. Respondent n. 70 wh listed some of

the possible way to express dissatisfaction, specified that they are only attempts that normally do

not have any results. Reasons for that massive lack of trust in the rule of law, become evident in the

motivations added by some participants even though not required by the survey. Some of their

statements are: "I tried before but now I realized that I do not have any"; "I do not have any because

employed cousins and uncles in the governing structure"; "I feel I do not have means for the fight

against this apparatus". In the perceived general situation of inexistence of means provided by the

law to claim their rights, some of the respondents seem to rely on their own possibilities. They thus

listed as the only means available to them: verbal face to face protests (respondent n. 95), boicotting

the service (respondent n.63), fights (respondent n.93), influent relatives (respondent n. 80). One

respondent ironically even answered "God" (respondent n.92).

It is also worth to point out that in the specific conjuncture of the survey marked by streets protests

and fights during which institutional buildings like Bosnian Presidency buildings have been set in

fire, media and activists of the anticorruption organizations in BiH have explained the phenomenon

with the principle "people have no other ways to express dissatisfacion about insitutions". A similar

thought was also shared by the president of Account in the interview we carried out in Sarajevo16.

Similar positions had to be evaluated also on the base of the widespread bad judgment citizens give

of public officials work as apppear from answers to question:

"In your experience how true is the following statement: “public sector officials who provide services to my community do not act the way they should”?

For the 53% of the respondents this statement is "often true" and for the 16% it is "always true".

23% thinks it is "occasionally true" while only for the 6% of respondent this is "rarely true" and for

the 2% is "not true".

16 Interview carried out 10th of April 2014

23

These statemennts are also consistent with accuses of irresponsability, inefficiency, lack of

knowledge and expertise, lack of transparency to insitutions representatives seen in the paragraph

4.1


In this section aimed at identifying issues that are perceived as a problem for the local community's

common good, the respondent have been asked the following question:

"In general which of the following practices are, in your opinion, spoiling the good development of

a society?"

It should be generally observed that a wide moral condemnations of the listed practices have been

shown. 41 respondents over 100 selected indiscriminately all the options with the comment "All

these are spoiling the good development of society".

Notwithstanding this, the higher number of respondents indicated as practices against the good

society, practices whose promoters and main beneficiaries are usually politicians at detriment of

citizens who do not have insitutional functions. In this logic, "Giving jobs to friends or relatives

instead of people who deserve them" was indicated by the 93% of the respondents which considered

unemplyoment as a main problem of their community (see paragraph 4.1). "Buying votes during

elections" (88%) and "Using development funds for private purposes" (80%) belong also to the

polticial practices that had been at the centre of numerous political scandals (aferi) and are thus well

known to the Bosnian public opinion. These practices were often summed up under the category of

corruption ("korupcija") that was imbued in moral condemnations and was often referred to

others', usually political elites' abuse of power. The respondents made clear this concept with

Graphic 8. Practices against good society

93%

80%

71%

67%

63%

61%

55%

52%

88%

Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deservethem




Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and publicconstruction bids





24

particular reference to the option "Using development funds for private purposes" that represented a

particularly sensitive issue after wartime flow of humanitarian aids and post-war recovery funds.

In particular two of the respondents (n.66 and n.65) agreed on the fact that the last war had a sort of

socio-economic levelling function as people lost everything and were equally poor. Both of them

wonder how some people and particularly politicians could become so rich "all at once" ("preko

noci"). Explanation they suggested is linked to illicit appropriation of funds for economic

development of the country at the detriment of population by people with political function who

have been labelled "profiteri" (profiteers) or "sanaderi" in explicit reference to the Croatian former

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader convited for war profiteering and corruption.17

This position was also common to a spokenpersons of protesters that agreed to be interwieed during

while demonstrations in front of the Bih Presidency building. He stated:

" Since 20 years, this State has been carrying on criminal operations at detriment of its people. This

population has received donations and credits and all the possible forms of aids for 20 years. It has

been estimated that 80 billions dolars entered BiH. Two commissions were formed by the government

but when they arrived to count donations for 40 billions dollars, they stopped because of fear. This

State is corrupted and they [politicians] made reforms of the Justice, prosecutors and police and today

they govern together. In this state all is done to rob this country. They [politicians] have dual

citizenships and all of them have their secret properties".18

Other practices listed in the survey like "Convincing journalists not to publish sensitive articles" and

"Using scandals to get rid of political opponents" (respectively 52% and 55%) were chosen by a

lower number of respondents because they are less known by the wider public opinion and thus

perceived as less frequent.

For all the others listed options a quite high disapproval was registered though in lower percentage

in respect to the before mentioned practices openly labelled as "corruption"

"Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services", "Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school",

"Paying fees to have documents sorted out quickly", "Exchanging confidential information to get

tenders and public construction bids" belong to a category of practices in which citizens who do not

have public functions can be the promoters and from which they could decide to benefit.


In this section respondents have been aslo asked:

"Who do you think could help to improve the general wellbeing of your community?" 17 For more details: Ivo Sanader convicted of corruption, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26533990 18 Interview with a spokenperson of the protesters carried out on 21 April 2014 in fron of the BiH Presidency building.

25

Answers to this question shown by the graphic demonstrate that domestic subjects are considered

crucial in improving well being. Indeed, respondents which opted for them prevail on respondents

which opted for foreign or international subjects.

Furthermore 63% of participants in the survey considers that "Citizens themselves" can be the

promoters of the improvement. Street protests and the organization of plenum of citizens in

different towns of BiH expressed a deep dissatisfaction about the work of governing bodies at

different administrative level and culminated with a project of political insitutional reform of the

existing insitutions.19 Although none of the respondents in this survey took part to the protests,

sometimes considered a too extreme reaction, their answers prove that they also belive in a political

initiative that should be taken out of any existing institutional body.

Dissatisaction for the status quo appeared also by the 58% of the respondents who indicated the

State as an instiution capable to improve wellbeing. Here an explicit reference has been made by

respondents to the need of reforming the Dayton constitution and to assign the responsibility of the

key administrative sectors to the State and not to the Entities. The constitutional structure designed

at Dayton is seen as a cause of fragmentation, political conflictuality and unefficiency of the State

in a country with a prevalence of ethno-nationalist parties (see also paragraph 4.2). In some of the

respondents' opinion, the role of the State as last and superpartes level of governing structure,

distant from the micro-local context could assure more equal and efficient policies.

The preference for EU that has been given by 37% of the respondents should be read in the

perspective of the reform of domestic politic and institutions. Some of them though about EU as as 19 Informal informative web page about the activities of BiH plenums: http://bhplenum.info/

Graphic 9. Institutions important for wellbeing58%

31%

29%

26%

24%

24%

23%

20%

18%

16%

15%

14%

10%

3%

37%State (national government)

EU

Judges and Magistrates

Media


Opposition political parties

Police forces

Municipal council

NGOs

City Council

Cantonal council

Entity council

Local Community (Mz)


Other

26

external actor able to make pressure on local politicians and transform the Constitution into a more

European statute. Others considered that EU can provide investments or funds to speed up change.

5. SOCIAL NORMS 5.1 Importance of customs The participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of some customs below

on the scale

"Very Important"; "Fairly Important"; "Not Important"

Results from the survey highlight a grat importance given to customs that allow people to establish

social relations, manage and mantain them in everydaylife.

"Provide hospitality" is very important for the 84% of the respondents, "Protect others" for the 76%.

Spend time with friends outside home is very important for the 55% of respondents and fairly

important for the 38%. Enjoy meals with others is very important for 43% of the respondents and

fairly important for the 41%.

Sometimes the manteinance of social relations is deemed more important than assuring the rule of

law: 29% of participants considered "very important" and 56% fairly important to "Keep secret to

avoid harming others even if this is against the law". Justification provided by some of the

respondents was that the law not always assure the common good that should be pursued by citizens

themselves showing solidarity and providing help one another as experience in wartime.

Importance given to customs that allow to create social networks, does not automatically imply that

these are deliberatetely used to be gain a priviledged access to public resources.

Graphic n.10. Important customs

16%

11%

4%

20%

49%

7%

20%

26%

37%

7%

16%

55%

47%

39%

37%

55%

31%

22%

55%

56%

45%

42%

38%

84%

43%

34%

49%

41%

14%

20%

62%

76%

30%

24%

29%

21%

55%

0%

25%

2%

15%

41%

Provide hospitality

Enjoy meals with others

Give presents during festivities

Reciprocate gifts

Reciprocate gifts in time

Reciprocate gifts in same value

Satisfy personal requests for favors

Know best person to ask favor from

Protect others


Avoid bureaucracy

Keep secrets to avoid harming others

Be cautions discussing politics in public

Spend time with friends outside homeVery important

Fairly important

Not important

27

In a society like the BiH marked by political and material instability, social relations can have a

relevant protective function as demostrated by the words of a young respondent enhancing the

importance of neighbourhoods:

" My neighbour brought me some pie she made and I though that even if I will never be able to find a

job, at least I will not starve untill I have my neighbours. When you have neighbours you always have

someone to turn to even if in Sarajevo the custom to be in good terms with your neighbours has gone

lost a little bit" (repondent n.100)

In addition, as remarked by Cornelia Sorabji, neighbourhood in post-war Sarajevo can also provide

for different kinds of support as it function as a frutiful context to establish connections (veze) more

"useful" for example to find a job or to have different kinds of priviledged access to public

resources.20

It is not surprising then that "be in good terms with important persons" had been evaluated by the

30% of the respondents as very important and by the 56% as fairly important.

If corruption ("korupcija") deserved moral condamnations as it was often referred to elites, concept

of "connections" "relations" ("štele " or "veze") was used by respondents in a more nuanced way

when referred to their own experience with institutions. It was neither imbued with moral

condamnation nor by completely legitimation. The widespred attitued was justification.

As some of the respondent explained the priviledged access to public resources is just aimed to

getting in a short time some services they are entitled to, but that they should wait for longer if

would follow the legal procedure. Slowness of services lamented by the participants (see paragraph

4.1) is not seen as a guarantee procedure but as the result of complicated bureaucratic proceduers

resulting from the fragmented administrative structure of the country or by poor resources of public

structures which are not able to provide the service to all those who require it.

Similar observations can be referred also to custom of "gift giving". As shown by the graphic this

custom is deemed of great importance in social relations dynamics. Reciprocate gifts was

considered Very important for the 49% of the respondents, To reciprocate in time was very

important for the 41% of the respondents while, because of economic hardships, to reciprocate in

the same value was considered very important only by the 14% and not important for the 49%.

Giving presents during festivities was also very important for the 34% and fairly important for the

55%.

When gift giving to public officers is in question, some of the respondents made clear that giving

gift for public services should not deserve the same condamnation as money giving. Furthermore, as

respondent n. 64 argued, a gift given after the service has been provided is to be intended as a sign

20 Sorabji C. (2008), “Bosnian Neighbourhoods revisited: Tolerance, Commitment and Komšiluk in Sarajevo”, Pine, F., & Pina-Cabral, (eds.), On the margins of religion. New York: Berghahn Books.

28

gratitude and praise for the good job of the officier. In similar cases gift giving follows the

providing of services. The latter is usully charged by an emotional value as it relieves the person

from a situation he/she perceives as a problem (working, health, economic). Conversely in some

contexts a consolidated practice of gift giving make people feel obliged to make a gift in order to

make sure they will get a good treatment in case they would need the service by the same officiers

in the future. Some of the women participating in the survey explained that they were used to ask

their husband to buy a gift to the doctor who assisted them in giving birth to their children.

Although they did not approved this custom they justify it this a consolidated one and "It should be

done because in the future you never know...".

5.2 Statement: gift giving related to better treatment/service Similar contradictory statements were registered when the participants were openly asked:

"Do you agree with the following statement: “gift giving creates a bond where people know they

will receive better treatment/service next time they visit the clinic/office?”

As the graphic shows, people who agreed to this statement are the majority (61%). Notwithstanding

this, it should be pointed out that many "agree" do not reflect the moral approval by the respondent.

Many of them expressed high criticism about the staus quo. 7 respondents added to their answer the

word "unfortunately" ("nažalost"). One of them stated "beause doctors are corrupted". A few of the

participants specified that their answer expressed just what was true in the society they lived in ("In

BiH, yes"). Simingly people who disagreed expressed the same concept by highlighting a gap

between their moral values and those who inform the general practice. We than got answers like:

"Unfortunately this is the practice", "I do not agree but in the practice it is like that", "I retain that it

is neither ethically correct nor relevant, but in the practice is unfortunetely important".

Graphic n.11. Importance of gift giving

Agree61%

Disagree37%

Agree/Disagree2%

29

The ambivalence between personal values and practices is also mirrowed by two respondents who

added an in-between personalized answer ("agree/disagree") to this question.

Solutions to this dilemma suggested by some of the answers are twofold pessimis/resignation

conveyed by expressions like "I do not agree but it is like that in practice and will be like this

forever!" ; or conformist one like those expressed by one respondent's sentence "I agree because it

does not exist an alternative way".

5.3 Statement: personal relations affect quality of service Similar observations can be moved about the answers given to the question:

"Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the services obtained is associated to

the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship with the service provider?”

Here an higher number of respondents agreed with the sentence (69%) and 5% give the in-between

answer Agree/Disagree. As for the previous question we find both people who agreed and disagreed

which anyway expressed their moral condemnation for this value.

Among people who agreed one affirmed: "It is quite always like that. I made my compliments to

those who are exceptions". Among those who agreed it should be noticed that a higher number of

people considered also that the sentence is true only partially and that it is variable according to the

examined cases. Among those who disagreed: "I disagree but there are enough of these examples"

"I disagree but in the practice is like that".

5.4 Agreement/Disagreement with different scenarios With the aim of understanding the social values that shape decisions and choices in everyday

situations, five different scenarios were given to respondents which have been asked:

Graphic n.12 Importance of personal relations

Agree69%

Disagree26%

Agree/Disagree5%

30

"The following stories have happened in other countries in the world. Please indicate if you would

in principle agree with the behaviour of the characters (1. strongly disagree to 6. strongly agree)"

Below we report answers in percentage for each scenario. As it is possible to observe no neat

approval or disapproval was expressed for the behaviour of each of the protagonists, even if for

each scenario is it possible to visualize a main general trend.

Story A

"In the district council a new person has been appointed recently. This person is very hard-working and

loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift from citizens to sort out problems. For

doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of

favors. For this, local people avoid him".

The main general trend for this scenario is Agreement (57%) even if the there is not a big gap with

the disagreement "bloc" (43%). The main objection registered regarded the "lonly life" the character

should live. Many of the respondents considered this unbearable

Story B

"Mario is a very resourceful person, he does what he can to help his friends and relatives and he knows a lot

of people. When he needs a favor he always finds someone to turn to because he has always helped out.

Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and corruption. Most of the people who know him,

however, still esteem and care for him".

Story A

Strongly agree28%

Somewhatdisagree

18%

Somewhat agree16%

Disagree13%

Agree13%

Stronglydisagree

12%

31

In this scenario the Disagreement (67%) decisively prevailed on the Agreement (33%). Comments

of respondents highlighted that legal condamnation shown by imprisonment and words like "fraud"

and "corruption" were enough to inspire their moral blame for the character unethical behaviour.

The nuanced form of agreement were supported by moral justification that "he is always helping

people so he is not a bad person". The first part of the scenario description made some participants

deduce that Mario is somehow acting "for" and not "against" the common good.

Story C

"A family has plans to build a new house in another village. They have asked what the official procedure is

and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult and they realize they would

not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person. They decide to leave the village and look for

another where things are going according to the rules".

Also for this scenario we registered the prevalence of Agreement (63%) and the higher rate of

decisive Agreement: 35% of respondents were for the "Strong Agree" option. It is useful to remind

Story B

Strongly disagree20%

Disagree26%

Somewhat disagree21%

Somewhat agree15%

Agree9%

Stronglyagree9%

Story CStronglydisagree

10%

Stronglyagree35%

Somewhat disagree20%

Disagree7%

Agree20%

Somewhatagree8%

32

that post-war reconstruction, the scenario described in the survey has been experienced by many of

the dispossesed and displaced inhabitants of BiH. It is not surprising then, that the majority of

participants in the survey considered building a house a right for the family and consequently

approved its refuse to pay the fee, request that they found higly immoral. The 33% of respondent

which expressed disagreement moved considerations linked to the relevance and necessity to

building a house in a specific place.

Story D

" Peter has a small business in preparing sandwiches which he sells to local schools. Last year he

was successful to win a tender and gained a contract in one local primary school. Unfortunately the school

head has changed this year and his contract has expired. Before applying for the next tender he looks for an

influential person who will introduce him the new school head.

In this scenario Disagreement prevails (63%), even if a mild disagreement and strong disagreement

have been expressed in the same percentage (23%). Comments by one of the respondents who opted

for the disagreement may help in claryfing this. She considers that a similar scenario was going to

happen to his son in law and to him she would have advised to go the new school head. Even if the

character behaviour does not match what she deems to be the exemplar beahviour, in the case of the

her son in law, the respondent knew how much he needed to find a job in BiH. She pointed out that

wit no job he would be forced to go abroad and leave his wife and the their little baby.

Story E

"Lucy runs a local Ngo for human rights protection. She is very active and well established in the region, but

she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an international donor last year so she applied,

being one of the most successful in that field. In the end she failed because she was not aware that some

politicians wanted a share of the money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper

agreement with them first".

Story D

Stronglydisagree

23%

Somewhatdisagree

23%

Somewhat agree20%

Agree9%

Stronglyagree9%

Disagree16%

33

In this scenario Disagreement prevailed (70%) and we registred the higest rate of "Strong

disagreement" (29%). Disagrement has been inspired by the character proclivity to bribe politicians

which deserved the higher rate of distrust among the respondents. On the contrary, solidarity has

been also expresses to the main character who embodied a person who is in need to work and even

has the required expertise but cannot get the job because of "the system" dynamics. One of the

respondent provided also a justification for the behaviour of the main character also "That Lucy was

wrong but what she could do? She has to work!".

Participant observation during survey showed that is that in many cases respondents answered

according to what they thought to be the exemplar behaviour. While in concrete examples

concerning their own life their positions were slighlty, if not completely, different. Very often

exceptions to examplar behaviour were morally justified in scenarios where the basic needs and

resources are in question like job or housing.

5.5 Leadership expectations To highlight which values were considered morally approved for a poltitical leader, the following

question have been posed:

" What is a leader in your community expected to do? (check all that apply)

Story E

Stronglydisagree

29%

Somewhatdisagree

18%

Somewhat agree9%

Agree9%

Stronglyagree9%

Disagree26%

34

Answers to this question show that transparent behaviour is the main expectation respondents have

from their leaders (78%), "following the legislation governing her/his mandate" is considered also

very important (73%). "To adhere to the rules of the community" was also indicated by the 71% and

"Provide for the poor" by 72%. Provide for goods and services to all citizens (50%), "Make sure

harmony prevails in the community" (48%).

As the main problems indicated in section 4 of the survey coincided with corruption and

unemployment, it possible to understand respondents expect for their leaders to act in order to solve

those they feel as urgent common needs. They also expect from them a behaviour which is quite the

contrary of that they actually have. The already mentioned gap between principle and practice, ideal

and real political system has been recalled also here by 5 respondents who declared that the above

mentioned exemplar behaviours are recalled by (political) leaders only during the electoral period

when false promises are made to the citizens.

"Provide rewards to those loyal to him/her" (19%) and "Follow the guidelines of their political

party" (23%) have been deemed less desiderable options but closer to the local reality ("naša

stvarnost"). Some of the respondents also affirmed that they have choosen these options because

they mirrow what, on the basis of experience, they "really" expect from the leaders of their

community.

6. VALUES

6.1 Self identification with character from "True of myself" to "Not at all true of myself" Participant were asked to what extent they self-identify with 10 different personalized

characteristics:

"From 1 (not similar) to 6 (very similar) can you tell me how similar do you think this person is to you?"

Graphic 13. Leadership expectations

78%

72%

72%

71%

50%

48%

24%

23%

19%

7%

73%

f)Act in a transparent way

a) Strictly follow the legislation governing his/her mandate

h)Provide for the poor

j) Redistribute public budgets to reduce inequalities

b) Adhere to the rules of the community

c) Provide goods and services to all citizens

i) Make sure harmony prevails in the community

e) Protect members of the community from intrusion from outsideinfluences

g) Follow the guidelines from their political parties

d) Provide rewards to those loyal to him/her

k) Other

35

Below we report detailed results for each character but an overall analysis shows that a high

percentage (48%) of the respondents think they are autonomous and try to not ask for other people

help. The other 52% expressed at different extents that they rely on others' support or help which is

consistent with the importance of social resources to reach individual scopes alredy mentioned in

this report.

43% considered that they respect the rules to convey order in society. 57% expressed (in

different degrees) that they have also proclivity to break the rules. Comments of respondents to this

answer referred to the not always overlapping legal rules and moral ones.

38% of the respondents think that tradition should be respected and 32% that the younger

generations should listen the advices of the elders.

Religion is not considered particularly valuable for the respondents. Only 10% acknowledged the

important element in social life. 38% of the respondents considered not acceptable of themselves

practices of discrimination and exclusions of the strangers from the community.

To have an intense social life in the domestic space is true for the 23% of the respondents while

28% considers this slightly true for themselves due to the scarce material and time resources they

have. Being loyal to superior or boss is not considered of fundamental importance by the

participants to the survey (only 10% considered this "true of themselves"). Reticence about

expressing feelings in public as not to appear egocentric is true for only the 8% of the respondents.

Avoiding to show their own economic standard in public to avoid jealousy, has been considered

true for the 14% of people. The majority of people considered this not true of themselves beacause

their economic standard is not so good and would not inspire others' jealousy.

Character a.

"He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as

possible".

Character b.

He would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society

Graphic 14. Autonomous individual (%)

5%9%

19%13%

48%

6%

1 2 3 4 5 6

36

Character c.

He thinks that traditions must be respected because they make up one person´s culture.

Character d.

He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from elderly

people

Character e.


regularly.

Graphic 15. Follows rules and belive in orders (%)

4% 7%

17%21%

43%

8%

1 2 3 4 5 6

Graphic 16. Respects tradition (%)

3%

15%18% 19%

38%

7%

1 2 3 4 5 6

Graphic 17. Youth should listen to advice of elders (%)

3%

17%

22%

16%

32%

10%

1 2 3 4 5 6

37

Character f.


want so

Character g.

His house is often visited by guests and he has an intense social life

Character h.

He thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue

Graphic 19. Strangers should not be accepted in community (%)38%

12% 11%7% 6%

26%

1 2 3 4 5 6

Graphic 20. Has guests and intense social life (%)

12%

28%

16%14%

23%

7%

1 2 3 4 5 6

Graphic 21. Importance of being loyal to superior or boss (%)

19%

23%

17%

12%10%

19%

Graphic 18. Is very religious because religion brings people together in community (%)

21%

28%

7%

13%10%

21%

1 2 3 4 5 6

38

Character i.

He will try not to show his true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish or egocentric

Character j.

He prefers not to show to others his economic standards of living to avoid jealousy

6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is most appropriate to you The participant to the survey were asked to: "Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you"

Graphic 22. Will not express feelings in public as does not wish to appear selfish or egocentric (%)

23%

28%

7%

13%

8%

21%

1 2 3 4 5 6

Graphic 23. Does not show economic standard to avoid jealousy (%)

19%22%

15%13% 14%

17%

1 2 3 4 5 6

39

As the graph shows the prevalent answers highlight quite opposite solutions for improving

living conditions. The most popular one expresses self-confidence in citizens to improve living

conditions. (44%) This is followed by the "only those in power can improve our living

conditions" that, indeed, entail no hope for bottom-up initiatives.

6.3 Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you "Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you"

As the graph shows quite the half of the respondents declared to do all their best to help the

community in which they live. 30% of the respondents choose as most important to them the

statement "to do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves" .

The less popular option has been "to do what I can to improve things according to the indications of

Graphic 24. Most appropriate statement (%)

44%

15%

14%

27%

Only our community as astrong group can improve

living conditions

Only those in power canimprove our living conditions

Living conditions can bechanged mainly through my

actions

No matter what my actionsare our conditions will not

improve easily

Graphic 25. Most important statement (%)

16%

7%

47%

30%

to do all my best to help thecommunity in which I live

to do all my best to improveonly the life of my family,


to do what I can to improvemy living standards, this will

help to change things aseveryone will do his best too

to do what I can to improvethings according to the

indications of those whoadminister the country

40

those who administer the country" that reflects the low degree of trust respondents have in

administrative institutions and in their work for the public well being (see paragraph 4.5)

Conclusion

The report is focused on corruption practices focused on Insitutional performances and social values

in the cities of Sarajevo and Easten Sarajevo (Istočno Sarajevo). The fieldwork activity in this first

part of the ethnographic reseach about corruption in BiH, consisted in a survey on this topic

submitted to 100 respondents. The target group and the fieldwork area has not been delimited by

ethnical principles but has taken into consideration the space (present and past) of insitutional

experience of the respondents which, during the war, were in large part displaced in different

neighbourhoods of the Sarajevo area.

Fieldwork activity begun in a very stimulating conjuncture of steet protests caused by high level of

political corruption in the country.

The actuality of the issue make not difficult to talk with respondents about corruption in public

places. Research was carried out in a very complex context for the number of subjects a (national,

international, governative, non governative) and processes (war dynamic, democratization,

transition, privatization, globalization etc..).

Survey and participant observation thus became an occasion to explore in depth behaviours and

social values etrenched with practices of corruption in this changing context.

It should be pinted out that participant observation did no imply the direct observation of corruptive

practices but the observation of behaviours and moral evaluations of customs (proper or others') that

legitimate, shape or condemn corruption practices.

Although a modest amount of interviews with NGOs and other civil society organization

spokenpersons have been carried out in this phase, this report focus mainly on result of survey and

participant observation with people who do not have any insitutional functions. The target group

was identified manly in people in the working age, though a limited amount of retired and students

was included. It resulted that participants presented an high level of education even if some of them

were marked by downward socio-economic mobility .

The respondents were generally asked to evaluate insitutions and the service they provided with

reference to the effect on their community public good.

Answering to the question respondents made reference to a ethnically neutral community made of

people living on the same territorial unit (Municipality or local community). The evaluation of

institutions importance was also made on the basis of the need to solve practical everyday problems

that resulted in Municipality as the most important insitution followed by police and healthcare

providers.

41

Results of the survey also showed that respondents do not have neither experience nor trust in

insitutions placed at higher level of the very fragmented BiH insitutional architecture (State, Entity,

Canton, Town). The very stratified administrative structure led people dealing with insitutions that

are placed at higher level only if they cannot avoid it. Furthermore, people prefer to ask and get the

needed service at the lower level that is the Municipality also because procedures to get a service

from institutions at the Entity, Canton, State level imply more bureaucracy and last longer.

With reference the these specific insitutions perceived as higly politicized, some respondents

highlighted that service are not asked because of a lack of trust determined by poor quality of the

service received in the past or by insitutions unwillingness to provide services to people who have

not personal knowledge of functionaries or do not dispose of sum of money to pay the functionary.

To this regard, it emerges that the respondents perceived corruption as the most important problem

in their community to which are connected a set of other burning problems (unemployment, bribes,

unefficiency of insitutions, bad economic politics, ecologic crisis, etc..)

Particularly interesting resulted the explanation of a specific type of corruption defined ""partitical

corruption (partijska korupcija) that "acts at the lower levels of insitutional life". In this kind of

local corruption, political parties control insitutions and material resources of which they can

dispose. Partitical corruption seems to have a transethnic dynamic and to move around the control

of insitutional and scarce economic resources especially cash money. The appointment of people

linked to the party in key institutions is a the bases of the fight among parties even if they represent

the same ethnic or ethnonationalist group.

On the bases of these considerations, we registered a review of the identidìfication of public

officiers intended by the respondents in its originary menaning of "as person who works for the

common good". This figure does not necessarily overlap with a person working in public

institutions.

Another consequence of the low level of trust in insitutions controlled by political parties is the

higher level of trust is placed in private health centres perceived as more depoliticizes and thus

more efficient.

In general a very low level of trust was shown in political initiatives for change taken within the

existing local insitutions. Citizens by themselves are considered the subject able to promote the

common wellbeing and the other viable option is indicated in a reformed State. Here an explicit

reference has been made by respondents to the need of reforming the Dayton constitution and to

assign the responsibility of the key administrative sectors to the State and not to the Entities. The

constitutional structure designed at Dayton has been often blamed as a cause of fragmentation,

political conflictuality and unefficiency of the State in a country with a prevalence of ethno-

42

nationalist parties (see also paragraph 4.2). In some of the respondents' opinion, the role of the State

as last and superpartes level of governing structure, distant from the micro-local context could

assure more equal and efficient policies. Another of the superpartes insitutions, whose role is

anyway debated, is EU.

In our survey International insititutions and donor organizations, did not deserve a consistently

higher level of trust by the participants in or survey. The same can be said for the non

governamental associations. Illicit appropriations of humanitarian aids and development funds by

local politicians seemed to have rised doubts also about the morality and legality of some of the

their international or local partners.

Survey highlighted a very neat domain of illegal and morally unacceptable pratices labelled as

corruption (korupcija). A term that is often referred to others' actions, usually to political elites'

abuse of power that is considered at the grassroots of social inequality in BiH.

Indeed, section about social norms and values showed that, i f corruption ("korupcija") deserved

moral condamnations as it was often referred to elites, concept of "connections" "relations" ("štele

" or "veze") to get priviledged access to resources or services was used by respondents in a more

nuanced way and referred also to their own experience with institutions. Notwithstanding it was

neither imbued with moral condamnation nor by completely legitimation. The widespred attitued

was justification.

Moral justification often was provided by the gap between an exemplar (not necessarily legal)

behaviour respondents are aware of, and "practice" often shaped by hardship of the socio-economic

context.

Although legal means are known to respondents and also experienced, the mobilization of social

capital established and mantained also by gift giving practice is often deemed a more valuable

resource in resolving issues charged with emotional value or in satisfying basic needs like jobs,

healthcare or housing.

To bribe public institutions to get services or opportunitieshas been often justified on the basis of

cultural concept of "necessity" or with the absence of alternatives practices. The role of money in

this system of values is controversial. In situations considered particularly important, it can be used

to fuel access to resources and be considered an investment for an improvment of an otherwise bad

living standard. In other situation the use of money can be morally condamned because Giving

money, considered a scarce resource, is then condemned as way to fuel the corruptive system and

social and economic inequalities between political elite and common citizens.

1


GLOBAL TRENDS AND EUROPEAN RESPONSES TO THE CHALLENGE OF

CORRUPTION


WP4 SURVEY


HUNGARY

PROF. DAVIDE TORSELLO

COORDINATOR

Davide Torsello

RESEARCHER

BERGAMO, 2014

2

Contents

INTRODUCTION




3.2 Public officers

3.3 Trust in institutions


4. LOCAL ISSUES





4.5 Practices against good-society

4.6 Statement: "Public sector officials who provide services to my community do not

act the way they should"


5. SOCIAL NORMS


5.2 Statement: "Gift-giving is related to better treatment/service"


5.4 Agreement/Disagreement with different scenarios

6. VALUES

6.1 Self-identification with character, from "not similar" to very similar"

6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you

6.3 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most important to you

CONCLUSIONS

3

Introduction

The following report is based on data collected during ethnographic fieldwork, as a

part of the ANTICORRP project, Work Package 4 - The Ethnography of Corruption. In

particular, it deals with the results of a survey conducted in Hungary on a small sample of

103 inhabitants of the city of Budapest.

The aim of the survey is to collect information on how different areas of the public

and private life are perceived by the respondents, and in particular: public institutions, local

development, local customs, and values. The main focus of the questions is to investigate

how people deal with the problem of corruption (if perceived at all), its effects, practices,

social and cultural norms, as well as with the anti-corruption discourse, both at a local and

national level. It is important to stress that the word "corruption" itself is not directly used in

the survey, with one exception in section D, where it is used to address one of a series of

hypothetical scenarios. Avoiding direct references to corruption as a phenomenon was a

choice based on the awareness that corruption itself is hard to define and to frame, since it

consists of multiple practices not always perceived as fraudulent or illegal, which are not

necessarily fitting the social understanding of object corruption. Using a word that has such

strong moral and social implications in the public discourse would have possibly influenced

the results of the survey, and make the respondent feel at unease or bias their responses when

dealing with such matters.

The survey target has been the ordinary residents in the above mentioned cities, in an

attempt to give a bottom-up perspective of the relationship between the citizen and the

institutions at multiple levels (from local to nations and supranational), as well as to underline

how the citizens relate to such institutions in matter of social trust and ability to interact with

them.

The survey is aimed at providing comparable data among the countries it has been

conducted in, in the scope of the WP4 research. Therefore it serves the purpose of providing

information which could be used in a wider, comparative framework.

4

2. Methodology, sampling and field

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the results of this survey were obtained with

a sample of 103 respondents, living in the city of Budapest.

The questionnaire was translated into Hungarian from the original in English, with

only minor changes to adapt it to the Hungarian political and institutional reality. The

preliminary indications on how to select the respondents was to provide only one survey per

household and that the surveyed should be male/female in working age, between 18-65 years

old.

The research has been conducted in March 2014. The methodologies which have been

majorly used were the hand-to-hand distribution, inviting respondents to get in contact with

relatives and friends who might have applied to our research sample, so to create a network

of self perpetrating survey circulation; and the collection via email and social networks, given

the fact that the survey in this case has never been published on any platform, but was rather

compiled by respondents who were subsequently involved through a snowballing method. As

a consequence of such an approach, a face-to-face relation between respondents and

researchers hasn't always been possible.

Having chosen Budapest as sample city was due to multiple factors.

First, the accessibility of the area by the researchers who have conducted the surveys.

Second, a pre-existent network of acquaintances, which in both cases facilitated the starting

up of the distribution and collection process.

Budapest - (Pest District)

• Population: ~1.700.000 inhabitants (Pest District ~ 2.1 Mio)

• Capital of Hungary and of the homonymous autonomous Province

• Economy: most prosperous and productive district in the country, and under

socialism, received a number of EU structural funds projects on infrastructures,

current recession.

• Political stability granted through common right-wing orientation of municipalities,

but ongoing restructuring

• Frequent media campaigns against corruption, ambivalent position of local

governments

• Some sectors are more sensitive to corruption, depending also on the degree of

infrastructural investment

5

As summarized by Table 1, the sample is constituted as follows:

Number of people surveyed: 103

• Gender: 51 males, 52 females

• Age: the most represented age group is that of people between 25 and 35 years (31%),

followed by 35-45 and 55-65 (both 22,3%), 45-55 (14,5%), 15-25 (6,8%) and finally

and over 65 years old (3,1%).

• Education level: the majority of the respondents claimed to have a university degree,

either BA, MA or PhD (34%). The rest of the surveyed sample has a high school

degree (26.2%), middle school (29.1%), technical degree (7.8%). None of the

respondent have obtained a primary school degree only, while 3.8% didn't indicate

their level of schooling.

• Occupation: the answers to this question were various and somewhat hard to

categorize. We have divided the provided information into the following subgroups:

public sector employee; private sector employee; occupation that requires expertise -

both as employed or freelance - including doctors, lawyers, accountants and

university professors, when it was not possible to determine whether in the public or

private sectors; self-employed or freelance (i.e. journalists, photographers,

consultants, workers in the fields of advertisement and communication); employed

(mostly commerce and retail); business - large scale entrepreneurs; housewives;

students; retired and unemployed.

Gender

Male 51

Female 52

Age

15-25 7

25-35 32

35-45 23

45-55 15

55-65 23

65 + 3

Education level

Primary 0

Middle school 30

High school 27

College/University 24

6

Technical 8

n/a 4

Occupation

Public sector employee 12

Private sector employee 5

Workers in the private sector (commerce, retail, etc) 17

Housewife 2


and so on) 26

Retired 11

Self-employed or free-lance (consultants, journalists,

advertisement...) 5

Student 5

Unemployed 5

Business -- large scale entrepreneur 10

n/a 5

Table 1 Sample

Access to sample.

3. Local institutions

The first part of the survey was supposed to investigate how people relate to different

kinds of institutions, both at a local and national level, and how do they evaluate their

importance for the society they live in.


The first question was

"Do these institutions play an important role in promoting the general

well being of your community?"

7

Respondents were given a list of institutions and were asked to rate them either as not

important ‒ fairly important ‒ very important.

The proposed institutions were:

Local Government

Region

Ruling Parties

Opposition Parties

Health Centres

Religious Institutions

Police

Local Associations

NGO's

International Funding Associations

EU

Other

Results are indicated in the following figure

12 10

21

50

2

61

5

28

45

71

4754

17

52

43

28 30

47

56

48

29

44

1

33

5

29

9

73

9

51

15

71

10

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Who do you think could help to improve the

general wellbeing of your community?

not important fairly important very important

Figure 1 Who do you think could help to improve the general wellbeing of your community?

8

It is important to note that not all the respondents indicated values for every provided

choice, some of them just evaluated those institutions that were relevant for them, though

these were very few cases.

The institutions which were recognized as being not important for the improvement of

the well-being of a community were international funding associations (71), religious

institutions (61) and opposition parties (50).

Fairly important were considered to be local associations (56), the local government

(54) and the ruling parties (52). The local government was also among the three institutions

that were indicated as the most important ones, with 33 votes, together with health services

(which obtained a striking 73 votes) and police (51).

Two respondents also designated other institutions as being potentially either fairly or

very important for the well-being, the neighbourhood watch and the civil guard.

I could be maintained that the inhabitants of Budapest consider those institutions

which are closer to them, and with which they possibly interact more often, to be those

having the highest potential in improving the status of the community they live in, while they

seem to think that those which are farther or deal with more "abstract" problems, like

religion, are less keen on dealing positively with everyday life problems.

3.2 Public officials

The second question of this section was aimed at understanding what kind of

institutional figures do people perceive as being public officials.

"Please select among the following working categories, those that

according to your understanding apply to public official".

This prompt is particularly important if we take into account the commonly accepted

definition of corruption as the "abuse of a public office for personal gain". Individuating a

9

working category as public officer, or not, kind of preselects the perception of possible

fraudulent actions and corruption attempts.

The given options were:

Municipality employee

Policemen


State university professor

Private doctor

Journalist

NGO Activist

Priest

Lawyer

Manager

As it can be seen from the figure below, Municipality Employees (95), Policemen

(77) and State school teachers (53) all scored above the average, which means that more than

half of the surveyed people considers them to be public officials. Compared to the other

remaining figures, also State University Professors ranked pretty high, with 39 votes.

95

77

53

39

3 30

37

00

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Who represents a public official?

Figure 2 Who represents a public official?

10

3.3 Trust in Institutions

Trust is a very important component of the relationship between citizens and the

institutions. It is implied that those institutions that are more trusted in, tend indeed to provide

better services, based on some kind of "positive social pressure". On the other hand, countries

that have a low levels social trust, tend to develop negative values such as envy, cynicism and

pessimism, which in the end lead to the increase of the so called "personalized trust" (Uslaner

2002), which implies that people only trust close friends and family members and distrust the

people outside those circles.

Attempting the evaluation of such a complex phenomenon, which includes a series of

historical, social, cultural and economic variables, with one survey question can be

considered risky and not representative of the reality. Nevertheless we have tried to at least

obtain an impression of how people relate to different areas of the institutions they (almost)

daily find themselves confronted with.

The prompt was

"How much do you trust the following institutions"

were the surveyed people were asked to rate each option with a number from 1 (lowest) to 5

(highest).

In the Hungarian survey, the provided options were:

City council

Government

Local Government

Religious Institutions

Magistrature

Police

State Doctors

Private Doctors

Eu Info Centers

State Schools

Tax Office

Local Associations


Media

EU

11

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Trust in Institutions 1-5 (absolute)

1 2 3 4 5

Results are revealed in two different figures. The first one shows the average rates

gained by each institution, the second one the absolute scores. As in the question about well-

being providers, not all respondents rated each given option.

If we look at the average scores obtained by each option, we can notice that State

Schools are the institution to be mostly trusted in, with an average of 4 out of 5. State Doctors

and EU Info Centers also obtained high scores, having totalized respectively 3,6 and 3,5.

Media, EU and the Government all got scores lower than 3, though only Media obtained less

than the average of 2,5, that is 2.

3.1

2.6

3.23 3.1 3.1

3.6 3.5

4

33.3

3

2

2.6

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Trust in Institutions 1-5 (average)

Figure 3 Trust in Institutions 1-5 (average)

Figure 4 Trust in institutions 1-5 (absolute)

12

If we look at the absolute results, we can see the internal differences among the single

institutions. Maximum scores are generally pretty low, with a single peak of 29 choices in the

case of State Schools. Scores between 3 and 4 have been mostly given to all proposed

options, apart from Media.


As mentioned in the previous paragraph, trust in institutions might be influenced by

the interactions occurred between the service providers and the citizens. It can be implied that

having received a good service could increase levels of trust, as well as the opposite.

Respondents were asked to rate their experience with different institution with which

they had to deal recently. The question was:

“With which of the following institutions have you or members of your

family recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service”

The possible choices were very similar to those of the previous question: in the Italian

survey, the provided options were:

City Council

Region

Church

Magistrature

Police

EU Services

State Schools

Tax office

Local Associations


13

People were asked to state whether they had received a good service or a bad service

and eventually motivate their choice. Assuming that not all the respondents had to deal with

each institution in the latest period, the figure is related to those who have provided answers.

According to the given answers, Health Centres provided the highest amount of good

services (28), as well as the highest amount of bad services (19). Reasons for good services

were mainly effective treatments, successful surgeries, personnel being understanding and

kind, services being slow but mindful. Bad services included too long waiting lists; doctors

not being able to give a diagnosis; outdated tools; lack of preparation of the doctors/nurses;

marketing of unnecessary products. Many of the respondents who indicated having had a

good experience, though, also noted down that bad experiences have occurred as well.

The City Council also proved to have provided a high number of good services, as

well as of bad services. In the first case, reasons were: the local government supports the poor

and the retired people; accurate, polite, fast, positive responses; the administrators are slow,

but helpful and kind; open minded and pro-active; supporting those in need. Bad services

were motivated as following: procedures are kind, but redundant; impossible to get an

appointment in office hours for a whole year; land expropriation; withdrawal of subsidy;

privatization; slow services.

19

6

1311 10

28

14

8 8

1

14

53

1316

19

8

12

3 4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Experience with Institutions

Good Service Bad Service

Figure 5 Experience with Institutions

14

Answer related to other institutions mainly dealt with personal experiences and, when

relevant, with the service being too slow or fast enough. It is worth to be noted that in two

cases, as a matter for dissatisfaction, "corruption" has been indicated as the reason, once for

what concerns Police and once for Tax Offices.

15

4. Local Issues

The second section of the survey was aimed at investigating how the respondents



service.


The first question of the section required the respondents to list three main problems

encountered in the city of residence, in an open format:

“What in your view are the most serious problems in your

community? List at least three starting from the most important."

34

26

17

5

43

12

2118

11

22

64

84

23

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Problems in the community

Figure 6 Problems in the community

16

The provided answers were various and required further categorization for easier data

analysis. Proposed categories are: Unemployment, including no jobs opportunities and

expatriating young people; Inflation, including high taxes and low wages; Economic Crisis;

Education; Security; Transport/Infrastructures; Health; Environment; Corruption/Clientelism;

Values, as well as apathy, distrust, etc.; Culture; Bureaucracy; Inadequacy of services and

resources; Lack of competence; Other, and in particular: homelessness, legal uncertainty, low

birthrates, insecurity, lack of equal treatment, stress, politics and bad working conditions.

The most relevant problem in Budapest seems to be Security, which was mentioned

43 times. Among the answers, it shall be specified that many people referred to the "Romani

problem" and in general to "Gypsies". Unemployment (34) and Inflation (26) were the second

and third most mentioned problems, which together with Economic Crisis (17) actually make

77 total references to problems related to economy and perceived (low) life standards.

17

4.2 Ability to obtain services from Institutions relying exclusively on own

means


the scope of the ability of the respondents in obtaining services with their own means. The

accessibility to information and the knowledge of the different procedures supposedly play an

important role in the way people relate to institutions, some of which may require additional

expertise in the understanding of how they work.

Prompt:

“With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you

are not able to settle a matter/obtain a service with your own

resources?”

Options were:

Municipality

Province

Region

Church

Magistrature


Public Schools

Tax office


18

Respondents indicated Magistrature as the institutions that they consider the most

problematic to deal with, followed by Police Forces. Moreover, inhabitants of Budapest

consider also the City Council, Tax Office, National Hospital/EU Info and International

Funding Associations to be relatively difficult to deal with, with one's own means.

The Institutions which seem to pose little to no problems are State Schools, Religious

Institutions and Local Associations, which are most likely those where no specific knowledge

or preparation are required, as well as those that citizens likely deal most often with.

19

3

26

22

18

6

19

2

17

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Non-ability to obtain services with own

means

Figure 7 Non ability to obtain services with own means

19


The following question was conceived as a consequence of the previous one. Once the

respondents had individuated those institutions they find it hard to deal with, it was asked to

them what would they advise to a third person as a possible solution to obtain the desired

service.

“How would you advice a person who can’t successfully deal with

institutions to resolve his problem?” (More than one answer

possible):





Pay a fee

Give a small gift




Don’t know

40

31

43

13

6

53

58

1215

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

intervention

from a

friend

intervention

from a

relative

intervention

from an

important

person

pay a fee give a small

gift

denounce

the

disservice

try several

times

avoid

dealing with

institution

don’t know


Figure 8 Preferred problem resolution techniques

20

The most preferred options were "try several times until I get a good result" (58) and

"denounce the disservice to the competent authorities" (53), which stress a relative trust in

institutions and the belief that even in case of encountered problems, a solution might be

available.

The second set of options which gained the most votes was that which individuated

personal relations - either formal and informal - as a way to obtain a service, in particular:

Ask for intervention from an important person: 43 votes

Ask for intervention from a friend: 40 votes

Ask for intervention from a relative: 31 votes

Following are "pay a fee" (13) and "avoid dealing with the institution" (12), chosen by

a relatively small amount of people. Moreover, "give a small gift" received only 6

preferences, which might imply that people usually don't see "petty corruption" as the most

preferable way to obtain a service which should be granted anyway. It could also be

maintained that the single person is rarely the first one to start the process which leads to

corruptive practices, since other options are usually preferred (as reported by the figure).

Giving a gift is probably chosen when no other attempt at dealing with the institution (or with

the single person representing it in that specific case) has been successful, or even when more

or less directly requested.

21


The next question, which aimed at gathering the views of the interviewees about the

institutions that could help improve the general well-being of their society, was worded as

follows:

“Who do you think could help to improve the general well-being of

your community?”

Given options:

UE

Ruling Government Coalition

Opposition Parties

Region

Municipality

Police and Army

Magistrature

Media

Local Organizations



29

77

1015

46

38

13

70

7

26

4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Who do you think could help to improve

the general well-being of your community?

Figure 9 Who do you think could help to improve the general wellbeing of your community?

22

Results show that the Government (77) and the Citizens (70) are considered to be the

those to have more means when it comes to improving the life of a community. Remarkably

two other institutions obtained relatively high scores, that is the City Council and Police.

Among the respondents who chose "Other" as an option, the provided alternatives

(when given) where:

"The church should be given more moral educational role. The school's

education is just not sufficient because society/the real life often overrides the

school's society/regulations. Laws and institutes are just empty frames that are

meaningless unless filled with appropriate material." (survey #44)

civil guard and neighbourhood (surveys #20 and #41)

"each of them, if they did their work competently and reasonably" (survey

#14)

It seems clear that respondents wish that the single citizen serves as first change factor

in improving the well-being of their community, though an increase of self awareness,

respect and responsibility towards the public affairs, most likely following the directives

provided by the Government.

23


Question number 15 was aimed at obtaining the views of survey participants about the some


“In general which of the following practices are, in your opinion,

spoiling the good development of a society?” (Multiple choices

possible).


Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve

them



Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public

construction bids





8176

5852

76

6165

75

87

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Buying votes

during

elections

Giving jobs

to friends or

relatives

instead of

people who

deserve them

Bringing gifts

to obtain

access to

health

services

Bringing gifts

to be

accepted at a

good school

Exchanging

confidential

information

to get tenders

and public

construction

bids

Paying fees

to have

documents

sorted out

quickly

Convincing

journalists not

to publish

sensitive

articles

Using

scandals to

get rid of

political

opponents

Using

development

funds for

private

purposes

Practices spoiling the good development of a

society

Figure 10 Practices spoiling the good development of a society

24

This question posed the problem of what could be considered as an potentially

damaging issue for the development of a community. All the hypothetical practices proposed

are potentially harmful for the good development of a society, and results show that basically

all of them are perceived as such.

The top four practices to be considered mostly detrimental were:

Using development funds for private purposes (87)

Buying votes during elections (81)

Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them (76)

Exchange confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids (76)

The two practices which obtained less votes where

Bringing gifts to obtain access to health services (58)

Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school (52)

Results show some general similarities with the data provided by question number 11

(see paragraph 4.3 "Preferred solution techniques"), where most people maintained they

would not give gifts to obtain better services. In this case, though, it could be implied that

although giving a gift is not a preferred way to obtain services, this practice is not considered

to be very detrimental, probably due to customary reasons.

25

4.6 Statement: “public sector officials who provide services to my community

do not act the way they should”

As related to the previous questions, respondents have been asked to state whether the

public officials' actions conform to the expectations. The question was worded as follows:

In your experience how true is the following statement: “public sector

officials who provide services to my community do not act the way

they should”

a) Not true b) Rarely true c) Occasionally true

d) Often true e) Always true

Not True

0%

Rarely

True

9%

Occasionally True

42%

Often True

43%

Always True

6%

Statement: "public sector officials who provide

services to my community do not act the way

they should"

Figure 11 Statement: " public sector officials who provide services to my community do not act the way they should"

26

Altogether 85% of the respondents considered the statement to be either "occasionally

true" or "often true", demonstrating that they highly distrust the actions of public officials.

None of the surveyed people claimed that the statement was not true, while 9% thought it is

rarely true and 6% considered it to be always true.



they had the means to eventually express their dissatisfaction about the services provided:

"Do you feel you have the means to express dissatisfaction when the

services provided by your local practitioner/service provider are not

appropriate? If yes, what are they?"

8

8

5

7

1

3

43

Yes, but they're useless

General Claim

Claim to consumer protection/customer service

Complaint to Authorities

Media

Other/Don't know

No

Do you think you have means to express your

dissatisfaction?

Figure 12 Do you think you have means to express your dissatisfaction?

27

Most of the surveyed people who provided an answer to this question stated that they

didn't think they have means to express their dissatisfaction when a service doesn't meet their

expectations. 8 people stated that some means exist, but they're useless. Among them, in

particular, one respondent wrote " yes, but without connections, it's futile" (survey #61).

Other inhabitants of Budapest would apply to authorities (6,7%), to consumer

protection/customer services, or would set a general claim (both 7,7%).

In general, these results show a high level of distrust in the ability of the authority to

protect the citizens' interests.

28

5. Social Norms

The following section of the survey was aimed at having a deeper look into what the

respondents consider to be positive social norms and how to they rely to them.


Participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of customs

below on the scale of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very important”.

“In your community, how important is to:














Spend time with friends outside the home"

29

Figure 13 Importance of customs

In general, answers appeared to be mostly concentrated on average values, that is for

all the provided customs, people mainly chose the "fairly important" option, although with

major differences among customs.

"Not important" customs were:

Reciprocate received gifts in same value (73)

Reciprocate received gifts in time (55)

Be cautious when talking of politics in public (49)

"Fairly important" customs were:

Keep a secret not to harm another person even if this is not legal (68)

Know who is the best person to ask a favor to (50)

Avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficient (50)

"Very important" customs were:

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80












Keep a secret not to harm another person even if…



Importance of customs


30

Protect a person if I am in the position to do it (63)

Spend time with friends outside the home (61)

Provide hospitality to guests (57)

31

5.2 Statement: "Gift giving is related to better treatment/service"

The following two questions were asked in order to get a better understanding of how

people perceive different modes of personal relations to public officials. The first question

was about gift giving and was phrased as follows:


bond where people know they will receive better treatment/service

next time they visit the clinic/office?”

Respondents were given 5 options:

1) Strongly disagree

2) Quite disagree

3) Neutral

4) Fairly agree

5) Totally agree

Results are shown by the following figure:

Figure 14 Statement: "Gift giving is related to better treatment/service"

strongly disagree

32%

quite disagree

1%neutral

2%

fairly agree

65%

totally agree

0%

Statement: "Gift giving is related to better

treatment/service"

32

The great majority of the respondents (65%) claimed to fairly agree with the

statement, while none of them totally agreed. A very small amount of the surveyed people

(3%) all together) claimed to either be neutral or quite disagree. On the other hand, 32% of

the inhabitants of Budapest strongly disagreed with the statement, in accordance with the

answer given at paragraph 4.3 about gift giving, where it had been considered as the least

favorite way to get access to benefits.

33


The other case question is not about gifts, but about the link between personal

relations with the institutions and the quality of the provided services. Question has been

stated in the survey as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the

services obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal

relationship with the service provider?”

Figure 15 Statement: "personal relations affect quality of service"

As for the previous question, we can see that the great majority of the respondents

fairly agreed with the statement (72%), although in this case we have a higher percentage of

people feeling neutral to it (7%). 20% of the surveyed people, instead, claimed to strongly

disagree with the statement.

strongly disagree

20%quite disagree

1%

neutral

7%

fairly agree

72%

totally agree

0%

Statement: "Personal relations affect quality

of service"

34




survey.

The given prompt was:

“The following stories have happened in other countries in the world.

Please indicate if you would in principle agree with the behavior of

the characters”

The participants have been asked rate the scenarios, according to how they felt about

them, on the scale of “Strongly disagree”, "Quite disagree", “Disagree”, “Quite agree”,

“Agree”, “Strongly agree”.

Story A.


hard-working and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift

from citizens to sort out problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all

by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people avoid

him.

strongly

disagree

16%

quite disagree

20%

disagree

17%

quite agree

13%

agree

17%

strongly

agree

17%

Story A.

Figure 16 Story A.

35

The rates given by the respondents are somehow difficult to interpret, since the

percentages are quite homogeneous. What could be implied is that the hypothetic scenario is

itself controversial and respondents have found it hard to either agree or disagree with it.

Story B.



because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and

corruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him for

what he has done to them.

Also in this case results are controversial and difficult to analyze. As it can be noted,

rates are quite homogeneous, although there was a slight majority of people claiming to

somewhat disagree with the scenario (a total of 55% vs 45% of people generally agreeing).

strongly

disagree

13%

quite disagree

17%

disagree

25%

quite agree

23%

agree

9%

strongly

agree

13%

Story B.

Figure 17 Story B.

36

Story C.


procedure is and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult

and they realize they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person.

They decide to leave the village and look for another, where things are going according to

the rules.

When asked to rate this scenario, 28% of the respondents claimed to "strongly agree"

with it, 22% of them "agree" and 19% "quite agree", for a total of 69% of people being in

accordance with the decision made by the hypothetic family to leave the "corrupt village" for

another, where things run the way they should. These results are once again in line with those

for question at par. 4.3, where "paying a fee" was one the solution options to have scored the

least. That proves that, in general, people tend to avoid paying bribes when a second option is

available.

strongly

disagree

8%quite disagree

8%

disagree

15%

quite agree

19%agree

22%

strongly agree

28%

Story C.

Figure 18 Story C.

37

Story D.

He has a small business in preparing sandwiches which he sells to local schools. Last


Unfortunately the school head has changed this year and his contract has expired. Before

applying for the next tender he looks for an influential person who will introduce him the new

school head.

This scenario also proved to provide controversial results, though in accordance with

what stated in paragraph 4.3, where looking for intervention from a relative/friend/important

person appeared to be commonly accepted practices. A slight majority of the respondents

(51%) claimed anyway to somewhat disagree with the scenario.

strongly

disagree

13% quite disagree

10%

disagree

28%quite agree

19%

agree

19%

strongly

agree

11%

Story D.

Figure 19 Story D.

38

Story E.

She runs a local Ngo for human rights protection. She is very active and well

established in the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an

international donor last year so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In

the end she failed because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the

money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper agreement with them

first.

Also in this case we have a slight majority of respondents claiming not to be in

accordance with the scenario (68% all together) and therefore thinking that giving a share to a

politician in order to get access to funds would not be a morally acceptable option.

Nevertheless 17% of the surveyed people stated they "fairly agree", 15% "agree" and 10%

"strongly agree", for a total of 42% of the sample.

strongly disagree

24%

quite disagree

9%

disagree

25%

quite agree

17%

agree

15%

strongly

agree

10%

Story E.

Figure 20 Story E.

39

6. Values

6.1 Self-identification with character from “Not similar” to “Very similar”

In the survey, we have tried to understand how the participants relate themselves

some values through gauging their association with a list of statements.

A Five-scale tool involving the following options was used in evaluating portrayals of

each hypothetical character: “Not similar”, “Quite dissimilar”, “A little dissimilar”, “A little

similar”, “Quite similar” and "Very similar".


"How similar to yourself is the person described by the following

statements"

Statement A.

He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less

as possible.

40

1513

25

44

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar

Quite similar Very similar

Statement A.

Figure 21 Statement A.

40

As it can be noted, the great majority of the respondents declared to feel either "quite

similar" (44) or "very similar" (25) to the statement, hence they try to live their lives as

autonomous individuals. Four respondents claimed not to feel similar to the statement.

Statement B.

He would not break the rules, because rules are what make order in a society.

Also in this case we have a majority of surveyed people feeling in accordance with the

statement. 23 of them claimed to feel "very similar, 41 "quite similar" and 20 "a little

similar". Overall we can observe a tendency to consider rules as pillars of a society.

13

11

20

41

23

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement B.

Figure 22 Statement B.

41

Statement C.


The surveyed inhabitants of Budapest considered traditions to be important and worth

to be respected: one third of the respondents claimed to feel "very similar" to the proposed

statement, and 31 of them felt to be "quite similar" to it.

1

7

1411

31

37

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement C.

Figure 23 Statement C.

42

Statement D.

He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from

elderly people.

Notably, the great majority of the respondents (75 altogether, which makes 72,8% of

the total), affirmed to feel somewhat similar to the statement.

3

8

14

25

21

29

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement D.

Figure 24 Statement D.

43

Statement E.


regularly.

As already reported in paragraph 3.1, the surveyed inhabitants of Budapest don't seem

to take Religious Institutions into great account, when it comes to their role in improving the

well-being of a society. 45 of the respondents, in accordance to what stated in the above

mentioned paragraph, affirmed not to feel similar to the statement, 21 of them felt to be

"quite dissimilar" and 20 of them "a little dissimilar", making a total of 86 people, 83,5% of

the sample.

45

21 20

52

6

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement E.

Figure 25 Statement E.

44

Statement F.


want so.

The great majority of the respondents claimed not to agree with the statement, which

demonstrates that the respondents are generally well-disposed towards foreigners.

35

19

24

8 75

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement F.

Figure 26 Statement F.

45

Statement G.


This statement has some relations to previous questions related to social life and

hospitality (see i.e. par. 5.1). As earlier claimed, the majority of the respondents (67 people,

65%) seem to give importance to spending time with friends and have an active social life.

87

16

20

26

21

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement G.

Figure 27 Statement G.

46

Statement H.


As it can be seen from the figure above, rates to this statement have been mostly

divided between "a little dissimilar" (27) and "a little similar" (32). Loyalty to one's superior

or boss doesn't seem to be a relevant theme for the surveyed people.

9 10

27

32

16

3

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement H.

Figure 28 Statement H.

47

Statement I.


In this case we had a majority of people feeling somewhat dissimilar to the statement,

in particular: 33 "a little dissimilar", 26 "quite dissimilar" and 18 "not similar", for a total of

77 (74,5%).

18

26

33

7 6 5

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement I.

Figure 29 Statement I.

48

Statement J.


As it can be noticed, the majority of the surveyed inhabitants of Budapest (58,2%)

claimed not to feel similar to the statement, and therefore think that one's economic standard

would not influence other people's perceptions.

12

20

28

16

13

6

Not similar Quite

dissimilar

A little

dissimilar

A little

similar


Statement J.

Figure 30 Statement J.

49


you:

One of the last items in the survey has made the participants choose from the following

statements, the one that mostly apply to them:

Choose from the following list the statement that is the most

appropriate to you

to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my

actions


to believe only our community as a strong group can improve

living conditions

to believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not

improve easily

Two of the proposed statements scored the highest: "to believe living conditions can

be changed mainly through my actions" (49,5%) and "to believe no matter what my actions

are, our conditions will not improve easily" (39,8%), which are quite in contrast with each

51

9

19

41

my living conditions

can be changed mainly

through my actions

only those in power can

improve our living

conditions

only our community as

a strong group can

improve living

conditions

no matter what my

actions are our

conditions will not

improve easily

Which statement is the most appropriate

to you?

Figure 31 Which statement is the most appropriate to you?

50

other. While the first one has a definite positive connotation, the second denotes somehow a

fatalist attitude.


Participants have been asked to choose “the most important” statement for

themselves. Question is as follows:

Choose from the following list the statement that is mostly true to

yourself:


to do all my best to improve only the life of my family,


to do what I can to improve things according to the

indications of those who administer the country

to do what I can to improve my living standards, this will

help to change things as everyone will do his best too

2111

3

80

I do all my best to help

the community in which

I live

I do all my best to

improve only the life of

my family, others will do

by themselves

I do what I can to

improve things

according to the

indications of those who

administer the country

I do what I can to

improve my living

standards, this will help

to change things as

everyone will do his best

too

Which statement is true to yourself?

Figure 32 Which statement is true to yourself?

51

77,6% of the respondents, the great majority, chose "to do what I can to improve my

living standards, this will help to change things as everyone will do his best too" a data which

is somehow in accordance to the results of the previous question.

52

Conclusions

The results of the survey conducted in March 2014 provided valuable information on

trust and experiences with local institutions, as well as serious problems in the community,

the quality of services provided by institutions and access to these services, and social norms

and values in Hungarian municipality of Budapest.

The first section of the survey was aimed at investigating how the respondent relate to

local institutions on the basis of their relationship with them, on trust and on the satisfaction

(or lack of) with the services provided at multiple levels. The Local Government, Health

Centres and Police have proved to be the institutions which are considered to be the most

important when it comes to providing the well-being of a community, on the other hand

Religious Institutions, International Funding Associations and Opposition Parties were

considered to be the least effective in doing so.

When asked about their trust in institutions, surveyed people indicated Media, EU and

the Government as the bodies to be less trustworthy, while State Schools, State Doctors and

Eu Info Centers were those to have collected the highest scores.

Experiences with institutions are also conforming to the results obtained with the first

two questions. In general, it can be maintained that the City Council and Health Centres are

once again considered to be the ones which provide better services. Nevertheless, Health

Centres seemed to also have provided the highest number of "bad experiences", mostly due to

the long waiting lists.

The second section of the survey was intended to investigate how the respondents



service.

First, it was asked what were the most serious problem in the own community. Major

problems were altogether encountered in the Security field, Unemployment and lack of

chances for younger people which are forced to emigrate abroad. Also Inflation and the

Economic Crises appeared to highly perceived problems in Budapest.

53

Secondly, the respondents were asked to state with which local institution they

thought they could not obtain services relying on own means. Magistrature, City Council,

Police and Tax Offices were individuated as he most problematic.

Moreover, as a consequence of the previous question, surveyed people were asked to

indicate a possible solution to obtain the desired service from the above mentioned

institutions. The great majority chose "try several times until I get a good result" and

"denounce the disservice to the competent authorities", pointing out that people are

supposedly ready to stand for their rights and try pursuing a legal conduct when dealing with

institutions.

Surveyed people have also been prompted at indicating which institutions shall have

more means in the improvement of the well-being of their community. Results interestingly

showed that Government and Citizens are considered to be the most important.

A list of hypothetical practices against good society was then proposed to the

respondents, asking them to point out those which were incompatible with the good

development of a society. Although all the possibilities were potentially harmful, results

show that not all of them were actually perceived as such in the same way. It shall be noted

that though "giving gifts" was considered to the least favourite solution technique, in this case

it was considered to be the least detrimental practice to the development of a society. It can

be maintained that, though the respondents wouldn't pick it as a "good solution", they also

don't consider such practices to be negatively affecting the fair development of their

community.

Respondents have also been asked to state how do they relate to the statement "public

sector officials who provide services to my community do not act the way they should".

Altogether 85% of the respondents considered the statement to be either "occasionally true"

or "often true", demonstrating that they highly distrust the actions of public officials and

making it clear that their expectations on how a public service should work are not always

met, or at least that they have the perception that in public offices things don't run the way

they should.


they had the means to eventually express their dissatisfaction about the services provided. 43

interviewees out of the total 103 answered "no", while a small number of people claimed that

means do actually exist, but they're useless.

The third section of the survey was dedicated to social norms and local customs.

54

First, the respondents have been asked to evaluate the importance of the latter from a

given list, on a scale from "not important" to "very important". In Budapest "Protect a person

if I am in the position to do it", "Spending time with friends outside the home" and " Provide

hospitality to guests" seemed to be the most important customs, "Keep a secret not to harm

another person even if this is not legal" was the first among the fairly important ones and "

Reciprocate received gifts in same value" was the least important.

The next two questions were asked in order to get a better understanding of how

people perceive different modes of personal relations to public officials, including gift-

giving. The majority of surveyed people fairly agreed with the statement "gift-giving is

related to a better treatment/service", and also 72% of them fairly agreed with the fact that the

quality of services provided can be influenced by the personal relation to the employees of an

institution.



survey. Respondents have generally reported to disagree with hypotetical corruption practices

and find themselves in accordance with virtuos attitudes.

The last section of the survey was dedicated to values. We have tried to understand

how the participants relate themselves some values through gauging their association with a

list of statements portraying different characters under the explanatory sentence "How similar

to yourself is the person described by the following statements".

Results showed that respondents indentify themselves positively with trying to be as

autonomous as possible, not breaking the rules, respecting traditions and think that younger

people should learn from their elderly. On the other hand, they didn't seem to believe that

religion plays an important role in the society and also that strangers should be not accepted

in a society, if the majority doesn't want them. Surveyed people showed ambivalent feelings

about leading an intense social life and thought not having to show their true (negative)

feelings is not that important. Two statements proved to be particularly problematic, namely

the one about avoiding to show the real economic standards to keep away from envy and

jealousy and being loyal to one's superior. In these cases there was a majority of people

stating to feel either quite similar or quite dissimilar to the statements.

One of the last items in the survey has made the participants choose the one that

mostly apply to them, from two groups of statements. It emerged that the great majority of

them believes that living conditions can be changed mainly through their actions, though also

55

a high number of surveyed people though that to believe no matter what their actions are,

their conditions will not improve, which were somehow in contrast with each other. In

accordance to the first result, they also claimed to do what they can to improve their living

standards, this will help to change things as everyone will do his best too.

1

EU Grant Agreement number: 290529


Project title: Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited

Work Package: WP4, The ethnographic study of corruption practices

Title of deliverable: D4.1) Report on institutional performance and

corruption in the case studies

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE AND SOCIAL VALUES IN RUSSIA

Due date of deliverable: 30.06.2014

UCL contribution actual submission date: 02.04.2014

Author: Elena Denisova-Schmidt

Organization name of lead beneficiary for this deliverable:

Universita' Degli Studi Di Bergamo

Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Seventh FrameworkProgramme

Dissemination Level

PU Public

PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)

RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the CommissionServices)

Co Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the CommissionServices)

2

Content

Content 2

1. Introduction 3-5

2. Local Institutions 6

2.1 Trust in institution 6-8

2.2 Experience with institutions 9-10

3. Local Issues 11

3.1 Serious problems in community 11-12

3.2 Ability to obtain service from institutions relying exclusively on one’sown means

13-14

3.3 Preferred problem resolution techniques 15

3.4 Institutions important for improving social well-being 16

3.5 Practices against good society 17-18

4. Social Norms 19

4.1 Importance of customs 19-20

4.2 Statement: Gift giving for better treatment or service 21

4.3 Statement: Personal relationships affect quality of service 22

4.4 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios 23-28

5. Values 29

5.1 Self-identification with character from ‘True of myself’ to ‘Not at all trueof myself’

29-31

5.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the mostappropriate to you:

32

6. Conclusion 33-34

3

1. Introduction

This report is part of the continuing ethnographic studies on corruption practices in Russiaand presents the results of a survey that was conducted between July and November2013.

The questionnaire was translated into Russian and was adapted slightly after the first fiveinterviews. The interview was time consuming (from 1 to 3 hours)1 and many respondentsbecame tired very quickly; hence, some coffee/tea breaks were integrated whenever it waspossible. The interviews were conducted in different places: at the home or workplace ofan interviewer or interviewee, at a café or in a car during a long drive. Some of thequestions were not interesting from the viewpoint of respondents, such as the questionsabout social norms and values (more comments in the text). Some respondents haddifficulties in scoring the work of public institutions and the government; many of theserespondents were less educated people and/or retirees. Some of the intervieweesbelieved, however, that it is difficult to influence the current situation:

‘Any mentally sane person tries to distance himself from the authorities – it isbetter not to want anything from them, and not to want anything from anyone. Ifthis works out, then it’s good. Then there won’t be any questions to the

authorities well, they are the way they are, but power in principle cannot begood, so we will somehow do without them. The most important thing is to havenobody standing on one’s way.’

The most interesting part of the survey was the evaluation of the different scenarios thattook place in other countries around the world (question 19). Many respondents noted,however, that they wanted to have more details in order to give an adequate evaluation.All of their concerns are described below.

One of the main comments was that the survey questions were formulated to requirespecific a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, ‘good’ or ‘bad’ response, but that there are many in-betweenoptions and ambivalent situations. In the questions pertaining to gifts (questions 17 and18), one respondent emphasized that the causal relationship articulated in these questionsis not necessarily manifested so clearly, and that a gift does not necessarily precede animprovement in services. Sometimes this is so, but often it is not – and very often itdepends on subjective characteristics, such as doctor’s personality:

‘Sometimes you come across such a doctor that it becomes clearly necessary

to find another doctor right away. And sometimes vice versa from the firstappointment, a doctor will treat you in such a great way that it is not evennecessary to ask for anything; and then just out of the warmest gratitude, yougive a present’.

Another respondent had actually bribed a doctor before the interview, and he assumedthat the survey implied that this was bad, but it had to be done for good purposes: toimprove a bad situation. One respondent was invited to become the production director ofa company. He accepted the offer, but when he joined the company, he saw thedepartments, the equipment, the attitude of the general director toward safety issues andother things, and he realized that this company would not last long. He decided to leave itright away during the probationary period, i.e. in the first six months. Nobody wanted to lethim leave. He wrote a letter of resignation and immediately took a sick leave, so theemployer would not spoil his service record and future career. He was granted this sickleave by bribing a doctor. Moreover, this respondent gave gifts to a teacher in order to

1The interviews lasted about one hour if the respondents gave only short answers without any explanations

or comments.

4

enroll both of his children in an enrichment program. Only in this way were his daughtersable to get access to a good teacher and receive preparation for elementary school.

Similar comments can be found for almost all questions, making the codification of theresults very difficult. Later, in some questions, a third category was introduced: ‘yes andno’ or ‘good and bad’., Many of the qualitative results received during interviews wereincorporated in the analysis of the quantitative part of the survey.

The sample encompasses 115 respondents (45% male and 55% female) ages 15 andabove from five different regions: Moscow (22%), St. Petersburg (22%), Yekaterinburg(17%), Novosibirsk (17%) and Khabarovsk (22%) and their suburbs2. The majority of therespondents (76%) have a college degree (Table 1). Higher education is very popularamong the Russian population. Every year almost 80% of all school graduates go on to auniversity, a number that has remained constant since the collapse of the Soviet Union in19913.

Table 1: Basic Characteristics of Survey Area

Gender % n

Male 45 52

Female 55 63

Age

15-25 14 16

25-35 30 35

35-45 30 34

45-55 10 12

55-65 13 15

65 + 3 3

Education level

Primary 0 0

Middle school 3 3

High school 7 7

College 76 87

Technical 18 17

Region

Moscow and surroundings 22 25

St. Petersburg and surroundings 22 25

Yekaterinburg and surroundings 17 20

Novosibirsk and surroundings 17 20

Khabarovsk and surroundings 22 25

Five researchers conducted the interviews face to face: Dr. Anna Ivanova in Moscow, Dr.Irina Matvienko in St. Petersburg, Dr. Elena Denisova-Schmidt in Yekaterinburg, Dr.Svetlana Bratyushchenko in Novosibirsk, and Professor Elvira Leontyeva in Khabarovsk.All of the scholars have professional training and much experience in conducting empiricalstudies. With exception of Elena Denisova-Schmidt, all of the ethnographers live in thesecities, enabling them to get access to different population groups. Elena Denisova-Schmidtis originally from Russia, but does not live in the country anymore; her position as virtuallya foreigner, who is still interested in her fatherland, gave her many benefits: respondents

2Moscow is the capital of Russia with a population with more than 12 million. The population of St.

Petersburg is about 5 million. Yekaterinburg is the biggest city in the Urals with a population of more than 1million. Novosibirsk is the biggest city in Siberia, also with a population of more than 1 million. Khabarovsk issituated in the Russian Far East and has more than 600,000 people. Respondents from towns near thesefive cities were also approached.3

Philip G. Altbach, Gregory Androushchak, Yaroslav Kuzminov, Maria Yudkevich, and Liz Reisberg: ‘TheGlobal Future of Higher Education and the Academic Profession: The Brics and the United States’ (Palgrave,2013).

5

were more than happy to explain to her what is going on in Russia, because she mighthave not the entire picture. One respondent in particular was especially honest inanswering for this very reason. All of the respondents were part of the networks of theinterviewers and/or were approached through the ‘snowball’ technique. It was necessary tostipulate the length of the survey and its topic in advance.

6

2. Local Institutions

2.1 Trust in institution

Trust is one of the most important indicators in the evaluation of institutions. The first setsof questions dealt with institutions, and the first question of this set pertains to trust ininstitutions.

In order to measure trust in institutions, the following question was asked:

‘How much do you trust the following institutions’ (from 1: lowest, to 5: highest trust).

Figure 1: Trust in institutions

The judicial branch seemed to have the lowest trust among survey participants. Similarresults have been shown in the sociological surveys regularly conducted by the LevadaCenter, one of the best-known Russian opinion research institutes: only 10% of theRussian population believes that the Russian judiciary really functions independently(Table 2), and 27% think that ordinary people can expect fair court decisions (Table 3):

Table 2:

Question: ‘Do you think the executive exercises control over the judiciary in yourtown or district?’4

2006 2010

It is fully independent 8% 10%

It is controlled by the Russian government 12% 17%

It is controlled by the local government 18% 20%

It is corrupt and anyone who has money can get a favorable decision in court 37% 34%

Hard to say 31% 27%

N = 1600 respondents

4 http://www.levada.ru/archive/sudebnaya-sistema/kak-vy-schitaete-kontroliruetsya-li-organami-ispolnitelnoi-vlasti-deyateln

2,522,24 2,24 2,37 2,24 2,21 2,3

3,04 2,893,12

2,822,99 2,99

2,41

7

Table 3:

Question: ‘Can an ordinary person in Russia expect a fair court?’

2006 2007 2009 2011 2013

yes 4% 3% 3% 5% 2%

rather yes 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%

rather no 39% 40% 42% 42% 40%

no 22% 23% 19% 18% 21%

hard to say 11% 9% 12% 10% 12%

N =1600 respondents

The lack of trust was usually explained by multilevel, sometimes unknown motivation

behind every action made by institutions and/or its personnel. One respondent asked in

return: ‘Where did you see that people do something for the ‘thank you’’? The other

respondent described a situation that happened recently to her 14-year-old daughter. The

girl had a medical examination at school5, and the gynecologist suggested that she had a

serious illness, which could result in infertility. To confirm the diagnosis, they gave the girl

a referral to a private clinic for a more detailed ultrasound. Her parents were alarmed. The

ultrasound did not confirm the diagnosis, and now both parents think that the doctor just

wanted his colleague to make some extra cash at their expense.

One respondent complained about the work of the traffic police:

‘The Road Patrol Service works according to a certain plan. For example, every

month they have to issue 10 fines. When a driver violates the traffic rules, he

can try to negotiate. For example, if there is an 800 RUB ~20 EUR fine, it is

possible to issue the two fines with a value of 400 RUB ~10 EUR each, which

will be beneficial to a police officer, or two fines with a value of 300 RUB ~7

EUR each, which will be beneficial to a driver as well.’

Surveys conducted on a regular basis by the Lavada Center show similar results (Table 4

and Table 5).6

Table 4: To what extent do the following institutions deserve trust?:

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

mediafully 22 26 24 24 25 28 28 29 25 26 24not fully 46 45 45 43 39 40 49 51 47 50 50not at all 22 18 18 21 22 18 16 15 21 16 19hard tosay

10 11 13 12 14 14 7 5 6 7 8

churchfully 40 43 44 40 41 40 48 54 49 50 48not fully 20 22 23 21 19 25 21 24 23 29 25not at all 10 8 11 11 12 10 10 6 9 10 10hard tosay

31 27 22 28 27 25 20 17 18 12 17

N =1600 respondents

5Children and youth regularly receive free medical examinations at schools (=preventative examinations).

6Obshchestvennoe mnenie 2013.

8

Table 5: Do you trust or distrust police officers in your community?7

11/2010 03/2011 10/2011 04/2012 02/2013fully trust 5 5 5 3 4trust 28 30 36 30 34rather distrust 42 43 40 45 43fully distrust 17 17 11 16 13hard to say 7 6 8 6 7

N =1600 respondents

According to the Levada Center, Russians’ trust in important social institutions looks as

follows: the president (~159), the government (~125), the regional authorities (~130), the

parliament (~120), the army (~148), the FSB (~138), judges (~120), the Office of the

Public Prosecutor (~128), the police (~115)8.

When analyzing Russia, the following institutions and actors should be considered:

Table 6: In the life of Russia, what role is played by …?

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

President 3.96 4.11 3.92 3.99 4.25 4.22 4.51 4.11 4.17 3.87 4.17

President’sAdministration

3.1 n.a. 3.28 3.42 3.63 3.55 3.96 3.81 3.69 3.51 3.71

Oligarchs,bankers,financiers

3.80 3.89 3.64 3.71 3.74 3.64 3.58 3.71 3.63 3.63 3.84

Media 3.53 3.48 3.39 3.49 3.48 3.53 3.43 3.48 3.45 3.36 3.46

Government 3.38 3.48 3.22 3.41 3.56 3.45 3.84 3.87 3.78 3.61 3.65

Governors 3.29 3.32 3.14 3.23 3.34 3.26 3.47 3.39 3.25 3.18 3.3

Armed Forces 3.29 3.26 3.21 3.21 3.5 3.47 3.62 3.61 3.36 3.42 3.49

FSB9 3.31 n.a. 3.41 3.50 3.74 3.65 3.78 3.73 3.36 3.61 3.68

CEOs of largecorporations

3.15 3.40 3.12 3.11 3.18 3.17 3.27 3.30 3.01 3.10 3.23

Office of thePublicProsecutor

2.97 n.a. 3.13 3.14 3.36 3.28 3.43 3.39 3.22 3.26 3.48

Judges 2.91 n.a. 3.01 3.06 3.25 3.11 3.27 3.29 3.18 3.17 3.31

Sovet Federatsii(upper chamberof parliament)

2.93 3.10 2.93 3.11 3.23 3.09 3.41 3.33 3.22 3.10 3.32

Church 2.74 2.92 3.06 2.89 3.26 3.00 3.04 3.42 3.04 3.04 3.09

State Duma(lower chamberof parliament)

2.86 3.01 2.85 2.95 3.07 2.89 3.29 3.18 3.09 3.06 3.29

Intelligentsia 2.44 2.52 2.42 2.47 2.59 2.43 2.67 2.56 2.54 2.42 2.58

Political parties 2.60 2.82 2.61 2.75 2.73 2.64 3.04 2.84 2.81 2.81 2.87

Trade unions 1.91 1.97 1.91 1.91 1.89 1.93 2.01 2.05 1.92 1.91 1.96

Police n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2.86 3.10 3.21

7http://www.levada.ru/04-03-2013/indeks-doveriya-politsii

8The data is presented in form of graphs. While the visibility of the data is high, the exact number is difficult

to determine. The data was calculated as a sum of ‘fully trusted’ plus half of ‘not fully trusted’ minus ‘nottrusted’ in % plus 100.9

FSB – Federal’naia Sluzhba Besopasnosti (Federal Security Service).

9


The next question in the survey was about the respondents’ experiences with institutions:

“With which of the following institutions have you or members of your familyrecently encountered cases of good service or of bad service?”

Figure 2: Experience with institutions

The results here showed not only institutions that offered good or bad services, but alsoinstitutions that might be good and bad at the same time. One respondent explained:

‘I’m not ready to break everything down into good or bad only, not at all! How isit possible to say, for example, that there is good or bad service at a school? Mydaughter came home today – she was happy with a teacher, who was up to themark and it was engaging in class – she exuded “undying love for a teacher.”Tomorrow my wife will go to a meeting and will return upset because of someunclear initiatives at the school, as if parents have nothing to do. This seems tobe bad. And I assure you – there is a similarly ambiguous situation everywhere,at a school or at a hospital, especially when you deal with them repeatedly. It isnecessary to use a finer gradation here.’

In giving low scores to certain institutions, respondents often note the lack of a ‘polite’ and‘professional’ approach. Talking about the church, one said: ‘There is a lack of anindividual approach. I once baptized a child, and all children were baptized at once, sort oflike a “wholesale”.’

One respondent told about one of her daughter’s classmates at school X. The girl has lowgrades in English and the teacher recommended that she talk outside of class to a teacherfrom school Y. But the girl decided to study on her own and after a while she has showngood results that have been noticed by her classmates and the teacher herself.

12%

3%

26%

7%

13%

28%

25%

17%

14%

21%

12%

5%

15%

25%

31%

17%

9%

5%

4%

2%

2%

2%

4%

17%

8%

4%

0%

63%

83%

67%

76%

58%

24%

50%

70%

81%

Municipality

District council

Church

Judges

Police force


Public schools

Tax office

Local associations

N/A good/bad bad good

10

Nevertheless, the teacher continues to give her low grades because the girl did not takeextra classes she recommended to her. It turned out that the two teachers just ‘exchange’their pupils for extra classes.

There were a few schoolchildren among the respondents. A few years ago, one of them

gladly did homework and wrote essays for her classmates – for which she received

material compensation. She claimed that ‘it was interesting for her.’ Another respondent

still does it, explaining that that is ‘his business.’

11

3. Local Issues

3.1 Serious problems in community

The following question was asked in order to learn about the problems that are consideredto be important within society by the survey participants, and to understand the importanceattributed to local problems.

‘What in your view are the most serious problems in your community? List atleast three starting from the most important.’

The results can be clustered into the following groups: education, healthcare,transportation, urban infrastructure, security, employment, cost of living, the environment,corruption, migration and leadership.

In the most cases, the survey participants complained about low quality and ineffectivemanagement with regard to the following issues:

Education: ‘the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to all children’, ‘few qualified teachers’‘consolidation of schools’, ‘shortage of places in the kindergartens and schools’, ‘theunprecedented decline of educational standards, teacher authority and their requirements(at all levels of secondary, higher and vocational schools)’.

Healthcare: ‘the bureaucracy, the low qualification of doctors’, ‘the poor level of medicalservice (doctors’ rudeness)’, ‘few clinics – it is difficult to find the way to a doctor’, ‘thedeterioration of the medical service (everything is now paid)’, ‘the inability to get anappointment on time – there is always a long wait. The quality of service is low (theydiagnose incorrectly)’; ‘doctors ... have increased their workload and the quality of theirwork has deteriorated (a doctor in our clinic once burst into tears – she had 20 consecutivepatients and she did not even have time to go to the bathroom).

Transportation: ‘traffic jams’, ‘parking’, ‘road congestion’, ‘the work of road services’,‘unregulated traffic’, ‘transport accessibility’, ‘the quality of the roads and their surfaces,their permanent and sluggish repairs, the traffic controllers standing in wrong places’, ‘thelack in the quantity and quality of public transportation’, ‘senseless urban work (layingasphalt, for example) which makes moving around the city uncomfortable’, ‘rudeness onthe roads – a bad driving culture, resulting in high mortality on the roads’.

Urban infrastructure: ‘uncontrolled construction (first, without considering the historicimage of the city; second, they erect large buildings and do not develop the infrastructure),‘the reconstruction of the area where I live, against the will of its residents (reconstructionof Lenin Avenue in Moscow)’, ‘few public welfare homes are being built’, ‘they provideamenities only in the city center; there are not even sidewalks in the other areas’(Khabarovsk).

Security: ‘The high crime rate (it is dangerous to walk on the streets in the evening)’, ‘toomany policemen; security guards are everywhere – this gives the feeling of suppression,discomfort, and humiliation; the policemen induce threats instead of protection, as well asrudeness and disrespect’, ‘the lack of contact between police and citizens, the

unwillingness to help them citizens.

Employment: ‘Some jobs are very popular; there are many specialists, good salaries,hence, a lot of people get the corresponding education. Of course, they cannot get thosejobs because there are too many people applying. At the same time, other jobs have manyvacancies, because they are not that popular. Some jobs are important, but are not paidwell.’

Cost of living: ‘few benefits, and they are cut (for example for single mothers)’, ‘veryexpensive housing and no possibility to buy an apartment; mortgage interest is very high’,

12

‘the high and constantly increasing price of food’, ‘wild prices for utility services, poorquality of services, and the complete inability to change anything’, ‘(unreasonably) highhousing prices connected with the unsatisfactory development of network construction(electricity, water supply, etc.) and a lack of access to construction sites by landdevelopers (there is monopoly on access by officials).’

Environment: ‘air pollution’, ‘few cultivated lands’, ‘it is dirty – the utility services do not

work well and the people litter and park their cars in prohibited areas’, ‘the green areas are

being reduced in favor of construction sites’.

Corruption: ‘Terrible corruption in the area of urban improvement (kickbacks, low qualityof construction work)’, ‘Corruption at all levels’.

Migration: while all of the aforementioned issues refer to all regions, this problem is morepronounced in Moscow and St. Petersburg: ‘a large number of un-adapted migrants fromthe culturally alien regions’, ‘illegal migrants (disrespect toward our culture)’ ‘illegalmigration – ethnic tensions, fraught with outbreaks of violence’, ‘a large number of peoplefrom Caucasus in the city’, ‘too many migrants in the city – it is not safe to walk on thestreets in the evening’. The respondents call for ‘good leadership in this matter and wantmore regulations and policies’.

Leadership, especially at the higher levels, was mentioned explicitly:

‘Indecisiveness, inactivity (or inconsistency) of authorities in making importantdecisions for the city.’

‘The lack of independence of the authorities, the lack of professionalism andinsecurity, hence, stupid bureaucracy.’

‘The excessive control of various government agencies over their ‘subordinate’units (e.g., police, district board, medicine) as a result: formalism, both at thetop and the local levels.’

‘Repressive government (e.g. persecution on political grounds in particular)’

‘The state does not respect its citizens; officials always want to ban everything.If there is something they can avoid doing, they will avoid it; they do not thinkthey must somehow help people and improve our lives.’

‘Krugovaia poruka: everyone is interconnected and exercises preferencesbased on personal connections, social proximity, and membership in a commoncircle. This is bad in everyday life – when applying for a job, etc. – but also atthe state level: everything is based on personal assurances and the idea thateveryone owes one another.’

13

3.2 Ability to obtain service from institutions relying exclusively on one’s ownmeans

Another question asked the respondents to evaluate their relations with the listedinstitutions. For this question, it was expected for the respondents to present their ideasand experiences about whether they can obtain service on their own.

“With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you are notable to settle a matter/obtain a service using your own resources?”(multiple choices possible).

Figure 3: Ability to obtain service from institutions relying exclusively on one’s own means

One respondent said that he needed to use his connections with a local deputy in order tosolve a problem for his wife:

‘My wife got into an accident. In order to compensate for the damage, theinsurance company required a certificate that would prove that the driver (mywife) was not intoxicated. The RPS (Road Patrol Service) did not issue such acertificate, without explaining any reasons. A letter was drafted on behalf of alocal deputy with a request to issue a certificate. The certificate was issued.’

Another respondent, a mother of a 17-year-old son, was concerned about the future careerof her child. He wants to serve in the army, but he has an illness (a mild allergy) that canbe a reason for refusal. At the time of his initial entry into the army, he had a severe skinrash. The respondent went to military registration office and asked for recommendations.

13%

10%

19%

10%

12%

12%

18%

14%

14%

11%

28%

34%

6%

41%

32%

15%

6%

15%

3%

8%

10%

9%

3%

11%

11%

15%

5%

2%

1%

1%

49%

47%

72%

38%

45%

58%

71%

69%

82%

80%

Municipality

District council

Church

Judges

Police force


Public schools

Tax office

Local associations


N/A yes/no no yes

14

She was told that her son should just calm down and wait; in two years, everything couldchange. When the respondent was asked why her son wants to serve in the army, sheanswered that it is impossible to find a good job without higher education or without armyexperience10.

10Many Russians try to avoid military service because of the ‘dedovshchina’, the physical and psychical

abuse of new recruits.

15


‘How would you advise a person who can’t successfully deal with institutions toresolve his problem?’ (More than one answer is possible):





Pay a fee

Give a small gift

Denounce the disservice to the relevant authorities

Try several times until you get a good result

Avoid dealing with that institution in general

Don’t know

Figure 4: Preferred problem resolution techniques

The majority of the respondents (54%) suggested using informal tools for solvingproblems: to ask for intervention from a friend (14%), ask for intervention from a relative(10%), ask for intervention from an important person (15%), pay a fee (10%)11, give asmall gift (5%). Some, however, recommended formal approaches: denounce thedisservice to the relevant authorities (19) and try several times until you get a good result(16%). The suggestion ‘avoid dealing with that institution in general’ was also mentionedby 8% of the survey participants, the majority of whom added ‘if there is an alternative’ or‘if possible’.

11It is interesting to note there are some agencies in Russia that offer such services – dealing with

authorities on difficult issues. These services are provided officially for Russian people, but determining if theauthorities involved in these transactions are paid, or if their intercessions are made officially or not, isanother research question.

ask for friend'sintervention

14%

ask for relative'sintervention

10%

ask forintervention of

important person15%

pay fee10%

give small gift5%

denuncedissservice

19%

try severaltimes16%

avoid delaing withthat institution

8%

don't know3%

16

3.4 Institutions important for improving social well-being

The question, which aims at gathering the views of the interviewees about the institutionsthat could help improve the general well-being of their society, is worded as follows:

“Who do you think could help to improve the general well-being of yourcommunity?”

Figure 5: Institutions that might help to improve social well-being

The results showed that citizens (74%) and authorities on the local (60%), regional (47%)and federal (49%) levels can influence the wellbeing of the communities. They have theresources in theory, but whether or not they could use them in practice was one of themain concerns of many respondents. One respondent mentioned: ‘People do not feelthemselves as a single community – they do not treat public spaces as their own, theycannot get together and solve problems jointly, they are not able to defend their groupinterests.’ Another participant answering this question read the abbreviation ‘NGO’ as‘UFO’ (in Russian the two look very similar – ‘NGO’ vs. ‘NLO’). ‘Yeah, only UFOs canmake a difference’, she said, laughing, but with a little sadness in her voice.

49%

19%

47%

60%

23%

13%

74%

31%

27%

15%

6%

state

opposition

district council

municipal council

police

judges

citizens

media

NGO

int. organizarions

other

17


A question was asked to obtain the views of survey participants about some practices thatare incompatible with the development of society:

“In general, which of the following practices, in your opinion, spoil the good development ofa society?” (Multiple choices possible.)


Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them



Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public constructionbids





Figure 6: Practices incompatible with good social development

In some cases, the respondents do consider these practices as ‘spoiling the gooddevelopment of a society’, while some of these practices might ‘somehow depend on asituation’.

‘Buying votes during elections’ is certainly ‘a violation of the canons of democracy. It iscrucial to avoid such practices, because an adequate competition should stimulate politicalrivals’, but ‘generally speaking, this does not shift the balance of power; simply more

expressive figures are forged’. Moreover ‘they the practices do not interfere, becausethere is “no one” out there to choose from’.

‘Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them’ is ‘nepotism’ andmight lead to ‘unprofessionalism, incompetence and, as a consequence, to mistakes’.However, ‘friends and relatives can also deserve it!’ One respondent suggested expandingquestion and adding ‘comfortable, loyal and controllable people’. This might be worse:‘The number of outright fools (albeit suitable ones) in the power structures begins to go off-scale’.

76%

77%

39%

48%

70%

50%

52%

35%

83%

buying votes

giving jobs

gifts (health)

gifts (schools)

conf. information

paying fees

sensitive articles

scandals

funds for priv. purposes

18

‘Gifts to obtain access to health services’ are often given afterwards, post-factum ‘in orderto thank, and it is normal and very human.’ Gifts might be seen as ‘a sign of gratitude,considering public awareness of the doctors’ low salaries’, as a kind of ‘mutual aid toneedy people’. This becomes a bad situation only if doctors are not professional enoughand no gifts might influence that: ‘What if a doctor is an incompetent idiot and the gifts willbe useless?’

‘Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school’ might be also very situational: ‘My friend

and her daughter are registered in one place, but live in another. Their child must attend aschool based on their registered address, but the child attends the school in theneighborhood his family actually lives in’. A gift to a principal helped to solve the problem.‘This is the world practice of private/elite schools’, some respondents consider.

‘Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public construction bids’: ‘Well, yesand no – imperfection in the federal law leads to “cheating” during tenders for the sake ofgood results’; ‘This problem is very twofold. No doubt, it exists, and it is very corruption-based. Very. But very often (well, very often, especially when we deal with small amounts)“violation of rules and laws” is linked to a simple desire of a tender customer to obtain theproduct he really needs, and with a quality that satisfies him. The 94th law is not onlycursed by a lazy person. There are more incidents of the delivery of absolute crap in fullcompliance with the “law,” instead of quality products, than the incidents of corruption andtheft. Alas…”

‘Paying fees to have documents sorted out quickly’ might be wrong, ‘but otherwise, it issometimes impossible.’ Many survey participants believe ‘it is a bribe, but ... it does nothurt anyone.’ One respondent stated: ‘Why is it informal? Now you can pay for it all

officially, and they will do everything instantly. Most importantly pay!’

‘Convincing journalists not to publish sensitive articles’ ‘does not have any effect on thedevelopment of the society, and sometimes prevents all the garbage which is poured onus sufficiently enough’. One journalist said: ‘There are no freely publishing journaliststoday. Those who exist (or call themselves free) are not persuaded by anyone any longer.They are ordered to do something. And they do it. Period.’ One high-profile policemanadded that he does it occasionally by himself: ‘In the interest of the investigation.’

‘Using scandals to get rid of political opponents’: ‘Of course for the one who is exposed,this is bad, but for society, it might be good – well then there was something to expose inthe first place.’ However, it depends on the scandals: ‘If this scandal is related to one’spersonal life, then yes, but if to the fact that he is a dishonest person, then no’. Somerespondents even believe: ‘this is actually necessary for the rise in the competitivenessand self-control of politicians, so they would be afraid of exposure.’

‘Using development funds for private purposes’ seems to be the worst practice: ‘this iscalled by the Russian word “theft”.’ ‘In all other cases, the consequences might not be allbad; it all depends on the situation. Sometimes there are even benefits, ‘but not in thissituation’. It appears frequently: ‘Constantly, everywhere and with a huge splash offantasy’.

19

4. Social Norms

4.1 Importance of customs

In the next stage of the survey, participants were asked to evaluate the importance of thecustoms below on the scale of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very important”.

Table 7: Customs and their importance

Customnot

importantfairly

importantvery

important


n 3 43 65

% 3% 39% 58%

Enjoy meals with other peoplen 25 52 34

% 22% 47% 31%

Give presents during festive celebrationsn 10 50 51

% 9% 45% 46%

Reciprocate received giftsn 30 39 42

% 27% 35% 38%

Reciprocate received gifts in timen 73 25 11

% 67% 23% 10%

Reciprocate received gifts in same valuen 73 32 5

% 66% 29% 5%

Satisfy a personal request of favorn 1 53 57

% 1% 48% 51%

Know who is the best person to ask a favor ton 12 38 59

% 11% 35% 54%

Protect a person if I am in the position to do itn 9 40 62

% 8% 36% 56%

Be on good terms with important personsn 22 49 39

% 20% 45% 35%

Avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficientn 14 48 45

% 13% 45% 42%

Keep a secret not to harm another personeven if this is not legal

n 13 54 41

% 12% 50% 38%

Be cautious when talking of politics in publicn 53 41 14

% 49% 38% 13%

Spend time with friends outside the homen 24 54 32

% 22% 49% 29%

Almost all of the respondents (97%)12 believe that ‘providing hospitality to guests’ is animportant custom in Russian society. Some Moscow participants commented on thisquestion, however: one respondent argues that ‘generally everyone is on his own’, andanother adds ‘this concept is more suitable to a village; while in the case of a city it isbetter to say to be ‘benevolent’ [blagozelatel’nyi]. Most Russians understand ‘enjoyingmeals with other people’ as a part of Russian hospitality: the majority of respondents(78%) support this statement. It might be, however, selective: ‘Depending with whom’,mention some respondents. ‘Enjoy meals with other people’ might be also understand asan invitation to someone’s place. One respondent, 60 years old retiree, was evenconfused: ‘After all, the guests are first invited to one’s house and then treated’.

12 The sum of ‚fairly important‘ and ‘very important’

20

Only 9% state that ‘giving presents during festive celebrations’ is not important. Onerespondent explains: ‘Some believe it is mandatory. Unfortunately.’ According to theLevada Center, for example, flowers and candies are the most important potentialpresents among men for the International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8. Thechoice of a present might be related to financial stability. Only 41% were planning to buyflowers in 1997, while this number increased to 53% in 2014. The same is true aboutcandies: only 9% in 1997, rising to 19% in 201413. 27% of the survey participants consider‘reciprocating received gifts’ to be not important. 67% also think that ‘reciprocatingreceived gifts in time’ is not important. One respondent explains: ‘If this is a gift for the 8th

of March, than it is a gift for the 8th of March, and the next holiday will be only a year away.’‘Reciprocating received gifts in same value’ is also deemed not important (66%).Respondents justify this with ‘It depends on the financial capability’ or ‘Whatever one canafford to give’. ‘For example, my mother used to buy me tourist vouchers (abroad), andnow I buy tours for her’, tells one participant. This might be selectively applied, however: itis important ‘when it is necessary to turn to an important person’ and ‘with close friends itis not like this, but with strangers it is’.

99% of respondents believe it is important to ‘satisfy a personal request of favor’. Thismight also be selective: ‘It depends on who is asked’ and ‘there should be a balancebetween the time spent and altruism’. The majority of respondents are sure that isimportant to ‘know who is the best person to ask for a favor’ (89%). Again, this might alsobe ambivalent: ‘it is important sometimes, but not always’, ‘not every person’ andespecially ‘If he is hurt unfairly, then yes, but in all other cases, no’. Only 20% ofrespondents think that is not important to ‘be in good terms with important persons’.‘Although it is not good from a moral standpoint’ comments one respondent.

87% think it is important to ‘avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficient’. Many respondentscomplain that this is difficult, however. ‘It is necessary to understand the system’ and ‘thereare situations when it is impossible to avoid this’ add other participants. 79% are sure thatit is important to ‘keep a secret so as not to harm another person, even if this is not legal’.‘It might depend on the secret’ explain some participants. Many survey participants arguethat it is important to ‘be cautious when talking about politics in public’. Some respondentselucidate: ‘I talk about politics only in a circle of trust’, ‘it is not dangerous, but there is sucha trend nowadays’ and ‘only an older generation thinks this way’. Many respondents (78%)state that it is important to ‘spend time with friends outside the home’. ‘Yes, dacha andwinter hikes’ explains one retiree.

13 http://www.levada.ru/05-03-2014/podarki-k-mezhdunarodnomu-zhenskomu-dnyu

21

4.2 Statement: Gift giving for better treatment or service

At this point in the survey, two questions were asked about the effect of gifts on the qualityof service in institutions. The question was asked as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “Gift giving creates a bond wherepeople know they will receive better treatment/service the next time they visitthe clinic/office?”

Besides ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’, respondents also answered ‘agree/disagree’ by arguingthat it might work, but it might not, and not in all situations. It might depend on manyfactors. The status of the recipient or the method of giving the gifts might influence theexpected results. Moreover, one gift may lead to one service, and some respondentsbelieve some that the gifts should be repeated:

‘Not always. The status of a person in the institution and a value of a gift arealso important’.

‘Not necessarily. My aunt is a doctor and she says that some give gifts in such ahumiliating way that it only spoils her attitude toward them’.

‘No, next time one needs to do it all over again’.

Figure 7: Gift giving related to better treatment/service

People who agreed with this statement said: ‘Often yes, because the gift is not a bribe,but a “friendly” gesture’. One respondent referred to personal experience: ‘100% true... My

daughter was hospitalized with a serious diagnosis. We paid 30,000 RUB ~750 EUR to adepartment head, and he personally visited my daughter every day, bought and acquiredmedicines for her, accompanied her to examinations. Others were not treated like that’.

Respondents who did not share this view explained: ‘Sometimes a gift backfires itimposes certain responsibilities and inconveniences in a relationship. It is not always clearhow to respond adequately to a gift’, ‘Our system does not work in such a way. They willact in accordance with their capabilities, regardless of the gift’.

40%

35%

16%

9%

agree

disagree

agree/disagree

N/A

22

4.3 Statement: Personal relationships affect quality of service

Another question was about the link between personal relationships with people inpositions in institutions and the quality of service from those institutions. The question wasstated in the survey as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the servicesobtained is associated with the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship withthe service provider?”

Figure 8: Personal relations affect quality of service

This question also resulted in a third group of ‘agree/disagree’ responses: ‘Yes and no,depends’, ‘in public institutions – yes, in private – no’. Respondents believe that ‘for aloved one or a friend, we are ready to press other people we do not know’. Byacknowledging this practice, respondents do not necessarily like it: ‘This practice exists,although I certainly do not approve it’, ‘in our country, this is true, unfortunately’.

49%

24%

18%

9%

agree

disagree

agree/disagree

N/A

23


Participants in the survey were asked to judge some hypothetical scenarios on a scale offrom 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 6 (‘strongly agree’):

‘The following stories have happened in other countries around the world. Please indicateif you would in principle agree with the behavior of the characters’.

The names in these stories were not changed to Russian names so that the respondentswould not identify with the characters. Three of the five stories might not be applicable tothe Russian context, as some of the comments on story ‘a’ proved: ‘This is a fantasy!’,

‘nonsense’ glupost’ kakaia-to, ‘this is a made-up situation’ and ‘this is obviously made-up

gibberish’ iavno pridumannyi bred. Only after referring to the introductory line ‘stories thathappened in other countries around the world’ did the respondents start to think about thegiven scenarios.

A similar ‘problem’ was encountered with story ‘c’: Russian villages are dying out, living ina village is considered unpopular and not prestigious among Russian people – with thepossible exception of the VIP estates near the big cities. The reasons for this vary andinclude undeveloped infrastructure.

Story ‘d’ is also somehow separated from the Russian reality. The decisions discussed inthe scenario are usually made on a different level and include more actors. Onerespondent explained: ‘Peter is a fool. A normal person, who believes that he preparesgood sandwiches/breakfasts, would go and get acquainted with the school principal. And ifthe breakfasts are bad, then Peter must understand that in our reality the principal doesnot decide anything in terms of these issues. This is a problem at a different administrativelevel. And if he won the tender, he would know exactly who to see and how much to bring.’

24

Story a.

In the district council, a new person has recently been appointed. This person is very hard-working and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fees or gifts fromcitizens to sort out problems. Because of this, he avoids people and lives a lonely life all byhimself, so that he will not be put under pressure for demands of favors. Thus, the localpeople avoid him.

Figure 9: Story a

Respondents who disagreed on this scenario had doubts in the district councilor’sprofessional competency: ‘If the councilor avoids people, then he does not know their realproblems. Therefore, he is ineffective’, ‘It is impossible to be a good official withoutcontacts with the local population’ and ‘I find the publicity of politicians annoying myself,but on the other hand, people need it – so, it is necessary to have some contact withthem’.

Respondents who agreed with this argued: ‘Everything is right! This is the cost of his job’,‘It is okay to avoid people; after all the most important thing is to work well’, ‘He is open,but fair, he does not divide people into close acquaintances and others’ and ‘extremesshould be avoided. But this case is clearly positive’.

Some respondents pointed out, however, that the story provides different aspects to judge:the behavior of the official and the behavior of the local residents: ‘I do not agree with thebehavior of the local residents, but I agree with the behavior of the official’ and ‘the firstpart of the story impressed me, while the second was rather alarming’. In addition, thisstory was difficult for some respondents to follow: ‘This is a strange story... What should Iagree or disagree with? Well, let it be option 3 in nobody’s favor. I simply do notunderstand.’

4%

13%

27%

15%

18%

10%

13%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree

Strongly agree

N/A

25

Story b.

Mario is a very resourceful person; he does what he can to help his friends and relativesand he knows a lot of people. When he needs a favor, he always finds someone to turn to,because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week, he was jailed for fraud andcorruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him.

Figure 10: Story b

Participants who supported this scenario explained their position as follows: ‘Yes, onedeed cannot erase all human life’, ‘This is a normal situation. If Mario did nothing wrong topeople, nothing prevents them from loving, respecting and feeling sorry for him. It hardlycorrelates with the people’s attitude toward his “misdemeanor”. Moreover, manyrespondents believe that social competences may prevail over professional misbehavior:“If he steals, but does good things for people, then I don’t care”, ‘There is a differencebetween personal respect for somebody and for his professional activity, which may notimpact you.’ Many respondents mentioned that they even knew similar characters in theirlives, and a few respondents recognized Mario Puzo’s Don Corleone in this character.Participants who did not support this scenario said: ‘I disagree because he is a scammer’,‘I understand him, but do not approve’, ‘“quid pro quo” is always good, but cheating is bad’and ‘I would not respect and love such a person’.

Many respondents mentioned, however: ‘This is a twofold situation’. People wanted morecontext and more detail in the scenario; they doubted the fairness of the jurisdiction andpointed out that this story again provides different aspects to discuss: Mario’s behavior andbehavior of his friends:

‘It all depends on who he is. If he is an official, then option 2; if he is just anordinary person, then 5’

‘We don’t know whether he was jailed fairly – i.e. can we trust the jurisdiction?’

‘The fact that the people he helped continue to respect him is good, and thatMario turned out to be a crook – is not’.

Many respondents had difficulties evaluating this story: ‘I find it difficult to express myattitude. Such is the image of a modern businessman’, ‘It is widely accepted in our country:the law is nothing; personal connections are everything’.

12%

15%

19%

17%

11%

12%

14%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree

Strongly agree

N/A

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Story c.

A family has plans to build a new house in another village. They have asked what theofficial procedure is, and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months, everythingstarts to become difficult and they realize they will not be able to resolve it without payingsome fee to the right person. They decide to leave the village and look for another wherethings go according to the rules.

Figure 11: Story c

The majority of the survey participants were concerned about the naivety of the family anddoubted that the family would ever find another village where things would go according tothe rules: ‘It never happens “according to the rules”’, “It's very silly. Will everything beaccording to the rules? In Russia, this will be impossible”. One respondent argued: ‘theywill not find a place where “things go according to the rules.” Steps to take: either pay try torun one’s head against a brick wall.’ A few respondents support the family, however: ‘Theaction is adequate, but it would be logical to look for help at a higher level of authorities’,‘In the end, I would give a black eye to the one “in charge”’. Some respondents wouldencourage the family to stay and fight further in this location by arguing: ‘I do not quiteagree with this. If so much time and effort have been spent, one has to bring everything tothe end. There is no guarantee that the same story will not happen at the new place’,‘Maybe this is a place worthwhile to fight for? But on the other hand, I also used to paytraffic cops before, and now I do not do it on principle’. One respondent thought that itmight not be the family’s moral principles but probably their financial capacity: ‘And if youhave nothing to pay with?’ The last point might be crucial; Galitskii and Levin (2004)14

found similar situations in the Russian educational sector. Many parents who are notinvolved in informal payment schemes on behalf of their children usually cannot afford itand/or do not know how to do it.

14Galitskii, E.B. and Levin, M.I. (2004), Korruptsiia v sisteme obrazovaniia. (Corruption in the higher

education system) GU-VSHE, Moscow.

11%

7%

12%

11%

19%

35%

5%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree

Strongly agree

N/A

27

Story d.

Peter has a small business preparing sandwiches, which he sells to local schools. Lastyear, he was successful in winning a tender and gained a contract with one local primaryschool. Unfortunately, the school head changed this year, and his contract expired. Beforeapplying for the next tender, he is looking for an influential person who will introduce him tothe new school head.

Figure 12: Story d

People supporting the character in this scenario considered: ‘Meeting the principal is notagainst the law’ and ‘this is a rather beneficial move’. Participants of another opinionargued: ‘What is the mediator for? Why does not he want to meet him directly?’ In spite ofthe fact that this situation might include more actors in Russia, survey participantscommented on general issues with tenders: ‘Problems with tenders have always beenextremely difficult, and it is not easy to get around a system of kickbacks. Therefore, poorold Peter tries to survive somehow’. Moreover, in the Russian context, ‘the Director will berequired to conclude a tender with those who offer the lowest price; the personalconnection will not help’. One respondent concluded: ‘Sometimes it is impossibleotherwise, but generally it is bad that the society works this way’.

9%

14%

25%

15%

16%

11%

10%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree

Strongly agree

N/A

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Story e.

Lucy runs a local NGO for human rights protection. She is very active and well establishedin the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by aninternational donor last year, so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field.In the end, she failed, because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share ofthe money in order to approve the projects. Next time, she will secure the properagreements with them first.

Figure 13: Story e

Many survey participants did not support the character due to ethical reasons:

‘One cannot protect human rights, and this leads to dishonest ways. Nothing good willcome out of it: Lucy will be dependent and unable to perform her duties well.’

‘There is nothing for Lucy to do in the field of human rights protection in general and inprinciple. Absolutely.’

‘Apparently, Lucy herself does not know human rights well and cannot fight for them.’

‘In my opinion, she has neither the moral principles of a decent person nor the willpower’.

Some respondents doubted Lucy’s management competency: “She should have done itright away or should not have even gone there... She was poorly prepared”, ‘This is abusiness project and it is necessary to calculate all the risks’.

This particular case caused many discussions among respondents about ambivalence tocorruption and its justification:

‘In general, it is bad, but for Russia, this is not so clear: we must always correlate andevaluate the dimension of evil. For example, sometimes one can go the way of corruptionfor other people – that is, if her bribe for the sake of receiving a grant will help protecthuman rights in the future, it may be necessary to go for it’

‘What if her organization, if it receives a grant, makes society better and then in similarsituations in the future one will not have to pay?’

Many respondents did not see any way out of this situation in terms of the generalsituation in the country: ‘I do not agree, but can do nothing. This and that are both wrong.She will not receive it on her own and she cannot do it without them.’, ‘In the Russianreality, this is necessary, but I do not like it.’, ‘There is no other way out.’

19%

19%

16%

12%

13%

5%

16%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree

Strongly agree

N/A

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5. Values

5.1 Self-identification with character from ‘True of myself’ to ‘Not at all true ofmyself’

In this part of the survey, respondents were asked to judge themselves on a scale from 1(not at all true of myself) to 6 (true of myself).

Table 8: Self-identification with character

Character 1 2 3 4 5 6

a She/he lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying torely on other people’s help as less as possible.

6 8 23 21 21 34

b She/he would not break the rules because rules are what makeorder in a society.

9 8 14 37 30 14

c She/he thinks that traditions must be respected because theymake up one person’s culture.

7 6 17 19 21 43

d She/he believes that young generations should learn morefrom listening to the advices from elderly people.

18 12 37 26 10 10

e She/he is very religious because religion helps people to bepart of a community and get together regularly.

50 35 17 6 3 1

f She/he thinks that strangers should not be accepted in thecommunity if most of the people don’t want so.

28 21 27 5 10 19

g Her/his house is often visited by guests and he has an intensesocial life.

13 24 24 21 16 14

h She/he thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is avery important virtue.

10 19 33 22 15 13

i She/he will try not to show her/his true feelings in public inorder not to appear selfish or egocentric.

10 20 28 29 11 12

j She/he prefers not to show to others her/his economicstandards of living in order to avoid jealousy.

23 22 27 20 8 11

Character a.

She/he lives a life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help aslittle as possible.

More than a half of the respondents (53%) state that they live independently. Respondentsthat are more or less dependent are usually unemployed or students and/or families withsmall children.

Character b.

She/he would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society.

Only 14% of participants would break the rules. One of the respondents explained her

position: ‘Nowadays, they the government adopt new laws, which I do not agree with’.The majority, however, believe: ‘this is difficult’. Some respondents think it might dependon the rule: ‘Which rules – minor or major ones?’

Character c.

She/he thinks that traditions must be respected because they make up a person’s culture.

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Many respondents (53%) support this statement. Some participants, however, differentiatebetween ‘only traditions from my perspective’ while another argues: ‘we should not treatthem blindly, and as if they exist in a vacuum’. Moreover, one respondent asked in return:‘What do traditions mean? After all, corruption can also be considered our “tradition”’.

Character d.

She/he believes that younger generations should learn more from listening to the advice ofelderly people.

More than a half (53%) of all respondents support this statement.

Character e.

She/he is very religious because religion helps people to be part of a community and gettogether regularly.

Some of the respondents found this statement ‘ill-chosen’ neudachnyi. Many of themargue that ‘not in all cases is religion responsible for this – in some cases it is philosophy’or ‘there is no connection between religiosity and getting together’.

Character f.

She/he thinks that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of thepeople don’t want them to be.

Strangers are reluctantly accepted as group members in Russia. One respondent, a topmanager of a public company, gave some examples from his professional life. Recently heinsisted on hiring a young man who had been a drug addict in the past. Many employershad refused to hire him previously. But the respondent explained that a person should begiven a chance and only if he has job-related reprimands should his candidacy bedisputed. The new employee proved to be a good specialist, with no bad habits. A fewdays before the interview, the respondent again insisted on hiring another applicant – arecent graduate. His subordinates did not want to hire her because of her appearance: thewoman was very short (~ dwarfism). Thus, only professional qualities are important for thisrespondent. Interestingly, during this interview, this particular respondent asked me aboutmy attitude towards homosexuals. Forgetting where I was, I said that I recently visitedVienna and by chance saw the Love Parade. By saying that, I provoked a negativereaction from the respondent, who asserted that this was propaganda promoting same-sexrelationships. I tried to change the subject as soon as possible by describing the wonderfulorganization of the whole procession. For example, I discussed the garbage trucks, whichfollowed a column of demonstrators, picking up the litter after them. I also said that in theevening of the same day, I saw the ballet at the Vienna State Opera and that most of thesoloists had Russian and Ukrainian surnames. Only in this way (with pride for the Russianballet) was I able to switch the respondent’s attention to a different subject.

Character g.

Her/his house is often visited by guests and she/he has an intense social life.

In spite of the fact that the respondents give different answers, many Russians love to hostguests. Guests are often not invited because of financial reasons, housing difficulties, orthe schedules of the hosts (for example, when they have frequent business trips and/or

31

small children): ‘when we had two kids, we invited guests, but now that we have three not as much’; ‘It is not my case, because I do not have physical possibility (I live withrelatives in a limited space, plus I have two children; so it is difficult to host friends), but Iwould love this to be my case’. Some respondents have a broader definition of the term‘house’: I ‘have guests more often at my work’.

Character h.

She/he thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue.

Many respondents added in their answers that ‘it is important to be naturally loyal’ and/or‘it is necessary to pretend’ at least, because ‘it is impossible without it’. One respondentconcludes: ‘This is what we have and I do not like it’.

Character i.

She/he will try not to show her/his true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish oregocentric.

This statement aroused many irritations. Many respondents did not see ‘any relationshipbetween the first and the second part of this statement’. Others explained their positions inthe following ways: ‘I agree that we should not demonstrate our feelings, but not for fear ofbeing selfish, but because people can take advantage of you (somehow offend you)’, ‘Ihide my feelings, but not because of this, but because any well-mannered person must beable to do it’.

Character j.

She/he prefers not to show to others her/his economic standards of living in order to avoidjealousy.

Jealousy is a big issue in post-communist countries. Respondents often addressed theirjudgments to themselves: ‘I wish I were good at it’; ‘It is better to show [one’s high

standard of living] to make them other people envy’; and to others: ‘Not for the fear ofenvy, but for the shame of underserved wealth’.

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5.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you:

One of the last statements given in the survey was to choose from the followingstatements respondents would deem most appropriate to them:

to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions


to believe only our community as a strong group can improve living conditions

to believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not improve easily

The results are provided below in Table 9:

Table 9: ‘Most important to you’

Statement n %

living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions 64 56%

only those in power can improve our living conditions 2 2%

only our community as a strong group can improve livingconditions 18 16%

no matter what my actions are our conditions will not improveeasily 12 10%

N/A 19 16%


Participants were asked to choose ‘the most important’ statement for themselves.Question is as follows: ‘Choose from the following list the statement that is most importantto you’.


to do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves

to do what I can to improve things according to the indications of those whoadminister the country

to do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to change things aseveryone will do his best too

The results are shown in Table 10:

Table 10: ‘Most important to you’

Statement n %

do all my best to help the community in which I live 2118%

do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves 5447%

do what I can to improve things according to the indications of those who administer the country 22

%

do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to change things as everyone will do hisbest too 22

19%

N/A 1614%

These results showed that a high level of personal engagement and responsibility isexpected by the respondents, but the reality differs. The same respondents underscoredthe high level of egoism: ‘Nobody wants to work, it is difficult to rely on somebody, younever know if people will do what they have promised or not’, ‘people think that everyoneshould be quiet, keep their heads down, be like everyone else. Anyone who is somehowdifferent causes disapproval (migrants, homosexuals, opposition, etc.)’.

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6. Conclusion

The results of the survey conducted in the second half of 2013 provided someinformation on trust and experiences with local institutions, as well as seriousproblems in the community, the quality of services provided by institutions andaccess to these services, and social norms and values.

According to the survey results, public schools and state doctors rank the highest intrust. These results might be explained through various reasons, including the lack ofalternatives. The institution that has the lowest amount of trust is the judiciary.Respondents do not believe in judges’ independence or the fairness of treatment inRussian courts.

Looking at experiences with institutions, the survey respondents named public healthproviders as one of the institutions that offer good services, but at the same time, thisservice could be bad. Interviewees usually explained that it depended on thesituation, the doctor, or the problem that drives someone to seek service at publichealth providers. In analyzing the data, it is very important to keep in mind thatsurvey participants did not have experiences with many institutions and hence werenot able to judge. The less familiar institutions included district councils and localassociations. NB: The designation ‘local associations’ was not clear for manyparticipants. One interviewee remarked ironically: ‘Do people playing spoons alsobelong to local associations?’.

According the survey respondents, serious problems in the community includeeducation, healthcare, transportation, urban infrastructure, security, employment,cost of living, the environment, corruption, leadership and migration. While all of theaforementioned issues were relevant to all regions, the problem of migration is morepronounced in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In evaluating the ability to obtain service from local institutions using only one’s ownresources, respondents again indicated public health providers to be an institutionwhere this can be simultaneously possible and impossible. For problem resolutiontechniques, many respondents prefer informal approaches (asking for anintervention from a friend, a relative, or an important person, or paying a fee andgiving small gifts) to formal ones (denouncing the disservice to the relevantauthorities or trying several times).

The results of the survey showed that citizens and authorities on the local, regionaland federal levels can influence the well-being of the communities.

When talking about some practices that are incompatible with the development ofsociety, the survey participants believed many practices to ‘spoil the gooddevelopment of a society’, while some of these practices might ‘somehow depend ona situation’. The less bad practices include giving gifts to obtain access to healthservices or to be accepted at a good school, as well as the use of scandals to get ridof political opponents.

Two important Russian customs are providing hospitality to guests and satisfying apersonal request for a favor. Less important are reciprocating received gifts ‘in time’and ‘in the same value’.

34

The questions on gift giving for better treatment or service and whether personalrelationships affect quality of service also resulted in a third group of ‘agree/disagree’responses: many survey participants believe it might depend on the situation, theactors involved, or the problem to be resolved.

The common values for many Russian respondents include their independence andtheir belief in traditions as a part of one’s culture. It was less common forrespondents to believe that religion helps people to be part of a community and gettogether regularly.

Many respondents agree with the statement that ‘living conditions can be changedmainly through their own actions’ and they have to ‘do all my best to improve onlythe life of my family, others will do by themselves’.

Finally, one of the most discussed parts of the survey was the respondents’agreement and/or disagreement with different scenarios.

One of the most interesting results of the survey is the ambivalence it revealed:institutions might be bad and good at the same time, and gifts might be both helpfuland unhelpful. This tendency needs further investigation.

KOSOVO SURVEY REPORT ETHNOGRAPHY OF CORRUPTION: THE CASE

OF KOSOVO


WP4

1

SURVEY REPORT

ETHNOGRAPHY OF CORRUPTION: THE CASE OF KOSOVO

1. INTRODUCTION

Corruption in Kosovo has been researched from a variety of perspectives with different

methodologies and various research and policy goals in mind. Dominated by

quantitative and positivistic studies, where social and historical contexts are seen as

direct contributors to corruption, or disregarded at best, the said research takes for

granted the need to understand and inquire into socio-economic and cultural relations.

Cultural beliefs and traditions, often read as backwardness, remnants of socialism, or

post-war criminality, are cited as the most frequent enabling factors, if not determinants

of Kosovo’s high level of corruption. Therefore, the need to build “a rule of law culture”

is frequently followed by discussions on Kosovo’s “transition to democratic governance

and [need to] strengthen its institutions.”1 As Samuel Zbogar, the head of EU Office in

Kosovo and EU Special Representative has declared: "In regard to the corruption we

have to build together, together with the laws, a culture of non-tolerance on corruption.

This is the European way."2

Most people who were consulted for this research have made similar claims “If we wish

to become European, enter the EU, we must fight corruption.” 3 Nonetheless,

understandings of rule of law, culture of corruption, or the “European way” do not mean

the same thing to all those who use the terminology. While this research cannot address

all of these in detail it does make a recommendation that any study that aims to link the

shifting understandings and practices of what are considered social norms and values,

as well as experiences with public and private institutions, should take into account:

how knowledge about corruption and socio-cultural values is produced, how it

resonates among citizens, the forms of consent and dissent they generate, and the ways

in which access and resources are distributed by emerging political and economic

formations.

To date no ethnographies of corruption have been conducted in Kosovo. The research

presented here is a first step, as well as an argument for the necessity of deeper

ethnographic inquiry into how the legal, economic, and social worlds collide to produce

experiences, practices, and understandings of corruption. 4 Having conducted

ethnographic research in Albania, Smoki Musaraj argues “rather than being an

1 Interview with NGO worker, 10 September 2013. 2http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/kosovo/press_corner/all_news/news/2013/20131111_en.htm (Accessed on 13 November 2013). 3 Interview with public servant, 12 October 2013. 4 See Mandel, Ruth and Caroline Humphrey. Markets and Moralities: Ethnographies of Postsocialism. Berg Publishers: 2002.

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/kosovo/press_corner/all_news/news/2013/20131111_en.htm

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/kosovo/press_corner/all_news/news/2013/20131111_en.htm

2

undisputable form of knowledge about corruption, the making, publication, and

interpretation of the data in this corruption perception survey5 suggests a series of

translations and mistranslations regarding the legitimate or illegitimate market

transactions and the means to address them on the ground.”6 The same claim can be

made of numerous surveys conducted in Kosovo, although it is impossible to treat them

here.

This report includes the findings obtained through a survey, interviews with citizens,

NGO and think-tank workers, representatives of public institutions, as well as

observations at public workshops and roundtable discussions. In many ways it may

reproduce the very techniques of knowledge productions it suggests must be viewed

more critically. However, conducting and participating in similar survey projects is an

important entry for an anthropologist. The limited ethnographic study conducted here

has served to develop a background report, attached to this research report, which

makes a particular argument: the need to account for activism and civil engagement

against corruption and understand the terms based on which such mobilization occurs.

For this purpose a desk review was conducted, one focus group was held with anti-

corruption activists, and participant-observation was carried out in a citizens group that

organized around claims of corruption in the public Kosovo Electric Company. As was

noted in the ANTICORRP project document “a striking tendency of the literature on

corruption has been the neglecting of anti-corruption movements” (Torsello).7 Our

proposal is that we must take advantage of some very interesting and important ways in

which public space and activist networks are linked together in Kosovo in protesting

corruption. Current ethnographic research confirms that this approach will give us

insight that is often lacking in other analyses, and give an important entry-point to

discern for changes in social order and values, particularly definitions of morality and

legality within the space of politics and economy.

2. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLING

The data presented and discussed below are from a survey conduced with 100

respondents in seven of the largest urbanized neighborhoods in Prishtina, Kosovo’s

capital (Center, Bregu i Diellit, Dardania, Ulpiana, Qafa, Taslixhe).

5 Corruption in Albania: Perceptions and Experience. IDRA, Tirana: 2008. 6 Musaraj, Smoki (2013; unpublished paper) “Incongruent Translations Conducting Corruption Perception Surveys in Albania.” 7 In addition it was noted that “this shortcoming expresses the true lack of empirical studies on the topic, since little attention has been dedicated to investigate how local actors build associations, civic movements and new political parties that uses anti corruption as a leading item in their agenda. Rather than focusing on the ideology of anti-corruption per se, this theme concerns ways how alternative forms, more democratic and transparent, of political action are envisioned and communicated to the general public, and which strategies are used to involve more citizens in these movements.”

3

Based on the 2012 Census, Prishtina has 198.000 residents, although during the day an

estimated 250,000 persons occupy the city (commuters, wage-workers, people seeking

services at hospitals, central administration, traders, etc.).8 Kosovo’s population based

on this census is 1,847,708; the age group 18-24 comprises 18.5% of which 73% are

unemployed, and those aged 25 – 54 make up 41% of which 41.9% are unemployed.

This makes for one of the youngest populations in Europe, but also places the poverty

rate at 29.7%.9

Prishtina is Kosovo’s political, economic, educational and cultural center. The national

government and administration is located in Prishtina, which continues to serve as one

of the main sources of employment. In December 2012, the Jeta në Kosovë newspaper

reported that every 21st Kosovar works in public administration, or about 80,000

people.10 This takes a significant amount of the Kosovo budget but continues to provide

a steady income for many families in the absence of economic development and new job

creation. However, around 30% of those employed in public administration are

considered “excess employees”, employed through political party connections leaving

the public administration in dire need of reforms. In 2012 one person held the job-title

“high official for photocopying” at the Ministry of Justice. For these and other reasons,

reform of public administration is one of the benchmarks in the Kosovo Feasibility

Study, a means for the European Commission to ascertain Kosovo’s preparedness for EU

candidacy.

The University of Prishtina, the largest public university, has over 30,000 students, who

come from all over Kosovo. In addition, over 10 private universities and a number of

professional colleges are also concentrated in the city. The high admission rate is often

commented as a “welfare policy” that keeps the youth out of the inexistent labor market

for longer by turning them into students. The National Theater, National Library, and

other art institutions are located in the city.

In addition, the city has the appearance of one large construction site, with new

neighborhoods (including new gated communities) appearing at a steady rate. The

building of new neighborhoods and buildings is a constant source of contention. The

majority of respondents in this survey, also, reported illegal construction, chaotic urban

infrastructure and planning, as a major problem (see Graph 3).

The survey participants also reflect the diversity of the city in education, professions,

and socio-economic class, and distribution of these within the included neighborhoods.

Although a class of nouveau-riche increasingly moves to Prishtina’s outskirts in 500

8 http://esk.rks-gov.net/rekos2011/repository/docs/REKOS%20LEAFLET%20ALB%20FINAL.pdf 9 http://www.ks.undp.org/content/kosovo/en/home/countryinfo/ 10 Musliu, Jeton. “Çdo i 21-ti Kosovar Punon në Administratë.” Jeta në Kosovë. 24 December 2012. http://gazetajnk.com/?cid=1,3,4200

http://esk.rks-gov.net/rekos2011/repository/docs/REKOS%20LEAFLET%20ALB%20FINAL.pdf

http://esk.rks-gov.net/rekos2011/repository/docs/REKOS%20LEAFLET%20ALB%20FINAL.pdf

http://www.ks.undp.org/content/kosovo/en/home/countryinfo/

http://gazetajnk.com/?cid=1,3,4200

4

square meter homes (average living space in the city is 80 square meters)

neighborhoods are mixed in income with the rich and the poor, and the incredibly small

middle-class, living side by side. The latter is due in part to housing policy during

socialism and the take-over of apartments after the war. Serbs who lived in Prishtina

before the war held apartments in the city center and in prime locations; those were

abandoned after the war and possessed by new occupants who moved from villages to

the city. Many of the new occupants had lost their homes in the war and numerous

others took them over forcefully or through connections to the then emerging political

class of the Kosovo Liberation Army.11

International agencies and organizations are also concentrated in Prishtina and have

since the end of the war in 1999 provided a continuous stream of internationals. They

lived in the city and aided the creation of local “experts” that they employed; they have

also served as a source of income for the city’s residents in the way of rented

apartments and houses, and the service industry overall. The number of donor agencies

has drastically fallen in the past couple of years, but international organizations

continue to be determining political and economic agents.

The survey consists of questions that aim to ascertain what participants think of local

institutions (trust, access, and experience with), issues, social norms, and values through

which ethical identifications and judgments are made. The survey results should not be

read as definitions of dominant conceptions but are an indication for existing and

shifting social formations. The identification of norms and values, relevant issues,

relations and experiences with institutions identified by respondents must be also

treated along gender and socio-economic backgrounds (not possible to capture here),

and the particular characteristics of their urban context.

Table 1 shows the demographic features our survey participants:

The sample included an equal number of women and men (100 respondents in

total

In terms of education, 68% of respondents were university graduates and 15%

have completed high school, while 6% had no education

The ratio of those working in public and private organizations was not reported.

Based on reported professions an estimated 30% work in public institutions.

The percentage of professional-experts such as lawyer, doctor, economist,

architect, painter, engineers, professor, etc. was 40%. 15% of the respondents

are unemployed, while 25% did not state a profession but are employed in

11 Before the war the rights of Albanian to property had been severely restricted and his take-over must also be seen in light of pre-war discriminations. See Leckie, Scott. Legal And Protection Policy Research Series. Housing, Land and Property Rights in Post-Conflict Societies: Proposals for a New United Nations Institutional and Policy Framework. PPLA/2005/01: March 2005. http://www.un.org.kg/index2.php?option=com_resource&task=show_file&id=4162 (Accessed on 15 November 2013).

http://www.un.org.kg/index2.php?option=com_resource&task=show_file&id=4162

5

sectors that do not require professional education and expertise. The remaining

10% work in the private sector (small and medium enterprises).

The age distribution in the sample approximately corresponds to Kosovo’s

demographic distribution: ages 15 -24 were 24%, ages 25-34 were 24%, ages 35

– 44 were 16%, ages 45 – 54 were 12%, ages 55-64 were 12%, and age 65 and

above were 12%. This distribution also corresponds to the high number of

university graduates who responded to the survey.

All surveys were conducted in five of the largest neighborhoods in Prishtina,

Kosovo’s capital city.

Table 1: Basic Characteristics of Survey Respondents

Gender %

Male 50

Female 50

Age

15-25 24

25-34 24

35-44 16

45-54 12

55-64 11

65 + 12

Education level

Primary 1

Middle school 10

High school 15

College 68

No education 6

Occupation

Occupations that require expertise (doctors, engineers, lawyers and so on) 40

Self-employed-occupations that do not require expertise (grocery, trades, real

estate and so on) 25

Private sector 10

Student 10

Unemployed 15

Region (Prishtina, Kosovo)

Prishtina (7 neighborhoods) 100

6



Trust in institutions is often treated as an index that speaks of citizen perceptions about

the quality of services that those institutions provide. It is often assumed that

institutions that enjoy a higher degree of trust have lesser degrees of nepotism and

corruption then those that do not. As such, attempts are made to quantify trust despite

evidence that shows that trust can be build in multiple ways and does not always give an

indication of lack or presence of corruption.

Numerous research makes a direct link between “legal institutional quality” and trust.

One such research, focusing on market relations, claims that: “moral norms of

cooperative behavior can follow improvements in formal institutional quality. Cultural

origin, initial trust and trustworthiness influence opportunistic behavior in markets, but

only in the absence of strong formal institutions.”12 However, such research does not

account for the ways in which trust can be seen as a reflection of how well certain

services are provided to some and not to others - structured by class, gender and

ethnicity - as well as how networks of trust are build.13 Access to institutions and their

services is not only a matter of providing infrastructural capacities or compliance with

law, rather socio-economic differences are reinforced and already enmeshed within

institutions.

As one of our respondents noted: “My family and I always trusted the institutions

[courts] because I could rely on the connections I had there.”14 Others, on the other

hand, articulated lack of trust not because they did not receive services but because

their interactions were marred with prejudice.15 One divorcee, and the cases are

numerous, was told by a judge that she “like all women was being spoiled”. Although the

divorce procedures went fine, according to her, she was made to feel that she was doing

12 Cassar, Alessandra, Giovanna d’Adda and Pauline Grosjean. Institutional Quality, Culture, and Norms of Cooperation: Evidence from a Behavioral Field Experiment. Australian School of Business Research Paper No. 2013 ECON 10. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2263989 13 Smoki Musaraj, in her “Incongruent Translations Conducting Corruption Perception Surveys in Albania” (2013; unpublished paper) points to an important lens offered by Alena Ledeneva (1998) ethnography, which “describes how blat [favor, pull, connection] played the role of social lubricant, how it enabled different kinds of social networks of trust that often provided a safety-net for people with no political authority. This has been very much the case in socialist Albania.” The same can certainly be said of Kosovo. 14 Respondent #22. 15 Qosaj-Mustafa, Ariana, Nichole Farnsworth (Kosovo Women’s Network). More Than Words on Paper: The Response of Justice Providers to Domestic Violence in Kosovo. United Nations Development Program: Prishtina, 2009.

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2263989

7

“something wrong by exercising her legal rights, and so this is how justice in not

blind.”16

In order to measure trust in institutions, the following question has been asked:

“How much do you trust the following institutions” (from 1: lowest, to 5:

highest trust).

Graph 1: Trust in institutions

The table depicts percentages given to a particular qualifier on a scale of 1 to 5 (lowest

to highest). For example, 44% or respondents place their trust in the Police Force at 3.

This confirms numerous other reports on public trust in institutions in Kosovo, although

in the past two years reported trust in the Police Force has diminished.17

16 Interview with M.S. on 13 October 2013. 17 A matter of trust. Public perceptions of safety and security in Kosovo, 2009/2010. Forum for Civic Initiatives and Saferworld. Saferworld, November 2010. http://www.saferworld.org.uk/downloads/pubdocs/A%20matter%20of%20trust_ENG_WEB.pdf (Accessed on 1 December 2013).

0

1

2

3

4

5

Trust in Institutions 1 lowest - 5 highest

http://www.saferworld.org.uk/downloads/pubdocs/A%20matter%20of%20trust_ENG_WEB.pdf

http://www.saferworld.org.uk/downloads/pubdocs/A%20matter%20of%20trust_ENG_WEB.pdf

8

District councils (46% assessed their trust at 5) and health centers (50% assessed their

trust at 4) enjoy a higher degree of trust. The latter can be seen as contradictory to the

overall public criticism of doctors and health providers, and therefore the distinction

between health centers, that provide primary and secondary care, and University

Clinical Center of Kosovo, which provides tertiary care, must be studied more closely.

The trust placed in religious institutions is divided among the 53% who assessed their

trust at 4 - 5 and 46 % at 1-3 (1% did not respond). This relation must be further

explored particularly as Kosovo lacks a law that regulates the status of religious

institutions and the past year has been characterized by irregularities in the election of

representatives to the Council of the Islamic Community of Kosovo. In conversation,

respondents spoke of their faith more than they did of trust in representatives (imams,

etc.) and institutions.

The local government faired worst with 48% assessing their trust at 1. Poor urban

infrastructure (transportation, childcare facilities, utilities, illegal construction, etc.)

ranked as one of the main and most serious problems faced by citizens (see Graph 3

below) - only to be preceded by unemployment and followed by corruption - may be

seen as confirmation of the factors that gave Prishtina a new mayor in the November

2013 Kosovo wide municipal elections ending 13 years of one party rule in the

municipality.18

29% place their trust at 4 and 5 in judges, while 71% at 1 – 3. The judiciary in Kosovo

continues to enjoy little trust. According to Hasan Preteni, Director of the Kosovar

Anticorruption Agency “more then 800 officials in Kosovar public institutions hold more

than two jobs.”19 Among them are judges, prosecutors, and supreme-court judges. At a

roundtable event on International Anticorruption Day, organized by the Kosovo

Democracy Initiative (KDI) and supported by Transparency International, Merita

Mustafa, project manager in KDI’s Transparency and Anti-Corruption Program, noted

that the judiciary continues to contribute to Kosovo’s general inability to fight

corruption.20


Respondents were asked: “With which of the following institutions have you or

members of your family recently encountered cases of good service or of bad

service.”

The question required respondents to evaluate experiences with institutions in terms of

services they received. The respondents were asked whether they would qualify those

services as good or bad based on the provider.

18 Luci, Besa. “The End of Politics as Usual,” 3 December 2013. http://www.kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/906/the-end-of-politics-as-usual 19 Interview 4 December 2013. 20 Public discussion, 9 December 2013.

http://www.kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/906/the-end-of-politics-as-usual

9

Graph 2: Experience with institutions

As the chart above shows respondents reported cases of good services in municipalities,

district councils, the police force, health care providers and public schools, in much

higher numbers. At the same time, higher numbers of bad services were reported for the

same institutions, apart from public schools were only 3 cases of bad service were

reported. Based on follow-up conversations it was made evident that the numbers

correspond to the frequency of contact the respondents have with the listed institutions.

For example, 4 reported cases of good services and 10 of bad services with judges, and 3

bad and 8 good experiences with local associations, speak to that fact that 14

respondents in the former and 11 in the latter could report on personal or family

members’ contact with said institutions. The same applies to international donor

organizations, religious institutions, national and local government. The absence of

evaluations by the respondents in some cases was also a result of unwillingness to

answer.

These responses are an indication of the frequency with which the citizens surveyed

have communicated with the listed institutions, as well as how their occupation, familial

status, etc. requires or enables this communication. For example, only 14 respondents

reported experience with tax offices and these mainly referred payment of property tax

32

2,5 3,5

32

17

4

31

38

31

9 8

10

33

4,4

1,8

21

1

10 11

18

3 5

3 3

Experience with Institutions

Good Bad

10

and requests for tax verification certificates for visa purposes (in addition to a barrage

of documents Kosovar citizens also have to provide proof to consulates that they have

no outstanding tax payments). On the other hand, despite Kosovo’s dynamic and vocal

civil society – in this survey 20% of respondents mistakenly identified them as public

officials – the most recent Kosovo Civil Society Index 2013, reports that only 2% of

citizens (1,300 respondents in a survey) are members of a civil society organization.21

However, a number or related explanations would have to be sought in order to gain a

better understanding of the survey responses, and what according to the interviewees

constitutes a “good” or a “bad” experience. The almost equal evaluation of services for

the municipality, with 32 good and 33 bad experiences reported, is an important

example.

A university lecturer explained that she refrains from going to the municipality to have

documents issued. Waiting in line takes too long according to her, and with all of her

other responsibilities she does not have two hours to waste waiting in line. Therefore a

close family member who works there secures the documents for her, although this has

become more difficult in recent years. She judged her experience as bad because she has

to rely on others instead of being able to efficiently conduct her own matters.

Another interviewee disagreed with her, saying that the restructuring of services that

occurred some years ago has made everything more efficient. According to her “people

still imagine the municipality as it used to be, but it has changed. They are much more

professional now and the lines are not as long. Certainly the electronic services could be

better and could make everything more efficient, but everywhere you go in the world it

takes time to get documents issued.”22 She explained that services have been brought

closer to citizens, with municipal offices delegated to particular neighborhoods.

Nonetheless, she also judges her experience as bad. According to her, the fact that

people still rely on connections reinforces the belief, on the part of service providers,

that they can “work at a rate convenient to them. Also, what happens is that they might

get the documents for you but they will ask you for a favor in return.”23 She was asked

by a municipal worker who helped in expediting her new passport, if she could find a

job for his unemployed son, a recent university graduate.

Municipalities in Kosovo have also seen quite a bit of turnover in terms of staff, with

employment being politically driven. Because in Prishtina the same political party held

power for over 10 years, this turnover has not been as high as in some other

municipalities. One of the respondents, a middle-aged professional, claimed that

previously he used to know everyone at the municipal offices and would get things done

quickly. Although according to him he never paid a bribe, he could skip the lines. But this

21 Kosovo Civil Society Index 2013. Kosovo Civil Society Foundation: Prishtina, 2013 (Draft). 22 Interviews conducted on 20 September 2013. 23 Interviews conducted on 20 September 2013

11

has changed now. As new people occupy positions that could allow such benefits, he

now sees others who skip lines and get things done quickly.

According to him this makes things somewhat easier because he can rely on procedures

and not on whether the service provider knows, likes or dislikes you. He can now have

recourse to filing a complaint because he knows he does things according to the rules.

Also, according to him, “people have difficulties in tax offices, in the municipality, and in

other institutions, when their papers are not in order. Many people say they have

difficulties but that is because they are hiding something, trying to pay less for the fees,

they buy property and try to avoid paying taxes.”24

In all of these cases we see that judgments about bureaucracy and experiences with

institutions are made through interpretations of past and present experiences, as well as

status. A service is considered to be good when you are able to receive it in a timely

manner and the fact that you “do things according to rules” is rewarded. You may also

have a good experience because you have connections, but the institution is poorly

evaluated because it still allows for such practices. On the other hand, those in a more

precarious position have no recourse, such as a day laborer who was interviewed, who

will do things according to rules but loses a days’ wage when dealing with any

institution.

A service provider may act legally and efficiently but the experience is judged based on

expectations of rights and responsibilities, and lack thereof. Moral, economic, political

and social categories all come together in evaluating services provided by various

institutions.

4. LOCAL ISSUES


Asking citizens to identify problems in their community is often used a means of

assessing whether a government is in touch with the needs and concerns of citizens,

listens, and responds to those needs. Comparatively, results may show if a particular

issue continues to be seen as a problem, at what rate, and if people think it has been

resolved.

For the purposes of this survey respondents were asked: “What in your view are the

most serious problems in your community? List at least three starting from the most

important.”

24 Interview conducted on 17 November 2013.

12

Graph 3: Serious problems in community

The graph above shows the percent at which survey participants listed an issue as being

a serious problem in their community. Participants were asked to list three in order of

relevance. For example, unemployment was listed 55 times, urban infrastructure 54,

corruption 48 times, and so on. Other issues, which may have previously been seen as

secondary to larger structural issues, such as poverty and democratic governance, are

replaced by concerns over city maintenance (removal of waste, cleaning of streets),

which was mentioned 43 times, and general order (noise, stray dogs, vandalism, etc.),

which was mentioned 35 times.

For the past ten years in Kosovo, unemployment has been continuously identified as the

most pressing and serious issue. Ever since the United Nations Development Program

launched the Early Warning Report in 200225 (now Public Pulse), to ascertain opinion

and development of democratic governance and rule of law in Kosovo, Kosovar citizens

have not only identified unemployment as a problem but also a cause of all other

problems. Unemployment certainly continues to dominate the list of concerns with

official labor market numbers at 45%.

25 “The Reports are intended as strategic planning, response, and policy tools for development and peace-building actors in Kosovo by deriving recommendations for preventative measures from trend analysis and monitoring of key sector indicators of fundamental conflict-causing factors.”

55 54

48

43

35

22

12 10

5 5 3 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Percent of respondents (%)

13

However, ten years ago in addition to unemployment people listed lack of electricity and

low wages as top issues of concern, and corruption was not mentioned at all.26 Wages in

civil service institutions were raised in 2011 and electricity cuts are not as frequent,

which may be the reasons why they no longer figure on the top of the list. Today

corruption follows unemployment and urban infrastructure as a problem in Prishtina,

however, the connection between these must be further explored.

It is important to note that correlations between problems in communities and priority

issues identified by governments, think tanks, and international agencies, and those

offered by citizens are not always the same. According to an assessment on democracy

and rule of law in Kosova, conducted under the SIGMA Program, supported by the

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union,

there are five main difficulties and weaknesses in Kosovo: 1. Young institutions, 2.

Heavy reliance on external support for expertise and funding, 3. The struggle for more

international recognition, 4. Lack of legitimacy across the whole territory and by all

communities, 5. Rising citizen dissatisfaction with the quality of life, especially due to

unemployment and corruption.27

This assessment continues to be correct two years after its publication and not much

appears to have changed in Kosovo in terms of the hierarchy of challenges faced by the

Kosovar state. Respondents agreed that unemployment and corruption are top

priorities, and the first may be seen as the cause of the latter, but they all pointed to

complex relations between socio-economic transformations (privatization, market

economy, welfare), national and international actors, and the ability, which some might

call agency, to organize at the community level.

As the table above shows, poverty and income inequality are not mentioned as often -

12 and 2 respondents mention these as problems, respectively. This could be seen as a

reflection of the socio-economic groups included in the survey, where most could be

placed in the “middle-class” category. However, the lines between socio-economic and

ideological identifications are not as clear. This was especially true when it came to

meanings of work and development. One of the unemployed respondents argued that

“you have to work hard” if you wish to get out of poverty, while an architect argues that

26 Early Warning Report #1. May – August 2002. RIINVEST, Institute for Development Research. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnacr369.pdf 27 Assessment Kosovo March 2012, Democracy and the Rule of Law (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and European Union, March 2012). As the assessment states “[…] citizens’ frustration with the quality of life is rising, especially as expectations were very high. Unemployment, corruption, the poor quality of public services delivery and poor economic performance are serious problems that may erode trust in democracy and in the rule of law. Low participation in past elections is evidence of that disappointment.” Assessment Kosovo March 2012, Democracy and the Rule of Law (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and European Union, March 2012), p. 2.

http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnacr369.pdf

14

“poverty is structural, and you can work as hard as you like but structural changes have

to be made for you to get the opportunity.”

In addition, there is quite a bit of disagreement on what constitutes corruption. The

definition of “corruption” is not singular and has numerous meanings when translated

into concrete identifiable practices, something that is discussed further in the

forthcoming sections. Here it is important to note that concerns over corruption

mattered to respondents as long as they could translate it into employment. As one

respondent noted: “there is nothing to do about corruption, as long as people in power

continue to have this much power. They wish to get rich for themselves, but they also

employ their family members. The first one is stealing, the second one is corruption. ”

Avni Zogiani, a prominent anti-corruption activist, journalist, and Executive Director of

the anti-corruption organization ÇOHU, more recently declared that keeping checks and

balances over the judiciary and other institutions continues to be relevant in the fight

against corruption. However, according to him, as long as the current government and

particularly its leaders are seen as political partners by the international community,

Kosovo will not be able to significantly tackle corruption. Zogiani’s statement makes

clear that “local issues” cannot be separated from global ones. What happens in

Prishtina, and Kosovo in general, is directly connected to what happens in Brussels, and

Europe, and according to most respondents, particularity what is decided in Washington

D.C.

On other hand, while respondents recognize the relevance and influence of international

relations and systemic economic transformations, their responses also speak of their

increased interest to focus on their neighborhoods and daily lives.28 Problems in urban

infrastructure, maintenance, and order, mentioned 54, 43 and 35 times, respectively,

dominated the conversations. These included lack of parking space, sidewalks overrun

by cars, poor waste collection, lack of green spaces and parks, and particularly irregular

construction projects (apartment building with stories added on top, additions to homes

and buildings, apartment and office buildings that do not comply with urban planning

and other standards, etc.).

Most respondents believed that there was not much they could do about the chaos in the

city’s urban layout. “The only thing to do seems to tear everything down and start

building from starch” is a solution one often hears in Prishtina. Much hope also appears

to rest on the new mayor of the city, and many have argued that the recent election

results showed that citizens do matter.

Other options were also given. One respondent was adamant about strategies people

should take: “When you see that people at the top do not want to put the state in order

28 See UNDP & Global Integrity. A Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption. Oslo, Norway: UNDP, 2008.

15

the only thing you can do as a citizen is to start asking for a receipt every time. Every

time you buy anything, when you cut your hair, even when you buy tissues, even when

you buy a doughnut. Every-time you buy anything.” Similar ideas expressed the need for

citizens to act as regulators of corrupt practices. If a store clerk does not issue you a

receipt it most certainly means that taxes on those goods are not paid. There is little

belief that the market “regulates itself,” or that the state is interested in acting on behalf

of citizens. Whether and how citizens respond, organize and challenge this quandary is a

matter that deserves further analysis.


Interviewees were also asked which institutions they feel are not responsive to their

needs for services by relying on their own means. The question aims to ascertain

whether services from particular institutions could be obtained without relying on

connections, bribes, gifts, etc. (possibilities mentioned by respondents). Respondents

were asked: “With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you are not

able to settle a matter/obtain a service with your own resources?” (Multiple choice

possible).

Graph 4: Ability to obtain services from institutions relying exclusively on own

means:

74,2

64,9

57,7 57,7

25,8 19,6

15,5 11,3 9,2 7,2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Can not get services on my own

16

The graph above shows the percentage at which respondents believed they could not

resolve a matter of obtaining a service relying only on own means at a particular

institution.

The leading institution here is the municipality. The majority of respondents (72%)

declared that they are not able to settle a matter or obtain services there only with their

own resources. Matters and services mentioned pertained to issues beyond the basic

services offered, such as birth, death, wedding certificates, etc. It appears that most of

such services have become streamlined. Also limited contact with international and

local organizations (25.8% and 9.2%), with police (15.5%), mosques (11.3%), and

judges (7.2%), produced lower response numbers. In these cases respondents noted “I

don’t know,” “Have not had the opportunity,” or “Have not dealt with them.”

While respondents were asked to make the distinction between “own means” and

connections they could utilize, many spoke of these connections as their private

resource. Paying for services was also seen as a matter of using own financial means.

One respondent mentioned a complaint she had logged about a broken elevator in her

building. She visited the Directorate for Public Services, at the municipality, each week

to check on the status of her complaint but was not able to receive any information.

“It has been four months since the elevator has worked. I live on the 10th floor and it

makes things very difficult. I am Ok with the exercise I get, but there are others, elderly

people who cannot walk as easily. In some cases, I know from a friend, the people living

in another building got together and paid for a new elevator. But, the people on the first

two floors did not pay because they say they do not need it. It may be this, or maybe they

can’t afford to pay.”

In another apartment building I noticed that the tenants had installed a new elevator but

only those who paid received an access card. This meant that visitors could not access

the elevator and it would have to be sent down to them. These and similar issues (in

maintenance, etc.) are most often discussed as a matter of changes in the responsibility

of institutions and increased privatization of services. The previous Housing Offices

within Self-Managed Interest Associations (Bashkësitë Vetëqeverisëse të Interesit) were

responsible for maintenance of socially and publicly owned properties. However, the

new Public Housing Company (Ndërmarrja Publike Banesore)29 is no longer responsible

for carrying out similar responsibilities, with its main activities now focused on new

construction projects. In order to find out that the Public Services Directorate handles

issues of maintenance it required my respondent to ask two acquaintances and then find

29 Despite a large e-governance project, supported by USAID (http://www.demi-ks.org/?cid=2,58,335), which led to the adoption of the E-Governance Strategy 2009-2015 by the Kosovo Government, the only online available information on this body is the address and phone number. http://kk.rks-gov.net/prishtina/Municipality/Departments/Ekonomi-dhe-Zhvillim-Lokal/Ndermarrjet-Publike-Komunale/Ndermarrjet-Publike-Banesor.aspx. (Accessed on 1 December 2013).

http://www.demi-ks.org/?cid=2,58,335

http://www.demi-ks.org/?cid=2,58,335

http://kk.rks-gov.net/prishtina/Municipality/Departments/Ekonomi-dhe-Zhvillim-Lokal/Ndermarrjet-Publike-Komunale/Ndermarrjet-Publike-Banesor.aspx

http://kk.rks-gov.net/prishtina/Municipality/Departments/Ekonomi-dhe-Zhvillim-Lokal/Ndermarrjet-Publike-Komunale/Ndermarrjet-Publike-Banesor.aspx

17

the information online.30 She relied on the information of people she knew and some

digging though the municipal website. Others, bypassed this process altogether and

pooled their financial resources to resolve the problem.

Today, shifts in property regimes and relations between public and private institutions,

have lead to “fuzzy” arrangements.31 The increased privatization of all spheres of life,

such as the example of purchasing the elevator, still leads to ownership (including rights

and responsibilities) that is not individual but collective. A significant change has

occurred in the relationship to the things that are owned, and their meanings. Having

paid for a new elevator themselves, the tenants of the apartment building I visited

considered the elevator as “their own” but considered the pileup of garbage at the

entrance the responsibility of local government. It is unclear to them who would “own”

or “has responsibility” for the building itself.

Tax office, public hospitals/health center, and public schools also show a high

respondent rate with 64.9%, 57.7%, and 57.7% respectively. However, respondents did

not report significant distrust or bad experiences with the same institutions. 50% had

placed their trust in health centers at 4, and 55% and 40% had placed their trust in tax

offices and public schools at 3. The high rate for tax office and public schools was not

further analyzed for the purposes here, but there appeared to be no clear correlation

between ability to settle matters based on own means and peoples’ trust in those

institutions. This again shows that relations of trust are built along various paths and

means.

As shown below (Graph 5), 42% of respondents would advise a friend to find some kind

of connection (from a friend, relative, or person of influence) in order to solve a

problem. While 38% of respondents reported good experience with heath care

providers and only 11% reported bad experiences, 57.7% reported the inability to

conduct matters at these institutions without relying on other means.

The equivalence assumed between bribes and gifts in our question “With which of the

aforementioned institutions do you feel that you are not able to settle a matter/obtain a

service with your own resources?” is not the same one assumed by the respondent. For

example, the majority of people interviewed agreed that the poor conditions in

hospitals, as well as other institutions, are a result of general theft and corruption in

30 http://kk.rks-gov.net/prishtina/Municipality/Departments/Sherb-Pub-Mbrojtje-dhe-Shpet-.aspx 31 See Verdery, Katherine. "Fuzzy Property: Rights, Power, and Identity in Transylvania's Decollectivization." In Uncertain Transition: Ethnographies of Change in the Postsocialist World, Michael Burawoy and Katherine Verdery, ed. Boulder, CO: Rowan and Littlefield, 1998.

http://kk.rks-gov.net/prishtina/Municipality/Departments/Sherb-Pub-Mbrojtje-dhe-Shpet-.aspx

http://kk.rks-gov.net/prishtina/Municipality/Departments/Sherb-Pub-Mbrojtje-dhe-Shpet-.aspx

18

procurement for infrastructural projects.32 Also, doctors were reported of telling

patients to visit their private clinics, something many respondents defined as “stealing”

and agreed was a failure to fulfill your obligations at work.33 The incentives of such

recommendations may be shorter waiting times for examinations, test results, etc. At

times the recommendation may be “legitimate” considering that private clinics are

better equipped, or even just equipped with the resources that public hospitals lack.

Often, though the ones who can receive “better services” are patients who can afford to

use the private clinics.

One doctor who was interviewed recently had an acquaintance, a relative of a patient,

call her and ask her to “show more care in the interpretation of the results. There is the

idea that if you have a connection the doctor will show you more care. This certainly

happens, but I don’t see how I would aim for a better analysis for one patient over

another.”34 There is also the expectation of gifts on the part of doctors, as part of a

longer standing practice. The expectation of gift giving, on the part of both parties,

occurs once services are rendered. As such it is not conceived as “corruptive,” rather a

fulfillment of expectations of conviviality. As one responded noted: “The hospitals do not

have medicine, their equipment often does not work. Recently when a relative was sick

the family had to buy everything and bring it with them. But the doctor was very good…

My cousin bought the doctor a gift (peshqesh) to show his gratitude.“

Generally, people agree that services in private clinics are better and there you do not

have to rely on connections or bribes. As “a paying customer, you can make more

demands on the doctors” we were told. While money may mediate relations of trust and

responsibility, as well as status, public health care facilities are seen as “better” in other

regards. A young mother told me that she went to a private hospital for her delivery

because there the nurses are more attentive, it is clean, you have your private room and

bathroom, including cable TV, but during complications she noticed that one woman

was rushed to the public University Clinical Center. “In the end, when things go wrong

all patients are sent to the Clinical Center,” she had observed. A doctor at the gynecology

clinic there also confirmed.

Another interviewee, however, spoke of her experience at the Clinical Center as one of

trauma: “Everyone was so rude. We were all lined up in one room, maybe 10 or 15 of us.

All of us waiting to go into labor. Like animals. ” Although she knew the doctors and had

connections, she was treated as everyone else. During a visit to a doctor at the

University Clinical Center, almost one-year ago, I patiently waited in line with some 20

other people. When they saw me speak to the doctor, the assumption was that he would

32 See Kosovo Democratic Institute. Transparenca dhe Llogaridhënia në Prokurimin Publik: Raport i Monitorimit të Prokurimit Publik në Ministrinë e Shëndetësisë. Korrik, 2013. http://www.kdi-kosova.org/publications/Raporti%20i%20Monitorimit%20te%20Prokurimit%20Publik%20ne%20MSH%202013.pdf 33 Focus group, conducted 18 October 2013. 34 Interview, 20 August 2013.

19

see me before those who had been before me in line. I kept standing in the line and was

commended for waiting, despite the fact that I knew the doctor and could have asked

him to see me through the back door.


All of the questions above lead to a consideration of what citizens, with varying degree

of trust, past experience, and means, believe to be most successful options (producing

results) in dealing with institutions.

Respondents were asked: “How would you advise a person who can’t successfully deal

with institutions to resolve his problem?”

Respondents were asked to choose one of the following possible answers. “I would advise them to”:




Pay a fee

Give a small gift




Don’t know

Graph 5: Advice for problem resolution techniques


15%

Ask for intervention from

a relative 16%

Ask for intervention from

an important person

11% Pay a fee

5% Give a small gift

5%

Denounce the disservice to the

competent authorities

19%

Try several times until I get a good

result 21%

Avoid in general

dealing with that

institution 4%

Don’t know 4%

Advice problem resolution techniques (%)

20

The question produced a variety of responses, showing there is no dominant preference

for problem solving, although gift giving, payment of fees and avoidance (5%, 5%, and

4% respectively) were chosen less to a significant degree. During conversations it

became evident that when a problem or request was considered legitimate and rightful

the respondents did not see the need to advise such options. On the other hand,

numerous examples to the contrary were given whereby the situations described were

defined by a lack of perceived fairness, as well as social and economic equality that

determines successful resolution of a problem. One such example is discussed below.

First it should be noted that the assumption of the question may be that whatever advice

a respondent offers to a friend is also what they would chose for themselves. It also may

be a reflection of the means respondents believe are available to them and the person

they are advising. However, the results below are treated as advice and not as direct

indications of past and potential future choices respondents had or might make.

A significant number of respondents (21%) declared that they would advise a friend to

rely on himself or herself and try a number or times before reaching their aimed results.

Also, 19% declared that they would denounce a disservice. If added together, a majority

of 42% would recommend seeking assistance from a friend or relative (31%) or would

recommend asking an important person to intervene (11%). Generally, it is possible to

argue that the respondents were almost equally split between those relying on formal

and informal channels.

When read together with the results on declarations of “practices against good society”

(see Graph 8), the findings here confirm that bribes and similar practices, particularly

when a public official is involved, are considered unethical and illicit to varying degrees.

A 65 year-old economist stated that he would recommend a friend to find “connections”

or offer “a small gift” in resolving a problem, but was categorical against the buying of

votes and on his demands for transparency and legality in job allocation (as were 94%

and 88% of all respondents, respectively).

As stated earlier, additional insight would be gained if options for advice given were

treated in regard to the particular institutions respondents had in mind. Two

respondents who compared “problem-solving” options within higher education gave an

interesting insight. A part-time lecturer and administrator at a private university

explained the kind of pressure she is put under by the students’ parents:

“There is the expectation that since they pay for their education they will also get good

grades. You can see this in many private universities and I think its is the fault of the

management. In addition, the students who got top grades in high school expect the

same grades at the university. So many students have excellent marks, but they don’t

deserve them. This one time I was dealing with a student who was suspended for failing

21

to keep the minimum grade point average. His mother came to consult with me. She

came wearing a fur coat, in this expensive car. She told me that her son would work for

his father anyway and did not need the grades just the diploma…At public universities

there are also the scandals of ministers and members of parliament who are also

teaching staff but regularly fail to hold their classes, or get these jobs because the

university is so politicized.”35

Another lecturer who was interviewed spoke of more direct harassment by her student.

He kept sending her emails every other day because he was not content with his grade, a

B, although the lecturer had explained numerous times the decision behind the grade.

The student took the matter to the academic director who in an attempt at fairness

towards the student questioned the lecturer. She was not hired for the course the

following term and according to her showed that “junior faculty are always more

vulnerable, but not only for being junior but also for not being part of the ‘old-boys

club’.” Such situations are in no way particular to the education system in Kosovo.

Amidst recent debates about grade inflation in US universities a Harvard University

teaching assistant explains she gave higher marks as otherwise students would

complain that she ruined their lives with a B.36

On the other hand, a student interviewee complained that students have little recourse

and often deal with professors who do not show up for class, are late with exam results,

and do not hold office hours.37 Solutions are found in using connection of all kinds – a

relative or friend who may be a professor or teacher, a school-director director, and

more recently political (such as party belonging) and business connections have become

more frequent.38 When formal channels for solving such matters exist and are supported

they can protect both students and teachers. Such was the case when a student raised a

claim of sexual harassment and the professor was retired. Although most such cases,

reportedly, go unaddressed.

A major issue of contention in education institutions is grading and acceptance at a

university (although “strings have to be pulled for entrance to kindergartens as well”).39

The perception is also that teaching positions are more easily given to children of

professors and those with political connections. As shown below 41.8% of respondents

declared that bringing a gift to be accepted to a good school is a practice against good

society. On the other hand, limited acceptance numbers and competition at some

faculties at the university, as well as competition over grades (determining scholarship,

35 Interview 5 September 2013. 36 See Allison Schrager. “Confession of an Ivy League teaching assistant: Here’s why I inflated grades”. http://qz.com/157579/confession-of-an-ivy-league-teaching-assistant-heres-why-i-inflated-grades/ (Accessed on 13 December 2013). 37 See http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/840/education-for-the-people-kosovos-public-universities and http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/826/exploring-kosovos-colleges-and-universities 38 Focus group discussion, 18 October 2013. 39 Interview 20 October, 2013.

http://qz.com/157579/confession-of-an-ivy-league-teaching-assistant-heres-why-i-inflated-grades/

http://qz.com/157579/confession-of-an-ivy-league-teaching-assistant-heres-why-i-inflated-grades/

http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/840/education-for-the-people-kosovos-public-universities

http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/840/education-for-the-people-kosovos-public-universities

http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/826/exploring-kosovos-colleges-and-universities

http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/826/exploring-kosovos-colleges-and-universities

22

acceptance to graduate school, employment, etc.) have produced a situation where the

problems are systemic, according to my respondents, and not individual.

A most recent case made public a longer-standing suspicion. A group of mainly teaching

assistants at the Faculty of Medicine, including one from the Faculty of Philosophy and

an economist, supported by some professors as is believed, were reported of having

created a sophisticated system of receiving payment for grades, diplomas, and securing

placement in a program. The teaching assistants involved were arrested for abuse of

official duties, accepting bribes, falsification of documents, and legalization of untrue

information.40 One person is assumed to have paid 4,500 Euro bribe to be admitted at

the Faculty of Medicine.

4.4 Institutions important for improving wellbeing

Respondent were also asked to select from a list of institutions that they think can best

improve the wellbeing of society. They were asked: “Who do you think could help to

improve the general wellbeing of your community?” and were given a list of eleven

options from which to choose one.

Graph 6: Institutions important for improving wellbeing

40 See http://www.koha.net/?page=1,13,169641

22,4 21,9

9,9 9,1 7,7 7,4 6,3

5,1 5,1 3,1 2

Institutions important for wellbeing

%

http://www.koha.net/?page=1,13,169641

23

The responses are distributed among the various options, but the wellbeing of

communities is primarily seen as a responsibility of the state and its citizens, with

22.4% and 21.9% responses respectively.

In reference to the government, respondents explained that the government has to act

with responsibility and that it holds the means through which to improve the wellbeing

of communities. Many respondents noted that it was not only a matter of who could help

but also who ought to help. Therefore the results show different understandings about

the possibilities that institutions have (legal, financial, infrastructural, etc.) and which

ones according to them can and should have an effect in improving wellbeing. In

addition, the responses give evidence of the rights and obligations attributed to

citizenry. One respondent argued that:

“The government, central and local, can do the most. Citizens are also responsible for

their action. If the government acts badly citizens think it is ok to do things that way.

They [government] give an example. So they think, if they are getting rich or whatever

like that why should I be honest. I don’t get rewarded...So they think, I can’t steal but I

can slack of at work. This is more acceptable.”41

Participants particularly discussed matters that pertained to their vision of society.

Therefore, other institutions such as NGOs, police, local governments, judges, the

opposition, and media, are seen as relevant for wellbeing. The ideas expressed here are

that government has to be monitored and it is the responsibility of these institutions to

make sure that the government protects and develops the wellbeing of citizens.

According to statements from NGO activists, the government not only could help

improve the wellbeing of its citizens but should also provide oversight and some kinds

of control over private companies and protect workers. The relations to political

belongings, and relations between state and the market, and thus overall political-

economic transformations remain largely unexplored in Kosovo.42

An additional idea expressed in regard to the given options is that citizens are better

equipped when media and other non-governmental institutions are on their side. This is

complicated by the fact, as the figures below show (Graph 7), that 28.8% or respondents

identified journalists as public officials. While media are held to this expectation there is

also the belief that there is not much they can do. Speaking about one corruptive affair a

41 Focus group. 18 October 2013. 42 See Pula, Besnik. “Transmission Belts of the European Financial Crisis in the Balkan Super-Periphery.” Paper presentation at "Economic Development and Political Transition in Kosovo,” conference, American University in Kosovo, 12-13 October, 2012. http://www.aukonline.org/web/doc/other/conference/Besnik%20Pula.pdf. Also “Components of economic growth and rentier capitalism in Kosovo,” in http://globalfield.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/components-of-economic-growth-and-rentier-capitalism-in-kosovo/

http://www.aukonline.org/web/doc/other/conference/Besnik%20Pula.pdf

http://globalfield.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/components-of-economic-growth-and-rentier-capitalism-in-kosovo/

http://globalfield.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/components-of-economic-growth-and-rentier-capitalism-in-kosovo/

24

participant said: “Nothing, they wrote two pages that day and the journalist will

probably win some award for the best article on corruption, or something like that. But,

again nothing will happen, you know.”43

4.5 Identification of public officials

Survey-participants were asked to select from a list all those that they think are public

officials.

Graph 7: Identification of public officials

A large number of responses were correct, whereby 85.7% identified municipal and

village council members, 60.2% police officers, 45.9% identified public school teachers,

and 42.9% public university professors. A significant number did not identify these and

also listed private doctors, journalists, religious leaders, NGO workers and lawyers as

public officials. Some of these responses are discussed in relation to the questions

below.


Respondents were asked about practices that in their opinion are incompatible with the

good development of society. They were asked: “In general, which of the following

practices, in your opinion, are spoiling the good development of society?” They could

choose more than one.

43 Focus group, 18 October 2013.

85,7

60,2

45,9 42,9

13,3

28,6 20,4

13,3

28,6

15,3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Identification of public officials

25

Graph 8: Practices against good society

The majority of respondents identified buying of votes (94%) and giving jobs to friends

or relatives instead of people who deserve them (88%) as practices against good

society. The other responses - buying of gifts, paying fees, etc. - were discussed above in

more detail, specifically in regard to education and health care and relations with trust,

access to services, and problem solving. The use of funds for private purposes and

exchange of information to get tenders is further discussed below in relation to the two

main objections depicted in the graph here (Graph 8) and in Section 5.4.

According to various reports on corruption in Kosovo, highly politicized public

administration has been a major obstacle for delivering services to citizens. In 2008, the

European Commission stated that: “Civil servants continue to be vulnerable to political

interference, corruption and nepotism.” 44 According to Bertelsmann Stiftung

Transformation Index, the Kosovo administration faces widespread corruption.45 In

44 See the series of reports “Nations in Transit”, published by Freedom House, Country Report for Kosovo 2004, 2010, and 2011. The vulnerability of civil servants to political interference was emphasized in the European Commission’s Kosovo Progress Report for 2008. In the following years, the European Commission stated that there is lack of political support for public administration reform.” See http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/01/09/feature-02, published January 9, 2013. 45 See Bertelsmann Stiftung. BTI 2012 – Kosovo Country Report. Gutersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2012.

94 88

38 42

24

39

24

14

52

Buying votes during

elections

Giving jobs to friends or relatives

instead of people who

deserve them

Using development

funds for private

purposes

Bringing gifts to be accepted

at a good school

Paying fees to have

documents sorted out

quickly

Bringing gifts to obtain access to

health services

Exchanging confidential

information to get tenders and public

construction bids

Convincing journalists not

to publish sensitive articles

Using scandals to get rid of

political opponents

"In general which of the following practices are, in your opinion, spoiling the good development of a society?” (%)

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/01/09/feature-02

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/01/09/feature-02

26

2012, 79,112 officials were paid in accordance with the Law on Budget.46 The legal

framework for civil servants was improved and included further guarantees for a more

professional public administration.47 The most important laws promulgated were the

Law on Civil Service, Law on Civil Service Salaries, and Law on State Administration.

However, according to UNDP, “83% of Kosovo citizens believe public sector employment

is obtained by means other than merit -- a 16 percent increase from 2011.”48

Evaluations produced by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) concur.

The situation was well described by one of the focus group participants:

“I remember when Astrit Haraqija [Minister of Culture 2004-2007] was saying that the

reason he can not invest in culture is because his budget is only 3 million Euros and all

those three million go to paying salaries. So my question is why do you have a minister if

all he does is pay salaries. So he might not be breaking any laws or rules but this way all

he is doing is pay people who do nothing. And if this is not corruption I don’t know what

is.”

Both Haraqija, and a latter minister of culture Valton Beqiri (2008-2010), in 2012 had

charges brought against them by the Prishtina District Prosecutor for abuse of office.49

Public officials are thus both vulnerable to interference and operate through

interference. In most published reports, the employment of friends and relatives,

decisions and skimming of procurement awards, etc., appear to be systemic and used as

an instrument for economic gain as well as for consolidating political power. Despite the

work of anti-corruption instruments such as the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency and the

Auditor General (AG), who are perceived as credible, lack of political will is often seen as

a cause. Examples abound on the lack of official follow up and prosecution of corruption

cases identified through official mechanisms, NGO monitoring, citizen complaints and

the media. Among these, the lack of action by the National Assembly on AG reports

showed unexplained losses at €0.5 to €5m per year per ministry; and the lack of

prosecution on almost all cases forwarded to prosecutors by the Kosovo Anti-

Corruption Agency.50

In 2010, the attention focused on EULEX’s investigation of the so-called “big fish.” To

date none of these investigations resulted in indictments or convictions. No charges

were brought against Minister Fatmir Limaj or his colleagues. The governor of the Bank

of Kosovo, Hashim Rexhepi, was arrested in July and charged with bribery and misuse of

his official position.

46 Annual Report 2012. Prishtina: Ministry of Public Administration, January 25, 2013. 47 See “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on a Feasibility Study for a Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Kosovo”, Brussels: European Commission, October 2012. 48 Brajshori M., “Kosovo civil society targets public sector reform.” 49 http://www.koha.net/?page=1,13,96411 50 EU, Kosovo Progress Report, 2008

http://www.koha.net/?page=1,13,96411

27

The most problematic areas are those related to public procurement, contracting and

privatization. This is evident in the AG reporting, which consistently shows

noncompliance by government entities with public procurement regulations and the

lack of action by these agencies to address previous AG audit findings -- this includes the

Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the President, the National Assembly and the

Public Procurement Agency.51 According to the Freedom House Report 2012, the new

Public Procurement Law does not meet the EU criteria. In our survey 38% of

respondents thought that use of funds for private purposes was a practice against good

society.

Some NGO reports state that parties consolidate their power and remove political

opponents by using accusations of corrupt activities.52 Although some arrests are made,

there are few trials. Attaining witness testimony is also difficult. Public officials do not

report governmental abuse and there are no whistle blower protections. The Kosovo

Anti-Corruption Agency reports being under pressure to release the names of those who

report abuse, and says informants whose names are made public often recant.

As the responses of survey show, attempting to convince a journalist not to publish a

sensitive article was more acceptable, and respondents most often thought of private

affairs “that are nobody’s business.” Only 14% would consider such a practice harmful.

However, 52% agreed that using media to eliminate political opponents (the dominant

means through which scandals are created and information gained) is damaging to good

development of the society. The important distinction being drawn here was between

private and public affairs. While respondents discussed the relevance of free media and

free speech the influence of politicians over editorial politics is assumed and most

people are left wondering whether the charges “are real or just another attempt to

delegitimize opponents.” As one of the focus group participants remarked:

“What is happening here is that people are confused; especially because of the reports in

media and in newspapers, and in posters and public service announcements. There is

one hand in one corner that is giving out the money and there is another hand receiving

[describes an anti-corruption campaign]. You know, every report you see the same

image appears and people do not have time because they are dealing with poverty and

they cannot study what is corruption conceptually. They don’t have that luxury. And I

think this is a problem, that it becomes this abstract thing.”53

The survey also showed that 94% of respondents see the buying of votes as a practice

against good society. Incidents of fraud and payment for votes were noted in the last

general elections in Kosovo. Until general elections held in 2010, the prosecution offices

and courts were reluctant in addressing cases of election fraud. According to the Kosovo

51 AG Audit Reports for 2007 52 Interview with think-tank researcher, 10 November 2013. 53 Focus group. 18 October 2013.

28

Law Institute, “The Election Complaints and Appeals and the Counting and Results

Center supplied relevant information on 854 cases related to elections, which involve

over 5,000 people. Prosecutors have filed indictments on 221 cases which involve 1,516

people and they are conducting further investigations on 758 additional people”54

Considering all of the above, respondents were asked whether, based on their

experience, public officials that offer services in their community act the way they

should.

Graph 9: Public officials do not act the way they should

The responses depicted above show that 46% of the respondents, based on their

experience, found public officials often acting contrary to how they should; 47%

reported that public officials sometimes do not act as they should.

Respondents were also asked if they felt they could express dissatisfaction when

services offered by a service provider are not satisfactory, and if yes to list those.

Satisfactory:

Yes, by directly confronting them and if necessary also by communicating

it to the police

Yes, the bad treatment towards the elderly

Yes, transparency of access to documents

Yes, in some places where you can write a complaint or even turn the key

managers

Yes, in the form of a written complaint

54 See “Organized Crime in Election Process: An Analysis of Prosecution and Adjudication Policy”. Prishtina: Kosovo Law Institute, 2012.

1% 5%

47%

46%

1%

Public officials do not act as they should

Untrue Rarely true Sometimes true Often true Always true

29

Peaceful public protest

I Can express dissatisfaction in the media and only partially

Unsatisfactory:

No respect for the legal access to documents, labor law, etc.

Irregularities in tender and procurement procedures

Life standards do not match with the opportunities we have

You have no where to complain, anyone is hired anywhere with

interventions, which protect them from complaints and eventual

punishment or reprimand

I do not think so; they do not fall in the right ear

No, it would not be taken into account anyhow

You do not even have the opportunity to complain, each institution is

based on keeping [protecting] workers with connections [hired through

interventions]

No, there is no possibility; it rarely happens that they are taken into

account.

3. SOCIAL NORMS


Participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of customs below

on the scale of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very important”.

“In your community, how important is to:”















Graph 10: Importance of Customs

30

The customs that were “very important” providing hospitality to guests and enjoying

meals with other people dominate with 47% and 73%, respectively. The first is also

considered “fairly important” by 49%. Only 2 – 5% considered the other practices as

“very important,” apart from “spending time with friends outside the home” was

thought of as very important by 18% of the respondents.

Most were considered “fairly important,” and particularly those that allow for

relationships that could be of some personal benefit (satisfying a personal request of

favor 71%, know who is the best person to ask a favor 76%, be in good terms with

important persons 70%).

Avoiding bureaucracy is also considered fairly important by 65%, as indicated by the

responses above who evaluated their satisfaction with services offered by pubic

officials. 80% declared that it is “fairly important” to protect a person if they are in a

position to do so, but 42% thought that keeping a secret in order not to harm another

person even if this is not legal is “not important.” Being cautious when talking of politics

in public was considered “not important” by 51%. Personal relationships, connections,

and interventions were elaborated above and show that a number of structural

arrangements are contributors.

47

73

2

3

2

2

3

5

9

10

2

2

4

13

49

18

79

76

57

53

71

76

80

70

65

42

37

56

1

3

12

14

31

36

20

10

4

12

22

47

51

22















Importance of Customs

Not Important Fairly Important Very Important

31

Giving gifts during festivities is “fairly important” for 79% of the respondents, although

“very important” for only 2%. Reciprocating gifts is “fairly important” for 76% and “not

important” for 14%. Reciprocating received gifts is “fairly important” for 57% and “not

important” for 31%. Reciprocating received gifts in the same value is “fairly important”

for 53% and “not important” for 36%.

Treating these as examples of the relevance and attributes of social norms, without the

proper contextualization is problematic, in the least, for any ethnographer. Kosovars

pride themselves for their hospitality and a visit to the Ethnological Museum will teach

you that: “for an Albanian the guest is the head of the household.” Many societies also

find pride in practices of hospitality. Also, as all societies, they also enter complex gift-

giving arrangements and therefore in anthropological literature a significant distinction

is made between gifts and bribes. A distinction the literature on corruption does not

make. Therefore, the objection is to treating social, political and economic relations as

mere relations of preexisting customs (read culture), which create social environment

susceptible to corruption.

A more nuanced analysis would require and provide understanding of the short and

long-term relations built through gift giving, expectations on reciprocity, hospitality,

and how they intersect markers of class, gender, etc. Also, as has been explained above

people do make the distinction between abuse of power and reciprocities. As the graph

below shows, gift giving is attributed to better treatment and services by 45% of

respondents. The other 55% did think that gift giving creates a bond where people

know they will receive better treatment/service.

5.2 Statement: Gift giving related to better treatment/service

In order ascertain an understanding of gift giving in respondents, they were asked

whether they agreed with the following statement: “gift giving creates a bond where

people know they will receive better treatment/service next time they visit the

clinic/office?”

Graph 11: Gift giving related to better treatment/service

32

Respondents were split in their judgment of whether gift giving created the kinds of

bonds that lead to better treatment and services. During conversations some

respondents noted that they focused on whether gifts created bonds, and the kinds of

bonds, while others were thinking of obligations of return that the gift create.

As one respondent noted: “You may not create a close bond with the person, and maybe

don’t even stop to greet them in the street. It depends on how the other person thinks of

your gift. Some people may give a gift because they wish to thank the person, and you

can always reciprocate with a gift yourself. It doesn’t have to be a service. But, of course,

people, you know, give gifts because they want you to feel obligated to help them.”

As things, such as gifts, move within different settings and among various actors, their

meanings are not fixed and can be changed. While some rules may apply to certain

settings - weddings would be one example, although money, which some years ago was

not imagined as a possible gift, is today quite common – a variety of ethical, legal, and

social norms are negotiated and applied.

5.3 Statement: Personal relations affect quality of service

Respondents were also asked whether they agreed with the statement that “the quality

of the services obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship

with the service provider?”

Graph 12: Personal relations affect quality of service

45%

55%

Gift giving related to better treatment/service (%) Agree Disagree

33

The responses here are also almost equaly devided. See Section 4.2 for a more detailed

discussion. It can be noted that many respondents gave the same example as a

clarification. Being that most were against using ones position to hire friends or

relatives they also noted that it is more difficult to tell a friend or relative they are not

doing a good job or reprimand them. Therefore, workig closely with friends and family

is seen as leading to worse work performance. Additional information could be gained if

family businesses were included in the survey, as well as household economies that are

built on extended kin.

One respondent noted that it was awkward for her to go to her cousin who is a denist

because she would not know whether to pay or buy a gift, and is usually seen by her

releative once she has finished with her paying customers. Another respondent, who is a

doctor, explained his frustration at having to offer services for free to friends as well as

the emotional toll it has on him.

5.4 Agreement/dissagreement with different scenarios

With the aim of understanding the social values that influenece decision-making and

ethical judgements that shape those decisions and choices, five different scenarios were

given to the repsondents. Respondens were asked: “The following stories have

happened in other countries in the world. Please indicate if you would in principle agree

with the behavior of the characters, by circling one of the following: “Strongly disagree”,

“Disagree”, “Somewhat disagree”, “Somewhat agree”, “Agree”, “Strongly agree”:

Story a.

52%

48%

Personal relations affect quality of service (%)

Agree

Disagree

34


hardworking and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift

from citizens to sort out problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life

all by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people

avoid him.

Graph 13: Story a

Overall 49% responded on the scale of disagreement and 51% on that of agreement.

Separately, most respondents (36%) strongly agreed with the behavior described in the

scenario. On the other hand, the scenario created conflicting emotions among the

respondents, particularly in regard to the person’s social life and the necessary

connection with the needs of the community. As Graph 18 below will show, having an

intense social life was considered important of a leader by only 9% or respondents.

The following excerpts from interviews give some evidence of how respondents treated

this scenario:

- “He is acting how he should, but you should not isolate yourself.”

- “This person is probably sad because he does not have a social life”

- “If people avoid you how are you going to know what they need? Its not like officials

here are very interested in our needs, or want to be our friends. But, people need

people.”

- “If the only way to be fair and not corrupt is to be like this, maybe he is right”

Story b.

36%

6%

18%

12%

17%

11%

Story a

1 - Strongly agree

2 - Agree

3 - Somewhat agree

4 - Somewhat disagree

5 - Disagree

6 - Strongly disagree

35



because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud

and corruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for

him for what he has done to them.

Graph 14: Story b

The responses given to the previous scenario correspond to the identifications made

here. 54% of respondents strongly disagree that such a person should be held in esteem,

and only a minority (11%) would agree to any degree.

The respondents articulated their readiness to disassociate from someone who

committed fraud or corruption. One respondent explained that she has a work colleague

who was charged for similar things and was similar to the person depicted here. She

cannot afford not to speak to them because he still holds an important position but she

does not respect him. According to her, if more people would do this it would become

more difficult to commit fraud or corruption.

Story c.


procedure is and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns

difficult and they realize they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the

right person. They decide to leave the village and look for another where things are

going according to the rules.

1% 3%

7%

12%

23%

54%

Story b

1 - Strongly agree

2 - Agree

3 - Somewhat agree


5 - Disagree


36

Graph 15: Story c

Respondents predominantly disagreed (73%) with the solution chosen by the family

described in the scenario. The disagreement was not due to the fact that the family did

not choose to find other informal means to settle their problem, but to the fact that they

gave up and “let the system win,” one respondent exclaimed. Also, land continues to be

largely seen as inalienable and thus to be made to leave or sell it is experienced as

traumatic. Respondents often referenced the mass deportation and expulsion that

occurred during the war and with memories so fresh one respondent noted “the Serbs

wanted to drive me away from my land, and I would not let our own do that to me.”

As has been discussed previously, illegal construction and payment of bribes for

building permits is a major concern in Prishtina, as well as Kosovo overall. While it has

become customary to offer a payment, or other in-kind contributions, the decision is a

perplexing one. It is worth noting that earlier 19% of respondents had declared that

they would denounce a wrongdoing. Interviews with owners of mountain homes located

some 60 km from Prishtina revealed that most had made payments in form of fees to get

a building permit, which cost them anything from 3,000 to 5,000 Euros. Many homes

were apparently build without a permit but municipal officials, also receiving these

payments, did not intervene when the violators were politicians or persons of influence.

Story d.

He has a small business in preparing sandwiches, which he sells to local schools. Last


Unfortunately the school head has changed this year and his contract has expired.

1%

5% 8%

7%

6%

73%

Story c

1 - Strongly agree

2 - Agree

3 - Somewhat agree


5 - Disagree


37

Before applying for the next tender, he looks for an influential person who will

introduce him the new school head.

Graph 16: Story d

Similar to other responses thus far strong disagreement to finding connections to get

things done is not expressed, although most respondents (67%) are found on the scale

of disagreement. The implication was that introduction to the new school director, often

assumed to have such positions as a results of a political favor, would lead to some kind

of bribe and not just an opportunity to present the shop owners business plan or

product. Others identified with the shop owner and his predicament: “I have been

without work for some time. Once you get out of the game, it is difficult to get back in,”

explained an unemployed economist. Huge unemployment and lack of economic

development in Kosovo have many citizens thinking about where to draw the line

between ethical and illicit practices.

Story e.

She runs a local NGO for human rights protection. She is very active and well established

in the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an

international donor last year so she applied, being one of the most successful in that

field. In the end she failed because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a

share of the money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper

agreement with them first.

1%

14%

18%

44%

12%

11%

Story d

1 - Strongly agree

2 - Agree

3 - Somewhat agree


5 - Disagree


38

Graph 17: Story e

This scenario elicited more “strong disagreement” and “disagreement,” 16% and 31%

respectively, then the previous one, also respectively 11% and 12%. However, overall

disagreement to the previous scenario was 77% and here 54%.

A number of respondents commented that “securing an agreement” did not mean that

she would pay them, something to which strong disagreement was made. Others

commented that they really do not know how things are done in the NGO and donor

sector and even assumed that this is common practice. A somewhat high percentage

(44%) strongly agrees or agrees with the scenario. They explained that it was

international donor money and the important thing was to receive the grant and

implement the project, otherwise the money would go to another country. As noted

earlier, Kosovars continue to rely on remittances and international funding. Today, an

estimated seventeen percent of Kosovars live abroad, about three hundred and fifteen

thousand, and, of these, 70% send remittances to family members in Kosova.55 This

means that every fifth family receives support from relatives abroad (amounting to

more than the formal foreign aid Kosova receives). In 2004, Kosova ranked seventh in

the amount of remittances received (including Europe and Asia), and was twentieth

worldwide. For the year 2007, an estimated seventeen percent of Kosova’s GDP came

55 In large numbers they work in service, with men concentrated in construction, where only an estimated three percent have supervisory or decision-making positions. Women comprise thirty-five percent of the diaspora (and, on average, have fewer children than their families in Kosova). Of these women, 18% work in education and health. Good gender disaggregated data is missing, but the tendency is for women to work in education and health, earning less then men, but when employed they hold more socially prestigious employment.

21%

22%

2%

8%

31%

16%

Story e

1 - Strongly agree

2 - Agree

3 - Somewhat agree


5 - Disagree


39

from remittances, and, despite warnings that the global financial crisis would thwart

this support, remittances increased in 2012.56

6. VALUES

6.1.What is expected of a leader in your community? (Select all that apply)

Graph 18: What is expected of a leader in a community

In order to understand what values are attributed to good leadership respondents were

asked to select from a list all those characteristics they consider relevant or desirable in

a leader in their community.

A very small percent of respondents (6%) appears to consider age relevant and

therefore do not conform to the idea that younger people should exclusively learn from

their elders. Although 35% (Graph 22) would characterize themselves as a person who

listens to the advice of elders a distinction is made when speaking of leadership

qualities. Young people are seen as innovators, capable and deserving of making own

decisions, although there is some worry that they do not show respect, as do older

generations. This is a considerable distinction if generally compared to Kosovo of some

twenty years ago when age rank was a key determinant in decision-making and power,

56 See Forum 2015 & Riinvest. Diaspora dhe Politikat e Migracionit. Prishtina: FORUM 2015, 2007.

74 69 67

6

15

48

9

51 56

34

They live their life as a

fully autonomous individual,

trying to rely on other

people’s help as less as possible.

They would not break the rules because

rules are what make order in a

society

They think that

traditions must be

respected because they make up one

person´s culture.

They believe that young

generations should learn more from listening to

advices from the elderly.

They are very religious because

religion helps people be part of a

community and get

together regularly.

They think that strangers should not be

accepted in the

community if most of the

people don’t want so.

Their house is often visited

by guests and they have an intense social

life

They think that being

loyal to one’s superior or

boss is a very important

virtue

They will try not to show

their true feelings in public in

order not to appear selfish or egocentric

They prefer not to show to others his

economic standards of

living in order to

avoid jealousy

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

What is expected of a leader in your community? (%)

40

particularly in the private sphere. On the other hand, younger generations have

consistently been agents of change and challengers to the status quo in Kosovo.57

Holding religious values/beliefs (15%) is also not perceived as relevant for a leader,

although 50% of respondents considered themselves on the religious scale and 14% did

not answer the question (Graph 23), speaking to a Kosovar commitment to a secular

state.

In addition, 74% out of 100 thought that a leader should “live their life as a fully

autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as possible” and out

of the same 100 those that considered following rules relevant, because they secure

order in a society, where 69%. While many respondents claimed that they aim to rely

on themselves, as one respondent noted: “As often as I can. I do not want to be a

burden,” they also agreed that following rules is what makes a good leader. According to

them, the assumed collective responsibilities in protecting order and following rules are

closely connected to respect for social norms, but also enable autonomous decision-

making.

Similarly, only 9% stated that it was important for a leader to have an intense social life,

whereby 26% self-identified and 61% did not. This was particularly noted as relevant in

institutional settings, as exemplified in these responses: “If you work based on rules

then others can not influence you,” “Focus on your work. Politicians spend too much

money on dinners and in restaurant,” and “I like having guests but none of us has the

time anyone. It used to be different.” Being able to follow rules was seen as connected to

having to rely less on others, and therefore autonomy was not seen standing in

opposition to order. Also, a more dynamic pace of everyday-life has greatly transformed

notions of time and the kinds of activities people find important.

The same respondent cited above, continued: “In our society family is very important.

We love and respect our families. This is part of our tradition. We take care of the

elderly. But things are changing. I expect my children to take care of me when I get

older, but not like my generation used to do, or how some people still believe.” However,

others also commented that it is “a pity we are changing some very positive social values

we used to have.”

Therefore, 67% agreed that leaders must respect traditions, because they make up one

person´s culture, but 64% also considered themselves autonomous individuals (Graph

19). A better understanding of which traditions respondents had in mind would shed

57 See Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie. "Beyond the family? Making Modernity and New Social Capital in Yugoslav Socialist Kosovo." In Das neue Kosovo: Eigenstaatlichkeit, Demokratie und „Europa" im juengsten Staat des Kontinents, by Konrad Clewing and Vedran Dzihic. Munich: Oldenbourg, 2011.

41

further light on these responses. Based on conversations with the respondents, relying

less on others, securing order, and cultural belonging were significantly more important

that autonomy, and while rules could be broken if they are unjust, preserving and

protecting ones culture was a priority. As one respondent elaborated: “Traditions are

very important, although younger generations have a different outlook. They are not

always wrong. But we need to know who we are, our language, and our history… This is

very important.”

At the same time, the values that the majority attributes to their character are also

qualities sought in a leader: 82% stated that they follow rules (Graph 20), 67% respect

tradition (Graph 21), and 74% take advice for the elderly (Graph 22).

48% of respondents thought that a good leader would not accept strangers in the

community if most of the people wished so. While only 6% considered such to be true of

themselves and 27% halfway true of themselves, 24% did not consider this at all true of

themselves (Graph 24). It appears that the respondents had divided opinions when

acceptance of strangers is concerned. If non-acceptance of strangers were considered a

sign of conservative or progressive values, this question would have to be further

explored in order to gauge a better understanding of imagined relationships such

strangers would engender.

51% said that loyalty to one’s superior or boss is a very important characteristic for a

leader, and was the one character description which most identified in themselves

(63%). 56% said that a leader would try not to show their true feelings in public in

order not to appear selfish or egocentric, and 67% self-identified (Graph 27). 34%

thought that a leader should not show to others their economic standards of living in

order to avoid jealousy, whereby 58% self identified and 41% did not (Graph 28). The

respondents frowned upon flaunting ones wealth, and harsh criticism was given to

those “who think money can buy everything.” Many said they were not concerned over

jealousy “if one earned their wealth by working hard,” but did think that it is not

“tasteful,” “can be offensive” and “can be hurtful” when one considers how high

unemployment and poverty are in Kosovo. The common phrase that “money does not

make you human” was repeated.

6.2 Self-identification with character

Participants were asked how they relate, or self-identify, with 10 different personalized

characteristics. Respondents were asked: “From 1 (Not at All True of Myself) to 6 (True

of Myself) can you tell me how similar you think this person is to you?”

The responses are calculated in percentages and presented in graphs below, whereas

they were discussed in relation to the question on leadership characteristics above

(Section 6.1).

42

Character a.

They live their life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as possible.

Graph 19: Character a

Character b.

They would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society

Graphic 20: Character b

39

10

15 16

7

13

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

True of myself Mostly true of myself

About halfway true of myself

Slightly untrue of myself

Untrue of myself

Not at all true of myself

Autonomous individual (%)

49

23

10 11 3 4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60




Untrue of myself


Follows rules and believes in order (%)

43

Character c.


Graphic 21: Character c

Character d.

They believe that young generations should learn more from listening to the advice of

the elderly.

Graphic 22: Character d

37

2

28

16

5 1

11

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

True of myself

Mostly true of myself

About halfway true

of myself

Slightly untrue of

myself

Untrue of myself


Unanswered

Respects tradition (%)

35

19 20

15

5 6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40




Untrue of myslef


Youth should listen to advice of elders (%)

44

Character e.

They are very religious because religion helps people to be part of a community and get

together regularly.

Graphic 23: Character e

Character f.

They think that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of the people

don’t want so.

Graphic 24: Character f

6

17

27

9

3

24

14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

True of myself


About halfway true

of myself

Slightly untrue of

myself

Untrue of myself


Unanswered

Are very religious because religion brings people together in community (%)

6

17

27

9 3

24

14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Stranger should not be accepted in community

(%)

45

Character g.

Guests often visit their house and they have an intense social life.

Graphic 25: Character g

Character h.

They think that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue.

Graphic 26: Character h

15 12

9

22

3

26

13

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Often has guests and an intense social life (%)

63

15

1 3 5 4 9 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

True of myself


About halfway true

of myself

Slightly untrue of

myself

Untrue of myself


Unanswered

Importance of being loyal to superior or boss (%)

46

Character i.

They will try not to show their true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish or egocentric

Graphic 27: Character i

Character j.

They prefer not to show to others their economic standards of living in order to avoid jealousy

Graphic 28: Character j

39

18

10

17

3 9

4 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

True of myself


About halfway true

of myself

Slightly untrue of

myself

Untrue of myself


Unanswered

Will not express felings in public as does not wish to appear selfish or egocentric (%)

34

9

15 18

7

16

1 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

True of myself


About halfway true

of myself

Slightly untrue of

myself

Untrue of myself


Unanswered

Does not show to other economic standard in order to avoid jealousy (%)

47


you:

One of the last items in the survey given to the participants was to choose from the

following statements they deem most appropriate to them:

To believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions

To believe only those in power can improve our living conditions

To believe only our community as a strong group can improve living conditions

To believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not improve easily

Graph 29: “Most appropriate to you”

As the graph above shows, respondents were uneasy to think of themselves as

falling within only one of the listed categories. Rather, 92% selected all of the

statements, with the exception of “To believe no matter what my actions are our

conditions will not improve easily.” One of the main explanations given was that

“It depends on the situation.” Read comparatively with results discussed here

overall, the ability to negotiate various relations and situations, and flexibility,

may be considered as traits relevant to the respondents of this survey.

Transformations in political and economic circumstances in Kosovo, if not

considered tenuous are at least treated with some caution. Also, here it is

relevant to remember that respondents considered the state and citizens just as

important to wellbeing, and attributed relevance to a number of various actors

(Graph 6).

4 3 1 0

92

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

To believe living conditions can be changed mainly

through my actions

To believe only those in power can improve our living

conditions

To believe only our community as a

strong group can improve living

conditions

To believe no matter what my actions are our

conditions will not improve easily

Answered: Combination of all

Most appropriate statement

48


The final question participants were asked required them to choose from a list of

statements the one that was most important to them. They were instructed to: “Choose

from the following list the statement that is most important to you:”

To do all my best to help the community in which I live

To do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves

To do what I can to improve things according to the indications of those who administer

the country

To do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to change things as

everyone will do his best too

Graphic 30: “Most important to you”

The majority of respondents, 67%, declared that the statement most important to them

was to do their best in helping the community in which they live. A small percent, in

comparison, claimed that they would only focus on their family and consider that others

can fend for themselves (20%). Also, only 10% thought that focusing on improving ones

standards would trickle down to others.

As has been discussed previously, the respondents paid most attention to problems in

their communities, and expressed concerns over matters that affected their everyday

lives. A shift from concerns on matters “of national importance” to the community level

has been significant (Section 4.1). That only 2% would follow what was indicated to

them by those who administer the country may speak to issues of trust and perspectives

on power. The responses may also be treated as an indication of the relevance of

community over personal betterment, but also concern of how the first affects the other.

8. Conclusions

67

20

2 10 1 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

To do all my best to help the community

in which I live

To do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others

will do by themselves

To do what I can to improve things according to the

indications of those who administer the

country

To do what I can to improve my living standards, this will

help to change things as everyone will do

his best too

Unanswered

Most important to you (%)

49

The research presented and discussed here aims to provide some new perspectives and

questions in comparison to the more normative approaches in research on corruption.

Envisioned as an ethnography of corruption the research set out to inquire into the

social and cultural relations – as well as their ongoing transformation – that shape,

enable, alter and preclude practices of corruption. The data, as previously noted, was

collected through a survey carried out with 100 respondents in Prishtina, Kosovo’s

capital. In addition, the research entailed interviews with citizens, NGO and think-tank

workers, representatives of public institutions, one focus group, as well as observations

at public workshops and roundtable discussions.

The research was partly carried out along the more traditional definition of

ethnography as participant-observation, and partly as a reflexive perspective on the

methodological and conceptual categories employed. The initial argument was that

“corruption” is not necessarily something we can observe, and therefore the aim has

been to begin to unearth and more critically understand the social and cultural

dynamics that permeate practices of corruption. Therefore, the research does not offer

any conclusive observations on the relations between socio-cultural norms and values

with corruption. Rather, it utilizes the insight gained to identify some relevant themes

and questions for further inquiry. An important recommendation is that ethnographies

of corruption must remain suspicious of simple correlations made between cultural

values, corruption, and illegality.

The diversity of responses and perspectives on questions and issues discussed with the

respondents speak to socio-economic differences present in Prishtina as an urban

context. Also, the intersection between the ongoing transformations in the bureaucratic

apparatus (political, educational, economic, etc.) and shifting ideological formations

(whether considered as state-building, transitions, democratization, marketization, etc.)

provide a compelling context to further inquire into social change and relations of

power that permeate practices of corruption.

As is common practice in studies on corruption, this research also began with an inquiry

into trust, and particularly trust in institutions. Here, however, the question of trust in

institutions is discussed along the terms offered by respondents themselves. Specifically,

there was no predetermination of what ideally constitutes a trustworthy or

untrustworthy institution. The relevant observation was that access to services and

interactions with representatives of institutions frame people’s definitions of trust as a

relationship among actors with diverse socio-economic and political resources.

Interviews, in particular, showed that people build trust in multiple ways and as such

does not always give an indication of lack or presence of corruption.

Respondents reported cases of good services in municipalities, district councils, the

police force, with health care providers, and in public schools. The same institutions,

50

however, were also noted as examples of bad experiences. The almost equal evaluation

of municipal services, with 32 good and 33 bad experiences reported, is an important

example. Overall, judgments about bureaucracy and experiences with institutions are

made through interpretations of past and present experiences, as well as changing social

status (e.g. social capital that may be leveraged). The data collected reflects that

influence, often defined as connections, is a relevant category through which shifts in

socio-economic positions and social capital is harnessed through political affiliations,

and shapes distribution of rights and responsibilities between citizens and institutions.

In particular, when quantified, trust was highest with health centers and doctors, with

local associations, and district councils. Trust in the judiciary and local government was

significantly low. The latter appears to be in a correlative relationship with problems in

the community identified by the respondents, as well confirmed in other research

reports. Kosovars, overall, continue to worry most about unemployment. On the other

hand, the respondents here consider the state of urban infrastructure to be just as

severe, something they consider a direct responsibility of local government. While

respondents recognize the relevance and influence of international actors, systemic

economic transformations, and the fragility of new institutions in Kosovo overall, their

responses also speak of their increased interest to focus on the local level, their

neighborhoods, daily lives, and the exercise of their rights as citizens. A large majority

considers that they cannot receive municipal services relying solely on their own

resources. Therefore, “blurry arrangements,” between the ethical and unethical, legal

and illegal, are maintained.

The lack of a dominant preference for resolving problems can be explained by important

ethical distinctions made by the respondents. Perceived lack of fairness, as well as social

and economic inequality, was seen as a direct contributor to the unsuccessful resolution

of a problem. In addition, they were almost equally split between those relying on

formal and informal channels for problem resolution. While connections and gift-giving

may be justified in some instances, clear lines were drawn in practices that are

considered as harmful to social development; these include the buying of votes,

nepotism in employment practices, using scandals against political rivals, gendered

discrimination, discrimination on economic grounds, fraud.

The state continues to be seen as the main potential contributor to the wellbeing of

citizens, but citizens, non-governmental organizations and activists are seen as just as

relevant. In particular, the expectation is that citizens should monitor and conduct

checks and balances over the government, as well as the private sector.

Civil service, which continues to be one of the largest employment sectors, remains the

most problematic. Public officials are seen as both vulnerable to interference and

operate through interference, particularly in procurement, employment, and especially

in privatization procedures. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of respondents

51

indicated that they aim to avoid bureaucracy as much as possible. As such, relying on

friends and family becomes relevant, but so does disassociation from those who

committed fraud or corruption.

It is difficult to summarize or offer a meaningful analysis at this stage of how all of the

above said observations and conclusions relate to social values and norms. The majority

of respondents declared that it is very important to them to do their best in helping the

community in which they live. The ability to negotiate various relations and situations,

and flexibility, may be considered as traits relevant to the respondents of this survey.

Individual, group, and institutional rights and responsibilities are seen as both stable

and dynamic. What may be considered as typical “conservative” and “liberal” values do

not dominate singularly; this is well reflected in the kinds values and expectations

attributed to leadership. High value is places on individual autonomy but social order

achieved partly through adherence to select traditions, is what characterizes an ongoing

negotiation of political, social and economic relations.

1

BASEL INSTITUTE ON GOVERNANCE

ANTICORRP - ANTICORRUPTION POLICIES REVISITED GLOBAL TRENDS AND EUROPEAN RESPONSES TO THE CHALLENGE OF

CORRUPTION


WP4 SURVEY


MEXICO CASE STUDY REPORT

DR. CLAUDIA BAEZ CAMARGO

COORDINATOR

RODRIGO MEGCHUN RIVERA

ETHNOGRAPHER

JORDAN CORZO

ASSISTANT RESEARCHER

BASEL, 2013

2

CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3 State of Chiapas, Mexico: background information ......................................... 5 Methodology and sampling ............................................................................ 12 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ............................................................................ 17

Local ınstitutions ......................................................................................... 17 Question 5. Importance of Institutions .................................................... 17 Question 6. Identification of Public Officers ............................................ 20 Question 7. Trust in Institutions .............................................................. 21 Question 8. Experience with institutions ................................................. 23

Local Topics ............................................................................................... 25 Question 9. Serious problems in community .......................................... 25 Question 10. Ability to obtain services on one’s own resources ............. 26 Question 11 Preferred problem resolution techniques ........................... 27 Question 12. Institutions important for improving well being .................. 30

Graphic 9. Practices against good society ................................................. 32 Question 14: Behavior of public officials ................................................. 35 Question 15: Availability of means to express inconformity with public services ................................................................................................... 36

Respondents were asked the following question: “Do you feel you have means to express inconformity with provision of public services?” ................ 36

SOCIAL NORMS ........................................................................................ 36 The next group of questions aimed to draw insights about prevailing social norms and values prevailing in the communities. ....................................... 36

Question 16: Importance of certain customs .......................................... 36 Question 17: Gift giving related to better treatment/service .................... 38 Question 18: Personal relations affect quality of service ........................ 39 Question 19 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios ............. 40 Question 20. Expectations about leadership behavior ........................... 41 Question 21: Self identification with different characters ........................ 43

Question 22: Most appropriate statement .................................................. 45 Question 23: Most important statement .................................................. 47

Additional findings and final reflections from the ethnographic study of insitutional performance and social values in Chiapas, Mexico ..................... 49 References ..................................................................................................... 54 Annex 1 .......................................................................................................... 55

Forma para Consentimiento Informado para Usuarios del Sistema de Salud en el Estado de Chiapas, México ............................................................... 55

3

Introduction The contribution of The Basel Institute on Governance to ANTICORRP WP4,

(the ethnographic study of corruption practices) involves field research in two

countries: Mexico and Tanzania. This report describes the activities and

findings form the research conducted in Mexico.

The report summarizes the results from the application in the Mexican context

of the ethnographic survey on institutional performance and social values that

all ANTICORRP partners working in WP4 have agreed upon and will apply in

their respective case study countries. Additionally, the information on the

survey is supplemented with additional insights that were obtained through

semi-structured interviews with key informants as well as focus group

discussions.

The field research in Mexico contributes to the ongoing work in WP4 in

several ways.

First, by applying the standardized survey on institutional performance and

social values to a Latin American context, it enriches the sample covered by

the work of WP4. This is specially meaningful given the fact that the approach

of this work package is that of ethnography. Therefore, inclusion of the

Mexican case adds to the increase the breadth of cultural, demographic and

geographical variation that the WP4 work will cover, contributing to the goal of

bringing together a comprehensive view of how local contexts shape different

understandings and perceptions of corruption.

Second, the field research in Mexico targets low-income, minority groups

living in remote rural areas of the country. These groups, because they have

been historically disempowered, and because their characteristics (rural, poor

ethnic minorities) can make them especially hard to mobilize, are typically

amongst the most vulnerable to corrupt practices. Therefore, developing a

4

better understanding of the manner in which groups like these view their

relationship with the institutions of the state and understand corruption is a

necessary step to develop better approaches that can protect the most

vulnerable from abuse of power.

Third, while the research in Mexico includes application of a shared research

tool (the survey on institutional performance and social values) it also takes a

unique perspective by placing the focus of the analysis on studying

participatory initiatives to prevent corruption in the health sector. This angle

will contribute to the overall WP4 effort by adding insights form the health

sectors to the work in other sectors (e.g. education, business, electoral

systems) that partners in WP4 are undertaking.

5

State of Chiapas, Mexico: background information The state of Chiapas is located in the southeast of Mexico. With an area of

74,415Km2 it is the eighth largest state in the country, and has always had

strategic importance as a border state, sharing 658.5 Km of the borderline

with Guatemala.1

Figure 1.

Location of the State of Chiapas in Mexico

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chiapas_in_Mexico_%28location_map_scheme%29.svg

At the national level in Mexico, Chiapas is the state with the highest poverty

and marginalization figures, particularly in those administrative areas with the

highest indigenous populations. According to official figures, in 2012 74.7% of

the population in Chiapas was living in poverty, and 32.2% in extreme

poverty.2 Also according to official statistical data disaggregated by state,

Chiapas is the state with the second highest maternal mortality rate, and the

state with the highest under-five mortality rates due to diarrhea and

respiratory infections (Sistema Nacional de Información en Salud 2013).

1 http://www.chiapas.gob.mx/ubicacion 2 http://www.coneval.gob.mx/Medicion/Paginas/Medici%C3%B3n/Pobreza%202012/Anexo-estad%C3%ADstico-pobreza-2012.aspx

6

Approximately 30% of the total population are from the following ethnic

groups: Tojolabales, Mames, Tzotziles, Tzeltales, Lacandones, Zoques and

Choles, all of them of Maya stock, all of them with their own language, culture

and religion, this native population is mainly concentrated in two regions: Altos

and Selva (Cuevas 2007).

Many indicators of marginalization in Chiapas are related to the difficult

geographical conditions prevailing several parts of the state. For example, in

the regions of Altos, Selva Lacandona and Frontera roads are few and

generally in bad conditions, they are often no more than precarious dirt paths

constantly threatened by torrential rains and vegetation. Trips in these

communities, whether to local markets or to local public service facilities, are

measured in days. It is no wonder, then, that in this context physical isolation

effectively translates into social marginalization.

Field research was undertaken in four communities: Barra San José, Unión

Roja, Guadalupe Tepeyac and San Quintín. The first two are located in the

Soconusco region of Chiapas while Guadalupe Tepeyac and San Quintin are

located in the Selva Lacandona region of Chiapas (see Figure 2). It should be

clarified from the outset that, while surveys were conducted in all four

communities, most of the insights derived from ethnographic research

techniques (participant observation) come from the communities located in

the Selva Lacandona.3 For this reason, a more detailed account of the history

of that region is given here to provide adequate background context to the

findings and analysis that follow in this report.

3 It is not an easy task to do research among indigenous communities, as they are not easily open to the presence of strangers. In the Soconusco region, the researcher obtained permission from the authorities to conduct the research and with that as precedent it was possible to apply the survey in those communities. However, the daily interaction and “blending in” of the researcher that is needed to conduct proper ethnographic research was very difficult to achieve in these communities in spite of time invested (six months on the field) and the best efforts of the researcher. In the case of the Selva Lacandona communities the situation was different because the researcher has ample experience working in those communities, is known and has achieved the trust of authorities and community members alike.

7

The region of the Selva Lacandona played an important role in the process of

land reform that followed the Mexican revolution. In the state of Chiapas, this

region, geographically distant and isolated, represented the ideal solution to

provide land to indigenous groups without affecting the interests and

properties of the state’s political and economic elites. Therefore, from the

1930s, this region was colonized by a diverse group of indigenous peasants

from all over the state and, in fact, up until the 1980s the process of agrarian

reform was the main arena of interaction between the Mexican state and the

indigenous population of the region. Therefore we may say that the process of

agrarian reform has left a deep imprint among the communities that inhabit

the region in that, among other things, it has defined the way in which the

communities view their relationship with the state. It is, therefore, around the

issue of land tenure and distribution that critical perceptions and discourses

are articulated.

On the side of the indigenous communities land reform confirmed the role of

the state as the key actor invested with the power and authority necessary to

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8

provide tangible benefits to the communities and to provide resolution to a

situation of political and economic disempowerment. But also, the distribution

of land was understood as the outcome of a series of struggles (from the

armed struggle of the Revolution to individual pleas to access land as a

means of livelihood) the main counterpart of which was also the Mexican

state, and therefore there is a widespread perception that the benefits have

been “earned” through the peasants’ own efforts. But what is important to

underscore is that, as Megchún Rivera (2012) points out, in the collective

understanding prevailing among the population in this region it is the group

itself that is regarded as the actor to whom the accomplishment of land reform

may be attributed. In this view, it is the group, or community, that has the

capability to exercise agency and to engage the state for the achievement of

collective goals.

On the side of the Mexican state the public discourse relating to agrarian

reform is quite different and should be understood in the wider context of the

efforts of the post-revolutionary regime to consolidate its dominant political

position and to generate a measure of legitimacy among key social groups.

The official account of the process of agrarian reform depicts the Mexican

state as enabling the “endowment” of peasants, benefitting then through the

“granting” of lands made possible by the “resolution” of high-level government

authorities.4

The difference in the discourses related to the process of land reform reflects

a political dialogue in which, the same historic events are interpreted through

different perspective, values and interests.

The process of land reform also created new laws and institutional devices to

regulate the interactions between the state and the recipient communities.

These institutional mechanisms include the ejido (a communal form of land

4 Following (Alejos 1994, 64), an ethnographic analysis suggests that the contraposed discourses adopted by both groups, indigenous communities of Chiapas and the Mexican state, with regards agrarian reform represent a form of dialogue, in which the statements made by each side can be understood as both response and anticipation to the statements of the other.

9

ownership) and the community assembly as the instance where collective

decisions are made.5 The peasants appropriated the laws and institutions of

the state for agrarian reform, but they also recognized that the authorities

themselves did not abide by their own rules as the communities experienced

often experiences of corruption and political manipulation.

The physical isolation and poverty in which these communities subsist and the

limited ability of the Mexican regime to provide basic public services to these

communities combined to create a context in which the organization of an

indigenous guerrilla movement became possible. The Ejército Zapatista de

Liberación Nacional (EZLN), labeled by some as the first postmodern

revolutionary movement for its use of the internet and social media.6

The EZLN came to public light in a dramatic move on new years’ eve 1994

when it took over several towns in Chiapas in the Selva Lacandona region. It

spouses the ideals of development and recognition of autonomous indigenous

governments and has declared war against the Mexican state, which is seen

as illegitimate and oppressive. Vast amounts have been written about the

EZLN, and it has undoubtedly played a very important role in the lives of the

inhabitants of Chiapas.

In Guadalupe Tepeyac the population participated from the beginning in the

EZLN. It is in fact one of the most emblematic communities associated with

Zapatismo. One of the movement’s most recognized leaders “comandante

Tacho” comes from Guadalupe Tepeyac. Therefore, the community has

diretly experienced the consequences of the armed movement. Soon after the

uprising, the military penetrated the community and set up a military base

there. In response to that, the majority of community members left, in what

they commonly call “the exile” (el exilio), eventually settled in a neighboring

community, and did not return to Guadalupe Tepeyac until after roughly 7

5 Therefore, the community assembly is not, as some contemporary analysis suggest, a millenary traditional form of association but a rather modern one which was introduced deliberately by the Mexican state and then embraced and appropriated by the communities themselves as the leading mechanism to conduct their internal decision making. 6 http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/24327324/zapatista-‐rebellion-‐as-‐postmodern-‐revolution

10

years when, in 2002, the military base was dismantled (in part due to public

pressure from the Zapatista movement).

In the beginning, the entire community was formally part of the EZLN until

around 2008, when gradually groups of families began to distance themselves

form the movement. Currently, the population of Guadalupe Tepeyac is

divided into three groups: the Zapatistas (about 50%), those affiliated to the

Central Independiente de Obreros Agrícolas y Campesinos (CIOAC) (about

40%) who describe themselves as independent group, neither pro-Zapatista

nor pro-government, and those who are not affiliated to any political

organization (around 10%) and who, paradoxically, are seen as closer to the

government. The two latter groups are recipients of public social programs,

while the Zapatistas, as part of their civil resistance stance, reject all

government supports and services. Nonetheless, in our research it was

evidenced that even Zapatistas do make use of the public health facilities.

The Mexican regime dealt with opposition mostly through a strategy of

cooptation. As a response to the armed uprising, the state provided since

1994 improved social programs and significant material support to the non-

zapatistas in the region. While during the early 1990s most communities in the

region had no electricity, access to drinking water, or roads, after the uprising

an increased flow of government programs and benefits ensued. The hospital

in Guadalupe Tepeyac was inaugurated in September 1993, just a few

months before the armed Zapatista uprising.7 It is a large and modern facility,

which by the definitions for infrastructure and provision of services, is too

large and sophisticated for the geographical region and population base it

serves. In fact, it is believed to have been built with a political purpose as part

of a deliberate government strategy to delivery social services and benefits to

the region as a response to the organization of the armed movement. In the

words of a regional manager for one of the main public health institutions in

the region, “this hospital should not really be there […] it was conceived for

7 It should be noted that already in 1993 a group of military discovered a training site of the EZLN 50 km away from Guadalupe Tepeyac. Therefore, the existence of the armed group was, at least if this incident is indicative, known to the authorities from before they entered the scene publicly.

11

political reasons, it does not make sense, relative to the size of the

communities it serves, this big hospital should not be there.”

In the aftermath of the armed uprising Guadalupe Tepeyac was the scene of

armed clashes between the Mexican army and the EZLN, the hospital was

taken by EZLN forces. After a ceasefire was decreed by the government 12

days later, the press entered the community in great numbers.

Today, almost twenty years after the appearance of the EZLN in the national

scene, the Selva Lacandona has been pacified, the activities of the EZLN are

mostly limited to social work and are geographically quite limited. The

communities have, it could be said, returned to normalcy, where normal refers

still to a situation of deep social marginalization and unmet needs.

A final note about context has to do with the very important role that the

government’s leading cash transfer program plays in the lives of the

inhabitants of these communities. is seen as a benevolent action from the

government which can nevertheless be taken away.8 The Oportunidades

program (as this program is known) provides low income women with a

monthly cash allowance if they meet certain criteria on a regular basis (such

as attending preventive health talks, getting prenatal care, keeping their

children to date with their immunizations and enrolled in school). It is

important for two reasons: a) it provides an important supplement to the

incomes of many families in the region and b) it also is a concrete mechanism

through which the relationship between citizens and state is defined and

articulated. The report will provide some examples illustrating how the

Oportunidades program is often used in attempts by local authorities to

enforce mechanisms of social control and obedience.

8 The Oportunidades program (which is different from IMSS Op) provides low income women with a monthly cash allowance if they meet certain criteria on a regular basis (such as attending preventive health talks, getting prenatal care, keeping their children to date with their immunizations and enrolled in school).

12

Methodology and sampling As mentioned before, we chose to conduct research on institutional trust and

social values in a low income rural region to illustrate how the context matters

for the development of perceptions of corruption and trust in public instiutions.

Furthermore, our chosen locations in the state of Chiapas are adequate to

relate our findings to a more general dilemma from the perspective of

development practitioners: How to empower groups that have been

historically disempowered and whose specific characteristics (rural, poor,

ethnic minorities) may make them especially hard to mobilize and incorporate

into processes of democratic governance.

The cases from Chiapas are illustrative of some of the challenges that are

encountered in providing improved public service delivery to minority groups

in hard-to-reach areas. These challenges are in many ways common to those

experienced in other remote rural areas in developing countries and include

scarcity of human resources and difficulty in monitoring performance. The

following excerpt from a conversation with a social worker at the local hospital

in Guadalupe Tepeyac is informative of the situation there:

Social Worker (SW): Here many things get lost (there is no follow up). Why?

Because we are in a place where nobody comes to supervise what we are

doing. All they do is say “send it in writing” “send it by mail” but there is no

(physical) supervision. There are inspections, but in other hospitals. But

here….last year a scheduled inspection was cancelled because there was a

document where the communities were going to express certain demands

(to the Institute officials).

Researcher ®: Were the demands made by the Zapatistas?

SW: Yes. An inspection is about coming and refreshing the situation, and to

make the Institute higher-level officials aware of the local needs.

®: And the Zapatistas rejected the inspection?

SW: No, they (the Institute officials) did not come when they realized that

people were organizing to meet them.

® When did the last inspection take place?

SW: Here…19 years ago

®: In 19 years nobody has come?!?!?!

13

SW: There have been visits to supervise the doctors, the last was in 2006 or

2007 (note this is still 5 or six years ago), but for other services such as

social work….nothing.

®: Are these inspections supposed to take place on a yearly basis?

SW: Yes, in theory every year, however, well no….

The researchers were both men, one of them originally from the region and

the other coming from Mexico City but with an established ethnographic

research experience in the communities. In this sense, we aimed for the

target communities to feel as comfortable as possible with the researchers.9

As a general comment on the manner in which target communities reacted to

the study we can say the following: In general there was some suspicion,

especially in the sense that it was thought that the researchers were actually a

government official, either on a spying mission or some other kind of official

function.10 Though we made a deliberate effort to explain the nature of the

exercise (that it was an academic study, that it had no political agenda, that

anonymity and privacy would be respected), still for the people in these

communities, the idea to have somebody come into the community asking

questions about the state of the services without this being related to the

government was hard to understand.11 In many cases there some kind of fear

about saying something “wrong” to the researcher and the consequences it

could have. In most cases, during the application of the survey as well as

semi structured interviews, we were of the impression that respondents were

rather stiff. We also sought to adopt a more informal tone during some

conversations in the communities and many of the most interesting insights

came about during these informal exchanges.

9 As mentioned earlier, in spite of this, it proved difficult to establish a sufficiently good relationship with the communities in the Soconusco area and the majority of the insights come from the ethnographic owkr conducted in the Selva Lacandona region. 10 For example, after a Focus group discussion some of the women approached the researcher to ask if he would sign their Oportunidades (government cash transfer program) attendance cards. 11 For example, we used an informed consent form as part of the focus group discussions where the nature of the study was explained to all participants, the protection of their identity was assured, they were given opportunity to ask questions it was reiterated that participation was entirely voluntary. The informed consent is attached to the present report as Annex 1.

14

The survey on institutional performance and social values was applied to 143

respondents across the four communities. Of which 28.5% of the surveys

were conducted in Unión Roja community, 28.5% in Guadalupe Tepeyac

community, 28% in Barra San José community and 15% in San Quintín

community.

As mentioned before, our research focused on the health sector, with a

special interest on the implementation and operation of the social

accountability mechanisms associated to IMSS Oportunidades (IMSS Op),

which is one of the most important government programs to deliver health

services to uninsured, low-income population.

A total of 101 interviews were conducted of which 31 were with health workers

(21 men and 10 women) and the remaining 70 were with community members

(33 men and 37 women). Two focus group discussions with citizens were

organized, one with women and one with men.

The survey respondents were chosen randomly as we wanted to get a

meaningful picture of the attitudes prevailing among community members.

However, given the reduced sample size, we do have bold claims about the

representativeness of the views expressed by the respondents. Also, for this

reason, findings from the survey are to be complemented by those obtained

through the interviews and focus group discussions.

For the survey, individuals were approached in a variety of different contexts

and situations: in the marketplace, after meetings of the community assembly,

at the health center, etc. The sample of respondents is characterized as

follows:

• In our sample, the survey was applied to members of both genders in

equal proportions.

• The proportion of participants that completed primary school is 30%. 28

% completed middle school, 15% completed high school, 1% of our

15

survey participants were college graduates and 26% have not had any

formal education.

• In our sample, 32 % of participants are engaged in agriculture and

fisheries, 3 % are private sector employees, 42% are housewives, 21%

are self employed occupations that do not require professional

educations and expertise, and 2% are unemployed.

• Grouping together housewives and unemployed, 44% of survey

participants do not currently work in a revenue-generating job.

Table 1 summarizes the demographic features of our survey participants.


Gender %

Male 50

Female 50

Age

15-25 20

25-35 26

35-45 26

45-55 12

55-65 9

65 + 7

Education level

Primary 30

Middle school 28

High school 15

College 1

Technical 0

None 26

Occupation

Civil servants in the public sector 0

16

Engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry 32

Workers in the private sector 2

Housewife 42

Occupations that require expertise (doctors, engineers, lawyers and so

on) 1

White collars employee in the private sector 0

Self-employed-occupations that do not require expertise (grocery, trades,

real estate and so on) 21

Student 0

Unemployed 2

Business -- large scale commercial 0

Region (Chiapas, Mexico)

Barra San Jose 40

Unión Roja 41

Guadalupe Tepeyac 41

San Quintin 21

One pertinent observation relates to the low education level prevailing

amongst the population. 26% of survey respondents have not had any formal

education and 30% have only had primary education. This has concrete and

significant implications for the manner in which citizens can relate to state

authorities. It is, in other words, a concrete manifestation of disempowerment.

An illustration of this was revealed during a conversation with a local woman

about problems accessing health services. She said “if I do not understand

what the doctor explains I cannot make a complain.” She approached the

situation as if it was her own fault for not being able to understand and

therefore assumed this takes away her ability to make a complaint. Another

woman explicitly said “we cannot complain because we do not know” (she

explained how they had never been to school and therefore could not read),

“even if there is a way to file a complaint we just don’t know.” Illiteracy

disempowers and these women recognized themselves as ignorant, and

therefore powerless.

17

Fieldwork began in August 2012 and extended for a period of six months.

In the following sections we report on the findings of the survey and provide

complementary information derived from the interviews and focus group

discussions.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Local ınstitutions The first four questions in the survey compiled general information about the

respondents (gender, age, education level and occupation). The next group of

questions (questions 5-15) focused on various aspects relating to the

relationship between citizens and the public institutions with which they

interact on a regular basis.

Question 5. Importance of Institutions Respondents were asked to rate a list of institutions in terms of their perceived importance to community well-being. The possible answers were a) not important, b) fairly important and c) very important. Graphic 1 summarizes the responses to this question.

18

Graphic 1. Importance of Institutions for Community Welfare

As Graph 1 shows, by far the institution that is given highest importance

among survey respondents are healthcare providers. This reaffirms the

pertinence of our focus on the local health system, as it is validated in being of

utmost important to communities themselves.

In second place comes police, which is an interesting result since during our

field work not much reference was made by community members to the role

police plays in their everyday lives. We could speculate that perhaps the

silence reflects a lack of police involvement in the area and the wish for better

security is what is reflected in the importance that is given to police. This is,

needless to say, just speculation and further research would be needed to

validate this presumption.

Of special interest are the next three most important institutions: church, local

associations and traditional authorities as these three clearly play a central

role in the history and daily lives of these communities.

Both the Catholic Church and local political associations have been key actors

intervening in the process of articulating the relationship between indigenous

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Very important

Fairly important

Not important

N/A

19

communities in the Selva Lacandona region of Chiapas and the state:

specifically the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas and organized groups

of political activists who have been active in the region for decades.

The very active role of the San Cristobal Diocese was crucial in the

development of what we may refer to as a generic identity of “a people of

God” among communities in Chiapas and with it also concepts of social

mobilization predicated on the notion of denied justice were fostered. Making

an analogy to the bible, the exodus to the promised land was represented by

the colonization of the Selva Lacandona, and as such it became the place

where divine justice should be achieved for the people of God.

The importance of religion in this area cannot be understated. For example, in

Guadalupe Tepeyac it is forbidden to profess a religion other than

Catholicism. Non-Catholics are actually expelled from the community.

The political counterpart to this religious movement for empowerment was the

involvement of several Maoist organizations that, from the mid-1970s, worked

to organize the communities in agricultural cooperatives.

The work of the Diocese and the Maoist political groups converged to create a

fertile ground for the birth of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation

(EZLN).

The rise of the EZLN, therefore, needs to be understood in the context of

process of self identification in these communities that took elements from the

work of the church in creating the idea of the quest for divine justice in

conjunction with the particular history of agrarian struggle. This generated a

collective identity and sense of belonging that incorporates a valuation of

one’s own history against the definition of an ideal of justice.

In terms of the importance given to traditional authorities in the survey, this is

consistent with the findings from our research where the community assembly

20

is without question the instance where community members turn to most

consistently for resolution of their problems as revealed through our interviews

and focus group discussions.

Perhaps a surprise was the little importance given to NGOs by our survey

respondents since Chiapas became a hotbed for the activity of many different

kinds of NGOs (most notably those dealing with human rights issues) since

the Zapatista uprising.

Question 6. Identification of Public Officers Respondents were asked, from a list of categories, to identify those that are

examples of public officers.

Graphic 2 summarizes the responses to this question.

Graphic 2. Identification of Public Officers

This question was of interest since in the research we found instances

suggesting the lines between public and private are actually, in practice,

rather blurry. An especially clear case was that of a local authority

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

No=1

Yes=0

21

(comisariado ejidal), who is the leader of the land owners (ejidatarios) and

formal representative of the community in the public hierarchy, who also

performed functions as coordinator of the women who receive the cash

allowance from Oportunidades. This former position is meant to be assumed

by a community member and the fact that the local authority plays this role as

well has opened the way for this individual to exercise social control through

intimidation. According to one informant, this person often told the women “do

not complain about the program or else you may lose the cash allowance.”

Which is, of course, a false statement.

Another interesting aspect of the responses to the survey was the degree to

which most people see religious authorities as public officials. This can be

linked, generally, to the importance of religion among these communities as

well as, specifically, to the proactive role that the Catholic Diocese of San

Cristobal has played in this region.

Question 7. Trust in Institutions

Respondents were asked to rank institutions in a list according to how much

they trusted each institution on a scale from 1 (lowest trust) to 5 (highest

trust).


22

Graphic 3. Institutional Trust

By far the most trusted institution as revealed by the survey is the Church.

This we can associate to the previous discussion on the role that the Catholic

Church has played in this region. The same can be said of the relatively high

trust given to community institutions and local associations.

The respondents also signaled high trust towards those institutions providing

the most essential social services: health and education.

It is also noteworthy to note the low trust given to national and local levels of

government. To give more meaning to this, it is worthwhile to discuss in more

depth some additional insights regarding the nature of the relationship

between these communities and the Mexican state.

Generally speaking, the inhabitants of this region have a view of the

government as the “main provider” (el gran proveedor). However, and

because the conditions prevailing in these communities are so precarious,

they also understand that the government has failed to respond to their local

needs. Thus, the communities understand their situation as an unjust one

involving poverty and marginalization, and of which the state is the main

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

High trust (4-‐5)

Indifferent (3)

Low trust (1-‐2)

23

counterpart as far as it is responsible and at the same time capable of

providing solutions. The non-Zapatista population understands, therefore, that

the relationship between their communities and the Mexican state involves a

sort of permanent bargaining, where in exchange for certain benefits they are

willing to assume certain positions (a heritage from the clientelistic nature of

the mechanisms of political legitimation of the Mexican regime). For the

Zapatistas, the state is the ultimate enemy, which history has shown is intent

on implementing a project of exclusionary and oppressive measures vis-à-vis

the communities in Chiapas. For both groups the diagnosis is the same: the

state has the power to elicit significant change but has failed to meet their

needs.

For this reason, in trying to characterize the relationship between the Mexican

state and these communities it is not contradictory to say that it is both

confrontational and acquiescent, with some groups demanding autonomy

form the government while others demand an active government involvement

to address their problems.

Question 8. Experience with institutions

Respondents were asked to indicate, from a list of institutions, in which they

(or members of their family) have recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service. Graphic 4 summarizes the responses to this question

24

Graphic 4. Quality of service encountered

The institution where respondents reported more consistently good

experiences in the Church, again consistent with the historical and

contemporary role it has played in the state.

The only institution that got more reports of bad service than of good service

was the police. When contrasted with the fact that police was the second most

important institution in a previous question, this may be additional evidence to

reinforce the idea that it signals a lack of good performance of an institution

that is nevertheless expected to provide a valued service.

The generally good appreciation of the health system was supported by many

respondents, especially in relation to the local hospital in Guadalupe Tepeyac,

as the following description of service from a user (whose mother is diabetic)

reveals:

“We are very pleased with the service provided, here (we)

have always had (her) out, we struggle a lot in what is

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

0=good srv.

1=bad srv.

25

Margaritas, Comitán, in the (public) hospitals because there it

is not and not. We also tried private doctors, we fought for it,

but even there they had no good control of her. Here we did

not know there was the hospital. We heard from other people

that here they give very good medicines, that the attention is

very good, the doctors are polite, all that, there is good

attention. Uh no, there (in Comitán and Margaritas) is very

much different here, it is much better, the attention here than

there. In Margaritas they attend but very little and then they

are very strict. For example, not even relatives can come in,

just the patient, if a relative wants to go in just for a little while,

but only one relative, nothing about two. Very much worse in

Comitán. There we went only once and saw the way they

treated us, they treated us very ugly so, it does not work for

us. They are very strict there, we go into emergency room but

they leave us there, then no relative can come in, just the

patient, but not good. And sometimes they put things on her,

to make her breathe well and all that, but sometimes they did

not do it right and it affected her, and “take it out” fix it, make it

good, and the doctors “yes, yes, just a moment” but nothing.

Here they register her and give her lots of attention”

Local Topics The next group of questions was geared to explore a range of topics of a local

nature.

Question 9. Serious problems in community

Respondents were asked to mention the three most important problems

affecting their communities. Responses have been grouped in the following

categories: A) Health: Including shortages of medicines, absenteeism and bad service from

medical staff, alcoholism

26

B) Education: Including lack of good teachers, no high school in community,

teacher absenteeism, schools in poor conditions

C) Poverty: Including low salaries, insufficient income, high prices,

unemployment

D) Infrastructure: Including no electric power, bad roads, no garbage collection,

no drinking water

E) Miscelaneous: Including robbery, community agreements not respected,

environmental degradation


Graphic 5. Main problems in community

Question 10. Ability to obtain services on one’s own resources Respondents were asked to indicate from a list of institutions those in which

they are unable to obtain the required services with their own means.

Graphic 6 summarizes the responses to this question

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Problems in community

Problems in community

27

Graphic 6. Ability to obtain service from institutions relying on one’s own resources

Notable here is that the only cases where people report to be unable to obtain

the desired services on their own are the two instances of local government

(municipality and state). This may be partially a reflection of the general

interpretation of the government as being responsible for the problems of the

region and at the same time ineffective in providing solutions. But it may also

reflect the fact that the municipality and state government are the instances

where citizens at the community level most often have to seek resolution to

their problems.

Question 11 Preferred problem resolution techniques Respondents were asked to choose from a series of possible strategies, what

would be their best advice for somebody having problems in dealing with a

public institution.

The possible choices were:

• Ask for intervention from a friend

• Ask for intervention from a relative

• Ask for intervention from an important person

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

No=1

Yes=0

28

• Pay a fee

• Give a small gift

• Denounce the disservice to the competent authorities

• Try several times until I get a good result

• Avoid in general dealing with that institution

• Don’t know


Graphic 7. Preferred problem resolution techniques

Here we find an inconsistent result between the survey and the interviews,

focus group discussions and participant observations. While the most

preferred strategy was to denounce bad service, we found that actually it is

not common for people to denounce bad service through established

institutional channels. The instances through which people in this region have

expressed discontent about performance of health services has been through

informal collective actions involving the community assembly calling hospital

staff into account. However, these instances, while significant, are relatively

infrequent.

In general, our perception is that people do not normally denounce bad

services. One of the reasons given is because they do not believe it will

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%



29

change anything. Many do not trust the manner in which the public officials

will handle the complaints. For example, with reference to the complaints box

mechanism available at local health facilities, community members expressed

the opinion that the health facility workers themselves will be opening the box

and will not give any follow up to the complaints.

Another factor that was mentioned in relation to the reluctance to denounce

bad services is the uncertainty about the outcomes of expressing a complaint.

Some women said they would not make a complaint because they could not

know if this would lead to a positive or a negative outcome for themselves.

Another stakeholder described the situation in simple terms: people simply

are not used to complaining about bad service.

Another clear example of how denouncing bad services is openly discouraged

related to the use of the Oportunidades cash transfer program as a

mechanism of social control. In fact, an interviewee in one of the communities

said that the local authority (comisariado ejidal - who is the most powerful

formal leader at the community level) often tells Oportunidades recipients to

“not complain about the program or else they may lose it.” Some of the

women interviewed confirmed that they are told that they will lose the program

if they don’t comply with the hospital staff’s instructions.

Rather than denouncing bad service, we found examples of other strategies,

for instance, “avoiding dealing with that institution” as the following situation

we encountered illustrates:

- The researcher was at a local clinic talking to the community

member in charge of health issues when a man came in

seeking medical attention and asking to see the attending

nurse. The community “in charge” told him the nurse was not

working that day, and therefore there were no medical services

available at that moment. Muttering some profanities the sick

man left the clinic. Later on that day, speaking to the man who

30

had not been able to get medical attention, he said that upon

leaving the clinic he saw the complaints box (it was unlocked),

thought about using it but quickly decided it was worthless and

instead went to another locality to seek medical attention.

In another case we documented, the preferred strategy was to “try several

times.” While discussing problems with service provision at the local clinic the

following exchange took place:

®: Do you think that if you complained this would help? Or

would it have other consequences?

Woman: Well…for example, if we cannot get attention from

doctors, what can we do about it? Can we denounce them? I

think not, to me I think not….Well, maybe others can but I

myself think not. I cannot denounce because, will it have a

positive consequence or a negative consequence? This is

what I think, better leave it like that and later I can come back,

maybe she (the doctor) has had time to reflect and will then

give me good attention.

In other interactions with groups of women the prevailing position was not to

denounce because in the end they considered they could not solve any

problems.

Question 12. Institutions important for improving well being Respondents were asked to indicate which institutions have the ability to help

improve the general well being of their communities.


31

Graphic 8. Institutions that can improve community well being

An interesting finding here is that, even though it was revealed to be not

highly trusted, the central government is nevertheless perceived among

survey respondents as being the most important actor capable of making an

impact on community welfare. While at a first glance this might appear to be

inconsistent, actually, with a deeper understanding of the local context, the

contradictory perceptions about the role of central government make sense.

As mentioned before, the state is acknowledged as the key actor invested

with the power and authority necessary to provide tangible benefits to the

communities and to provide resolution to a situation of political and economic

disempowerment. The government is in this view, ultimately, the “main

provider” (el gran proveedor). For example, during an interview a community

member was describing problems with health services at the local facility and

explained that the community has spoken to the hospital director so that he

can, in turn, transmit the information to the President of the Republic, so that

the problems can be solved.

This is line with what Escalona (2010) has outlined in his study of these

communities in terms of the understanding of government being a highly

hierarchical one, in which the appeal to the president is what can provide

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Who can improve community well being

Who can improve community well being

32

effective solutions to their problems.

This view is also reflected in the fact that many landowners, when discussing

land issues, make reference to their ownership certificates as being “signed

by the president of the republic” which is what gives them value and

legitimacy. The implication is, that people in this communities see

intermediate government institutions as ineffective in the resolution of their

problems.

On the other hand, there is also a widespread perception that the benefits and

achievements have been “earned” through the peasants’ own efforts. This is

also consistent with the second most important actor chosen by the survey

respondents: citizens themselves.

Question 13. Practices against good society

Respondents were asked which, from a list, are practices that spoil the good

development of a society.



0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%



33

The situation most people agreed constitutes a threat to a good society was

vote buying. This comes as no surprise, given the history of electoral fraud

and, yes, vote buying in which the Mexican regime headed by the PRI

engaged in. Especially in rural areas, such as Chiapas, the PRI made it

customary to barter votes in exchange for benefits, whether in the form of

small presents (a sack of grain, t-shirts, farming materials) or of selective

distribution of the goods and services stemming from large public programs.

During the study we obtained insights hinting about how the clientelistic use of

social programs and specifically about links between their cash transfer

allowances and voting in national and local elections. The following excerpts

from conversations with community members illustrate this point:

®: And, for example, speaking about political parties, there was an

election recently right? (in July 2012, two months before the field

research began, federal elections took place to elect a new president

and federal legislature as well as several state governors, including the

one for Chiapas)

Woman 3: In El Carmen (neighboring community), I think….

®: Was there not a voting booth installed here?

Woman 2: The things is, we are a group (the non-Zapatistas) and the

rest are still Zapatistas (who impede elections from taking place in their

communities).

®: then did you go to El Carmen to vote?

Woman 3: yes

®: and for example, about the parties, have you ever been asked to

vote for one party in order to keep receiving Oportunidades (cash

allowance)?

Woman 3: yes, but in El Carmen

®: But, did somebody tells you “vote for such and such party to continue

the benefit”?

Woman 3: …..no…..

Woman 6; (in low voice), yes, I think he knows already…

®: Yes? So how did that happen?

Woman 3: (silencing her peer) No nobody, each one (decides how to

vote) we are not compelled

Another conversation was also indicative:

34

®: and speaking of political parties, did you vote?

Woman 1: Well, we voted

®: Do you consider political parties to be important?

Woman 2: Well, thinking that they will help us with the things that are

requested, well I think yes

®: Have you been asked to vote in a certain way to keep

Oportunidades?

Woman 1: (after some silence)…well, yes, a little bit (laughter)

®: So did you comply?

Woman 3: Many did but many didn’t

®: Did a (Oportunidades) supervisor come?

Woman 1: No

®: Then who told you?

Woman 1: Well, they sent the leaders so that we would vote

(In this moment another woman joins the group)

Woman 4: (recently joined) About what?

®: Ah, when you arrived we were talking about the political parties and

whether you are asked to vote for a specific one to keep

Oportunidades, but I don’t know who was asking for this

Woman 4: Nobody told us anything here, but we have heard than in

other communities it has been like that, but I don’t know who told them,

but not here, everyone here voted any way they wanted to

®: So there was no pressure

Woman 4: No

It is interesting from these examples how women provide hints that electoral

coercion continues to take place “I think he knows already”, “a little bit” and

how in both cases also another woman stepped in to refute the information.

The fact that it was a risky comment was evidenced by the way the women

made their comments, in a low voice, with laughter. But what is also

interesting is that these instances also illustrate how the voice of the group is

articulated to generate an impression of agreement, aimed at avoiding

potential problems.

35

Question 14: Behavior of public officials Respondents were asked to indicate the veracity of the following statement:

“Public officials providing services to my community do not behave they way

they should”

The possible responses offered were: Always true, Frequently true,

Occasionally true and Exceptionally true.


Graphic 10: Behavior of public officials

Most respondents (66%) to the survey expressed that public officials have

inappropriate behaviors always or frequently. This perception is consistent

with the low trust in government that was also expressed before.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Always true Frequently true

Occasionally true

Exceptionally true

Inappropriate behavior of public ofNicials

Inappropriate behavior of public ofaicials

36

Question 15: Availability of means to express inconformity with public services Respondents were asked the following question: “Do you feel you have

means to express inconformity with provision of public services?”

Was evenly divided with 72 respondents saying no and 71 saying yes. Of

those who said they did have means to express inconformity

SOCIAL NORMS

The next group of questions aimed to draw insights about prevailing social

norms and values prevailing in the communities.

Question 16: Importance of certain customs

Participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of

customs below on the scale of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very

important”.


• Provide hospitality to guests

• Enjoy meals with other people

• Give presents during festive celebrations

• Reciprocate received gifts

• Reciprocate received gifts in time

• Reciprocate received gifts in same value

• Satisfy a personal request of favor

• Know who is the best person to ask a favor to

• Protect a person if I am in the position to do it

• Be in good terms with important persons

• Avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficient

• Keep a secret not to harm another person even if this is

not legal

• Be cautious when talking of politics in public

37

• Spend time with friends outside the home


Graphic 11: Importance of customs

Most important here were to provide hospitality followed by protect others.

Following in importance ascribed were enjoying meals with others and satisfy

personal requests for favors. In terms of gift-giving, the notion of reciprocating

gifts was relatively important but not associated with festivities, value or

timeliness.

An example of how gift giving is important in these communities came about

when, in conversations with women recipients of the Oportunidades

allowance, they commented that every time the program officials come to the

village (monthly) to distribute the funds, they organize a “sumptuous” meal for

them. The women explained that they have always collected money to buy

food (specifically meat, which is a true luxury in these communities) and cook

for the Oportunidades workers in order to give them a gift, somehow

reciprocating “gift” of money they receive from the program.

Indicative of the importance given to protecting others, during the research we

also witnessed were negative comments made regarding a nurse who was

often absent from the village clinic were met with outrage from other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

2=very important

1=fairly important

0=not important

38

community members. These “protecting” voices forcefully explained to the

researcher that the person making the accusations did not know how things

worked in the community, that this person was lying, and made arguments to

defend the nurse and justify his absences.

Question 17: Gift giving related to better treatment/service At this point in the survey, two questions have been asked: First of them, is

about the effect of gifts on service quality in institutions. The question asked

as follows:


bond where people know they will receive better

treatment/service next time they visit the clinic/office?”


Graphic 12: Gift giving improves service provision

While the majority of respondents agreed with this proposition, it was by no

means a consensual view since 40% of respondents disagreed. It is possible

to think that this ambiguity actually reflects the ambiguities and contradictions

of, on the one hand, a deeply rooted belief that benefits (of belonging to a

community or other kinds of groups) actually are associated with working for

Gift giving improves service provision

Agree

Disagree 60%

40%

39

the collectivity. In other words, at an essential level the notion of exchange is

associated with work, and the assumption of bribing that underpins this

question is inconsistent with that belief. On the other hand, gift giving is also a

widely shared value in these communities (given high importance by 64% of

respondents in the previous question).

Question 18: Personal relations affect quality of service

The following question asked respondent whether they agreed or disagreed

with the following statement:

“the quality of the services obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s

personal relationship with the service provider”


Graphic 13: Personal relations affect quality of service

Responses to this question were even more closely divided with 58%

agreeing on the importance of personal relations while 42% disagreed.

Personal relations affect quality of service

Agree

Disagree

42% 58%

40

Question 19 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios Under this subtitle, participants of survey have been given some hypothetic stories in order to understand behavioral patterns and social values. Respondents were given five stories in the survey to which they had to describe whether they agreed with the behavior of a charatcer in each scenario.

Agreement/disagreement with different stories coded 1(strongly disagree)-

6(strongly agree)

The stories are as follows:

Story a. In the district council a new person has been appointed recently. This person is very hard-working and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift from citizens to sort out problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people avoid him.

Story b. He is a very resourceful person, he does what he can to help his friends and relatives and he knows a lot of people. When he needs a favor he always finds someone to turn to because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and corruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him for what he has done to them. Story c. A family has plans to build a new house in a village. They have asked what the official procedure is and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult and they realize they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person. They decide to leave the village and look for another where things are going according to the rules. Story d. He has a small business in preparing sandwiches which he sells to local schools. Last year he was successful to win a tender and gained a contract in one local primary school. Unfortunately the school head has changed this

41

year and his contract has expired. Before applying for the next tender he looks for an influential person who will introduce him the new school head. Story e. She runs a local Ngo for human rights protection. She is very active and well established in the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an international donor last year so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In the end she failed because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper agreement with them first.


Graphic 14: Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios

Question 20. Expectations about leadership behavior Respondents were asked how they expect leaders in their community to

behave. They were allowed to choose multiple answers from the following list:

a) Strictly follow the legislation

governing his/her mandate

b) Adhere to the rules of the

community

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

19.1. Story a. 19.2. Story b. 19.2. Story c. 19.3. Story d. 19.4. Story e.

Agree 6-‐5

Undecided 3-‐4

Disagree 1-‐2

42

c) Provide goods and services to

all citizens

d) Provide rewards to those loyal

to him/her

e) Protect members of the

community from intrusion from

outside influences

f) Act in a transparent way

g) Follow the guidelines from their

political parties

h) Provide for the poor

i) Make sure harmony prevails in

the community

j) Redistribute public budgets to

reduce inequalities


Graphic 15: Expectations of leaders’ behaviors.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Expectations of leaders' behaviors


43

Given the conditions of poverty and unmet needs prevailing in these

communities it is not surprising that the answers that were most often chosen

were “provide goods and services for all” and “Provide for the poor.”

Interestingly, the second most chosen answers had to do adhering to the rule

of law “follow legislation strictly” and “act in a transparent way.”

Question 21: Self identification with different characters

Respondents were asked to relate themselves to a series of hypothetical

individuals with certain attributes and state whether they considered

themselves on a scale from 1 not similar to 6 very similar. The character descriptions given to respondents were as follows:

Character a. He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as possible. Character b. He would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society. Character c. He thinks that traditions must be respected because they make up one person’s culture. Character d. He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from elderly people. Character e. He is very religious because religion helps people to be part of a community and get together regularly. Character f. He thinks that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of the people don’t want so. Character g. His house is often visited by guests and he has an intense social life. Character h. He thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue. Character i. He will try not to show his true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish or egocentric. Character j.

44



Graphic 16: self identification with different characters

Overall, the responses fit the profile of a traditional society. Especially notable

is that the character trait that respondents associated themselves to most

strongly was respect for the elderly. Respect for rules and for traditions also

rank high in the responses, which fits the encountered profiles of these

communities as instances where internal (often informal) rules are followed

and enforced effectively.

Of special interest is the fact that the character less respondents associated

themselves with is the one leading an autonomous life as an individual. This is

relevant because it fits well with a very marked pattern we found in these

communities: individualism is greatly discouraged, adherence to the rules and

views of the community is encouraged and, even, enforced.

One very concrete manner in which the communitarian values of these

populations are expressed is in a widely held social value stating that “only

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Similar 6-‐5

Undecided 4-‐3

Not similar 2-‐1

45

those who work for the group have a right to participate in its achievements”

or that “to belong to the group one has to work for it.”

This principle is invoked to, for example, demand assistance to community

assemblies and perform certain functions. Also, when a new member joins the

community (most commonly through marriage) he has to pay a kind of

admission fee, recognizing the work others have committed previously and

the benefits that community membership accrues.

An extremely interesting illustration of this “communitarianism” came about

during the course of the research. During preparations to convene focus

group discussions, we sought authorization form the local authority

(comisariado ejidal), explaining that our intention was to inquire about the

manner in which community members experienced the provision of health

services in the local clinic. The process for organizing the focus group was

explained to us as follows: first, a community assembly would need to be

convened to discuss and decide whether the community granted authorization

for the meeting. Second, if the authorization was granted, then we would be

required to provide the questionnaire that we intended to apply and a second

community assembly would be convened in order to agree on a common

version that would be given to us.

As this example vividly illustrates, individual action and agency are actively

discouraged in the communities we studied.

Question 22: Most appropriate statement

One of the last items in the survey has given the participants choose from the

following statements they would deem most appropriate to them:

• A) to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my

actions

• B) to believe only those in power can improve our living conditions

46

• C) to believe only our community as a strong group can improve living

conditions

• D) to believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not

improve easily


Graphic 17: statement most appropriate to me

This was, to put is somehow, a surprising finding given the previous

discussion about communitarian values that were observed in the course of

the study. One possible explanation is that the observed “communitarian”

traits actually reflect informal mechanisms of social control that are to a

greater extent imposed, rather than embraced, by at least some groups within

these communities.

This is an interpretation that could be illustrated by another incident where,

during discussions with community members (specifically women

Oportunidades recipients) a newcomer questioned the practice of making

donations to buy food and cook for the Oportunidades workers who come to

deliver their monthly allowances in spite of the fact that these personnel

receive stipends when travelling to perform those visits. This woman also

complained that the health center nurse is often absent. Both comments

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

A B C D

Statement most appropriate to me


47

generated a strong response from the other women who tried to quiet her and

made the point that she did not know how things worked and was, essentially,

lying.

Most troublesome, but also indicative of the internal community dynamics, just

a few hours later, in a different meeting with the local authority, he told us that

he had been informed of the incident and to ignore the negative comments

from that woman, that she was lying and did not know what she was talking

about. He further said: “we have spoken to her and we will give her a

reprimand.”12

One of the interesting aspects of this episode is that illustrates the manner in

which there is a close informal relationship between key community members

and the local authorities, which at least in this case was used with a twofold

intention a) to prevent a dissenting opinion from being exposed to an outsider

(in this case the researcher) and b) to discipline a community member whose

complaints were not acceptable to the group. This suggests that the lines

between private and public sphere are at best blurry and that this

communitarianism has a coercive edge to it.

Question 23: Most important statement Participants were asked to choose “the most important” statement for

themselves. Question was posed as follows: “Choose from the following list

the statement that is most important to you”.

• A) to do all my best to help the community in which I live

• B) to do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do

by themselves

• C) to do what I can to improve things according to the indications of

those who administer the country

12 While the incident is revealing and interesting for the research, we were very concerned about potential negative repercussions for that woman. Subsequently we made an effort to dissuade the authority from further escalating this issue, arguing that our interest in these topics was purely academic and that we do not have any political agenda. In the end he seemed satisfied and agreed to leave it at that.

48

• D) to do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to

change things as everyone will do his best too


Graphic 18: Statement most important to me

Again, this response apparently contradicts the observed importance of the

community as an essential element in constructing identity, articulating

perceptions and opinions and as a mechanism to articulate voice.

This response, in a similar manner as was argued for the responses to the

previous question, definitely suggests that the observed communitarian traits

prevalent in these communities are multidimensional and complex.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

A B C D

Statement most important to me


49

Additional findings and final reflections from the ethnographic study of insitutional performance and social values in Chiapas, Mexico We conclude this report with some final reflections of the findings of the study

undertaken in Mexico. One first observation is that the communities where we

undertook the research activities are relatively isolated and for this reason

they found the experience of interacting with a researcher unusual, even

when he was relatively known in the area. A common first reaction was to

think the study concealed an ulterior motive (political) and that the researcher

had to be a government official. This is a situation that has to be mentioned as

it has a potential impact on the veracity of the responses if it was indeed

frequently the case that respondents believed they were answering to an

official inquiry.

That being said, we do believe that ultimately it was possible to gain some

real and revealing insights into the prevailing perceptions permeating the

manner in which these communities relate with public institutions, as well as

their social norms and values.

One important result of the research was to obtain insights into the way in

which mechanisms of social control operate in these communities. These

generally speaking tend to quiet down dissenting voices and act to generate a

single voice. This is often used in a political context as with the Oportunidades

cash allowance where the threat of taking away the financial support

apparently is made not infrequently. But also, that Oportunidades is used also

as a tool to exercise control over recipients in other way, for instance in the

field of healthcare provision.

According to the program guidelines, the payment of the cash allowance is

dependent on the women recipients performing certain actions, including

getting prenatal care, and bringing their children in for regular checkups, but

also attending regular preventive talks at the health center. The manner in

which health staff refer to the manner in which the program has affected the

50

way in which they relate to the population is indicative of deeper underlying

assumptions that both communities and service providers make about the

nature of the relationship between the state and its citizens.

An example of this can be discerned from the following conversation with a

local woman regarding pregnancy and childbirth:

®: Do you find that women now prefer to give birth in the hospital rather than

with the assistance of midwives? Why is this the case?

Woman: Well, because since we now receive the Oportunidades allowance,

they can now demand certain things from us. From the first month of the

pregnancy they demand that we come to the hospital every month, every

month. This means that they have the control, not the midwives. And if we

do not satisfy their requirements they scare us, they tell us they will take our

Oportunidades away. That is why women now come to the hospital.

®: Has any woman actually lost the benefit?

Woman: No

®: Are you told constantly that you might lose it?

Woman: Yes, and if we miss one of the talks they deduct some money from

our allowance. Sometimes we forget, but we arrive ten minutes late and they

say we failed, you get a fail. And when we come to get our support they

have cut it in half because we did not come to the talks, because we were 10

minutes late.

®: Are there many talks?

Woman: Yes, every month

The same relationship becomes evident in the following talk, this time with a

hospital social worker:

SW: I am responsible for 20 families, but only 17 have Oportunidades. I can

make demands to those 17, I can make them comply with the different

health protocols. But the other three families do not come to the talks, don’t

come for checkups, don’t go to their nutritional checks. So what can I do? I

can only visit them, invite them, tell the community authority, but nothing

else, I have no way to integrate them.

Besides the manner in which the cash allowance can be used as a

mechanism of social control, it is also interesting and revealing the manner in

which recipients themselves view the benefit. Among all the women who

participated in the focus group discussions, Oportunidades was not seen as

51

something they have a right to, but rather as a gift given to them by the

government. This specific understanding of the program has certain

implications in terms of how people relate to the state and the plausibility of

exercising actions to demand accountability. When the program is viewed as

a gift, it means that from the recipients’ perspective they do not have any

possibility to respond where it to be taken away, the gift is in this sense seen

as more of a generous, but ultimately discretionary, act on the part of the

government, the “great provider.” Furthermore, the history of clientelistic use

of government programs creates a perception that actions that seek to in

anyway challenge, confront or manifest inconformity towards the government

can lead to punishment in the form of social benefits being taken away.

Another meaningful point that is worth emphasizing is the issue of the

communitarian nature of the way in which inhabitants in these villages

articulate common positions and exercise authority. However, so far, the

examples provided illustrate what could be seen as a somewhat authoritarian

element of this communitarianism. But to leave it at that would generate a

misleading picture. While researching mechanisms of citizen engagement in

improving provision of public services we found that the community,

specifically the community assembly, plays an important role in engaging the

corresponding authorities in a dialogue and to demand accountability when

service provision is deemed unsatisfactory.

During interviews with regional management of IMSS Op it became evident

that these instances of the communities calling their clinic or hospital staff to

account are not uncommon. An interesting finding, which we elaborate further

elsewhere (Baez-Camargo and Megchún Rivera 2013) is the manner in which

the formal accountability mechanisms in place by the IMSS Op program and

the informal accountability mechanisms that communities make use of do not

have a good fit. On the one hand, the formal procedures for disciplining staff

in IMSS Op, require written documents documenting every instance of

absenteeism, bad service, etc. They require also individual action, by filing a

detailed account of each incident involving misconduct of a health provider,

and this has to be done on an individual basis, giving even the name of the

52

person denouncing the problem. On the other hand, the communities

mobilize, to put it simply, when they have had enough. Then the entire health

team is typically called to meet with the community assembly and often

management is notified the community does not want the bad performing

service providers in their facilities anymore.

A regional manager of IMSS Op explained the situation quite clearly. At the

moment he was dealing with four different cases of doctors that had been

expelled from the communities. However, he was helpless to resolve the

situations because the paperwork necessary for filing formal complaints had

not been presented.

The doctors in question were in a sort of hiatus, because they had been

expelled from the communities (so they could not attend their place of work)

and were spending their days in the regional office performing ad hoc

consulting duties. Because of the institutional rigidities in the IMSS Op

operational rules, the regional manager has very little room to manoeuver in

this situation. The doctors’ contract cannot be terminated (they are “tenured”

in their positions) and the manager cannot transfer them to another location

(the doctors would need to take the initiative themselves and informally

bargain a transfer with another doctor). The regional manager said he was

informally in contact with the community authorities, to try to negotiate that the

communities take the doctors back. Otherwise, the only solution would be to

hope the doctors themselves would be willing to find a colleague and

negotiate an exchange of positions. In the meantime, the doctors continue to

cash their salaries and those communities have no health services.

This report has provided an overview of the findings and results of the

application in Mexico of the institutional performance and social values survey

developed within the scope of the activities of WP4, ethnographic study of

corruption practice. The complexity and richness of the data make the task of

summarizing the findings a difficult one. Here we have outlined some general

issues that have emerged from the research and will continue to explore the

additional dimensions and significance of the study within the comparative

53

work that we will undertake once the surveys in all countries that will be

studied in WP4 are completed.

54

References Alejos, José. 1994. Mosojäntel. Etnografia Del Discurso Agrarista de Los

Ch’oles de Chiapas. Mexico: UNAM. Baez-Camargo, Claudia, and Rodrigo Megchún Rivera. 2013. “‘Old Regime

Habits Die Hard’: Institutional Challenges to Participatory Governance in Post-Authoritarian Mexico.” presented at the ECPR general Conference, September, Bordeaux, France.

Cuevas, J.H. 2007. “Health and Autonomy: The Case of Chiapas. A Study Commissioned by the Health Systems Knowledge Network.” WHO Health Systems Knowledge Network.

Sistema Nacional de Información en Salud. 2013. “Indicadores Básicos de Salud, 2000-2008. Indicadores de Mortalidad”. Secretaría de Salud, México. Dirección General de Información en Salud. Accessed August 28. (http://www.sinais.salud.gob.mx/indicadores/basicos.html).

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Annex 1 Informed consent form for FGD

Estudio acerca de la provisión de servicios de salud básicos en el estado de Chiapas, México

Forma para Consentimiento Informado para Usuarios del Sistema de Salud en el Estado de Chiapas, México

Equipo: Jordán Corzo Investigador en el área de Salud Pública (Mexico) Rodrigo Megchún Investigador en el área de Antropología (Mexico) Claudia Báez-Camargo Coordinación y Responsable del Proyecto Instituto para la Gobernanza de Basilea (Suiza)

Esta forma para el consentimiento informado tiene dos partes: • Página de información (para compartir información sobre este estudio con usted) • Certificado de consentimiento (para firmas si usted acepta participar)

Usted recibirá una copia completa de la forma para el consentimiento informado. Parte I: Página de información Introducción El Instituto para la Gobernanza de Basilea (Suiza) está llevando a cabo un proyecto de investigación para entender mejor como se relacionan los usuarios con los proveedores de servicios de salud básicos en el estado de Chiapas, México. Usted recibirá información sobre este proyecto y se le invita a participar. Se le invita a formar parte de un grupo de discusión en el que se abordarán temas relacionados a las experiencias de usuarios del sector salud. Si tiene cualquier pregunta acerca del estudio y su potencial participación en él, por favor no dude en preguntarnos y nosotros nos aseguraremos que todas sus dudas sean aclaradas a su total satisfacción. Propósito del estudio Queremos investigar los elementos que pueden afectar el acceso a los servicios públicos de salud en el estado de Chiapas, México y para ello nos interesa aprender como los usuarios se organizan en sus comunidades, como se relacionan con diferentes prestadores de servicios, los principales problemas que enfrentan, posibles causas de estos problemas y posibles soluciones. Tipo de participación Invitamos su participación en un grupo de discusión con una duración de dos horas y media. Selección de participantes

56

Se le invita a participar en este estudio porque sentimos que sus experiencias como usuario(a) de los servicios de salud de IMSS Oportunidades y/o beneficiario(a) del programa Oportunidades le califica para contribuir puntos de vista importantes en este tema. Participación voluntaria Su participación en este estudio es enteramente voluntaria. Es su decisión si desea participar o no. La decisión que usted tome no tendrá ninguna consecuencia en su ámbito de trabajo ni en ninguna evaluación o reporte de carácter laboral. Usted puede cambiar de opinión y terminar su participación en cualquier momento, aún si anteriormente accedió a participar.

Uso de los resultados Queremos asegurarle sobre la estricta confidencialidad de esta discusión. Nada que usted diga hoy le será atribuible a usted por nombre o posición. La información que obtendremos en esta discusión informará nuestro estudio sobre las experiencias y sugerencias sobre los principales retos en la provisión de servicios de salud desde la perspectiva de los usuarios de dichos servicios en el estado de Chiapas, México.

57

Parte II: Certificado de Consentimiento He leído la información anterior, o me ha sido leída. He tenido la oportunidad de hacer preguntas y las preguntas que he tenido han sido respondidas a mi entera satisfacción. Consiento voluntariamente a participar en este estudio. Nombre del Participante___________________ Firma del Participante ____________________ Fecha ___________________________

Día/Mes/Año

Declaración del investigador atestando el consentimiento informado He leído la página de información de manera exacta al potencial participante y a mi mejor habilidad me he asegurado que el participante entiende lo que su participación en este estudio involucra. Confirmo que el participante ha tenido la oportunidad de hacer preguntas acerca del estudio, y que todas las preguntas han sido respondidas en su totalidad y a mi mejor habilidad. Confirmo que el participante no ha sido forzado a dar su consentimiento, y que dicho consentimiento ha sido dado de manera libre y voluntaria.

Una copia de esta forma de consentimiento informado ha sido proporcionada al participante. Nombre de la persona atestando el consentimiento ________________________ Firma de la persona atestando el consentimiento __________________________ Fecha ___________________________

Día/Mes/Año

Basel Institute on Governance Steinenring 60 | 4051 Basel, Switzerland | +41 61 205 55 11 [email protected] | www.baselgovernance.org

WP4 Survey Institutional Performance and Social Values Tanzania case study report

Dr. Claudia Baez Camargo| 1 March, 2014


Table of contents 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………….…..p. 2

2 Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: background information…….…..p. 3

3 Methodology and sampling………………………………………………..………………….……p. 8

4 Summary of findings……………………………………………….……………………….……….p. 12

4.1 Local ınstitutions………………………………………………………………………….………..p. 12

4.1.1 Question 5. Importance of Institutions…………………………………………………p. 12

4.1.2 Question 6. Identification of Public Officers…………………………….…………..p. 14

4.1.3 Question 7. Trust in Institutions………………………………………………….……….p. 15

4.1.4 Question 8. Experience with institutions………………………………….…………..p. 17

4.2 Local Topics…………………………………………………………………………….....………..p. 19

4.2.1 Question 9. Serious problems in community…………………..…….……………..p. 19

4.2.2 Question 10. Ability to obtain services on one’s own resources…….….….p. 20

4.2.3 Question 11 Preferred problem resolution techniques………………….……...p. 24

4.2.4 Question 12. Who can most help improve community wellbeing…….…….p. 25

4.2.5 Question 13. Practices against good society…………………………….…………..p. 26

4.2.6 Question 14: Behavior of public officials…………………………………….…………p. 27

4.2.7 Question 15: Availability of means to express inconformity with public services………………………………………………………………………………………………..……..p. 28

4.3 Social norms…………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 30

4.3.1 Question 16: Importance of certain customs…………………………….….………p. 30

4.3.2 Question 17: Gift giving related to better treatment/service…….…………..p. 31


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4.3.3 Question 18: Personal relations affect quality of service……………………….p. 32

4.3.4 Question 19 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios…………..p. 33

4.3.5 Question 20. Expectations about leadership behavior…………………………..p. 35

4.3.6 Question 21: Self identification with different characters………………………p. 37

4.3.7 Question 22: Most appropriate statement…………………………………………….p. 39

4.3.8 Question 23: Most important statement……………………………………….…….…p. 40

5 Additional findings and final reflections from the ethnographic study of institutional performance and social values in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania……….….p. 42

5.1 Corruption: “something for something and nothing for nothing”……….….……p. 42

5.2 Corruption as extortion…………………………………………………………………...….…..p. 43

5.3 Preliminary findings on the impact of an anti-corruption social accountability intervention………………………………………………………………………….……………….…..….p. 45

5.4 Final remarks……………………………………………………………………………………….….p. 47

6 References…………………………………………………………………………………….……………p. 48


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1 Introduction

The contribution of The Basel Institute on Governance to ANTICORRP WP4, (the ethnographic study of corruption practices) involves field research in two countries: Mexico and Tanzania. This report describes the activities and findings from the research conducted in Tanzania in collaboration with local research partners Integrity Watch.

The report summarizes the results from the application in Tanzania of the ethnographic survey on institutional performance and social values that all ANTICORRP partners working in WP4 have agreed upon and will apply in their respective case study countries. Additionally, the information on the survey is supplemented with additional insights that were obtained through semi-structured interviews with key informants as well as focus group discussions.

The field research in Tanzania contributes to the ongoing work in WP4 in several ways.

First, by applying the standardized survey on institutional performance and social values to a Sub-Saharan African context, it enriches the sample covered by the work of WP4. This is especially meaningful given the fact that the approach of this work package is that of qualitative ethnographic research. Therefore, inclusion of the Tanzanian case adds to increasing the breadth of cultural, demographic and geographical variation that the WP4 work will cover, contributing to the goal of bringing together a comprehensive view of how local contexts shape different understandings and perceptions of corruption.

Furthermore, it also adds to the variance in our sample along the very critical dimension of the types and scope of corrupt practices in the countries we study. Tanzania can be considered a representative case of many countries in Sub Saharan Africa that are affected by systemic and widespread corruption. This type of systemic corruption is clearly distinct from the modalities of corruption found in Europe, including the more severe cases found in some post-socialist countries, because the historical, social and economic roots of corruption are quite unique to the African context.

Second, the field research in the Kinondoni district of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania targets groups living in low-income urban areas. The setting is indicative of challenges encountered in developing countries’ urban areas, where high population growth is driven to a large extent by internal rural migration to cities. This situation generates substantial challenges by bringing together newly relocated people, with different backgrounds and ethnicities, in a context where housing arrangements are precarious, sanitation services are lacking and excess demand for basic public services overwhelms local state capabilities.

Studying such a context allows for developing a better understanding of the manner in which inhabitants of urban areas commonly known as slums view their relationship with public institutions, how they understand corruption, and how they cope when they faced with corrupt acts by public officials. Furthermore, the


3

detailed kind of knowledge that an ethnographic assessment delivers is a meaningful contribution in the quest to develop better approaches to protect the most vulnerable groups from abuse of power. This is especially true in the case of slum dwellers who, given the irregular and informal nature of their abodes, can be especially hard to reach in terms of providing access to basic services as well as protecting them from the detrimental effects of corruption.

Third, while the research in Tanzania includes application of a shared research tool (the survey on institutional performance and social values) it also takes a unique perspective by placing the focus of the analysis on studying participatory initiatives to prevent corruption in the health sector. This angle will contribute to the overall WP4 effort by adding insights from the health sector to the work in other sectors (e.g. education, business, electoral systems) that partners in WP4 are undertaking.

Two local researchers were involved in undertaking the research activities associated with this report:

Richard Sambaiga (PhD) is a medical anthropologist and sociologist who has researched and published widely in the field of Health and Environment. He is currently lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Dar es Salaam and co-director of Integrity Watch Tanzania. His recent co-authored publications include Ethnographic study on Maternal and Neonatal Deaths in Dodoma, Tanzania (2011); Globalization, Coastal Resources and Livelihood in Tanzania (2012); and Determinants of the Duration of Birth Intervals in Tanzania: Regional Contrasts and Temporal Trends (forthcoming). He is currently working on a forthcoming paper, Religion, State and Adolescent Sexuality in Tanzania: an Anthropological Perspective.

Gloria Kokwijjuka, junior researcher, holds a honors B.A in Sociology and Philosophy from the University of Dar es Salaam. She is currently working as project coordinator at Integrity Watch, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

2 Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: background information

This section provides background information on the Tanzanian context, including

a broad summary of the socio-political development of the country since

independence, leading to more specific information on the geographic areas in

Tanzania where the research was undertaken.

Tanzania gained its independence from Great Britain in 1961 led by Julius Nyerere

who became the country’s first president, espousing a populist – socialist model

expressed in the Aursha Declaration of 1967.


4

From a power perspective the Nyerere period generated great concentration of

power at the center. This translated into very ineffective ability to exercise

authority and ultimately power even at the more decentralized levels. Nyerere

created a personalized regime, where his ideas and goals were not questioned,

most party leaders remained quiet and those who expressed dissenting opinions

were removed. Thus, this in reality was privatized power, belonging first to the

leader and then to the influential groups in the official party Chama Cha

Mapinduzi (CCM; Party of the Revolution), not an institutionalized power. In fact,

the CCM has effectively dominated Tanzanian politics since shortly after

independence in 1961 (Development Partners Group 2006).

In Tanzania, unlike other African political systems, popular participation was seen

as an important part of the regime. But this participation was channeled

exclusively through the CCM, in a structured manner, which was more a coopted

participation, hierarchically structured rather than an active bottom up

autonomous participatory activity. (Tripp 1997, 69) Actually during the 1970s

local and grassroots organizations were systematically weakened and, in many

cases, replaced by centrally controlled organizations. (Tripp 1997, 70)

Interestingly, in spite of these political realities, the Tanzanian state is quite

decentralized. However, unlike many predictions generated in the public

administration literature, the decentralization undertaken in Tanzania in the early

1970s has worked, not to bring local government closer to the people, but rather

to create local authorities controlled mainly by and accountable to the center.

Therefore, decentralization is merely administrative and formal because actual

political power continues to be heavily concentrated in the center.

As Kiria (Kiria 2009) has pointed out, in spite of decentralization efforts the

central government continues to exercise a large degree of control over taxes,

financial allocations and expenditures, including civil servant employment. The

Tanzanian budget process is controlled within the highly centralized administrative

structure of the Office of the President, which retains coordination and oversight

authority over the budget, and in practice the Ministry of Finance only loosely

incorporates the districts’ requests into the final budget calculations. Under the

supervision of the president, a few senior policy-makers in the Executive are

actively involved in the policy formulation stage and have the power to preside

over the entire budget preparation process (Tilley 2009, 11–12). The Ministry of

Finance then prepares and finalizes the budget before it is submitted to the

National Assembly for rubber stamp approval (Laura Weinstein 2011, 38). This

control over the budget is one the elements that make the Executive the most

powerful and influential figure in the Tanzanian political landscape.

Given the facts described above, not surprisingly even after the return to


5

multiparty politics in 1992, Tanzania can hardly be described as a democratic

regime.1 Its political system has been described as organized on the basis of

‘uncompetitive pluralism (Morgan, Baser, and Morin 2010, 28), where the political

hegemony of the CCM has remained the rule.

To understand the nature of political power in Tanzania it should be noted that

although the CCM enjoys a monopoly of power it is not an institutionalized party.

Rather, it is held together largely on the basis of personalized networks. CCMs

attraction actually resides in its control of public resource allocation, which

translates into ample opportunities to develop clientelistic networks of support.

As Hyden (Hyden 2008) put it “Political leaders preferred it, not for ideological

reasons but because it provided entry to material goods and valuable services.”

Thus, as in other developing countries, democratic procedures in Tanzania have

not had necessarily the intended consequences.2 Political clientelism has been in

fact intensified by competitive politics, with political stability relying more on

informal personal networks than on functional formal institutions. As Hyden

(2008) put it: “Power in this context does not stem from the authority vested in a

particular public office, but rather the myriad of personal dependencies that are

created as money or some other tangible resource is exchanged for political

support. Such a government is held together and coordinates matters as well as

gets its legitimacy not from how it implements policy but what it delivers.”

These elements already provide an idea of some of the critical underlying

conditions prevailing in Tanzania that have a deep effect on the nature of the

political settlement in that country as well as on the patterns of interaction

between Tanzanian state and its citizens. These elements, needless to say, have

profound implications for the nature and extent of corrupt practices in Tanzania.

As Koechlin (2010) noted, “The important thing here is that clientelism is much

more than a cause of corruption. It is the very backbone -however fragile- on

which the country’s power structure depends.” To a large extent, political power is

exercised through a strong reliance on personal deals, which are therefore what

matter within the inner circles. “Political order and political representation is

maintained and reproduced through networks of patronage, not through systems

of merit; hence, corrupt practices are not only politically accepted, but imperative

for political success” (Koechlin 2010).

This general background on the recent history of the Tanzanian political regime is

intended to place our research areas and the problems with which they are

affected in a wider context. Therefore, with that being said, the more specific

1 In fact, Tanzania is rated as a partly free country by Freedom House (freedom in The World 2011) 2 See for example (Mwenda 2007) for a discussion of the detrimental effects of democratic procedures in the Ugandan case.


6

characteristics of the survey area will now be discussed.

Kinondoni district is one of the three districts comprising the Dar es Salaam region in Tanzania. It is located in the northern part of Dar es Salaam, which is also the major and largest city in Tanzania (see Map 1).

Kinondoni has an area of 531 sq. km with a population of 1,775, 049 (NBS 2013). The population growth rate is estimated to be 4.3% per annum and the population density is 1,179 people per square km. From a national perspective, Kinondoni district has the largest population compared to other districts in Tanzania. From an international perspective, Dar es Salaam is one of the world’s fastest growing cities (See Figure 1).

As an urban area and part of Dar es Salaam, Kinondoni attracts migrants from all over Tanzania. Though it hosts a significant segment of the well-off population in the country, the majority of its inhabitants are relatively poor. This is a situation that is generalizable to the entire city.

Map$1$Tanzania$and$Kinondoni$district$in$Dar$es$Salaam$region$


7

Figure 1.

According to a UN study 70% of the population in Dar es Salaam lives in informal settlements (See map 2). The household poverty rate as of 2007 in the Dar es Salaam region where Kinondoni district is located is 16% which is probably a reflection of the fact that, as stated above, Kinondoni in particular and Dar es Salaam generally, are also home to the some og the wealthies groups in the country. In comparison, other urban areas have a 24% household poverty rate while the figure stands at 38% in rural areas. It is important to note that 33.6% of Tanzanian households are below the basic needs poverty line (National Bureau of Statistics 2013).

Map 2.

Even though the Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates of Kinondoni Municipal are lower than national figures (72 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 4


8

neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011 compared to 454 and 51 respectively in 2010 at national level), they seem to have increased from 52 and 3 respectively between the years 2010 and 2011. The Municipal’s total fertility rate of 5.4 recorded in 2010 and 2011 is the same as the national level for 2010, yet much higher than in other urban areas in the country (3.7) (NBS and ICF Macro 2011). The literacy rate in Kinondoni Municipality is estimated at 90 % according to the recent figures (NBS 2013).

The three wards of Kinondoni district where this research was conducted are: Goba with a population of 42, 660 people, Mwananyamala with a population of 50,560 people and Manzese with a population of 70, 507 people (NBS 2013). All three are urban areas although Goba remains relatively rural in many aspects. The model of health services delivery in Kinondoni Municipal Council is based on preventive, promotive and curative care. The line of operation starts from the Dispensary, Health center to the Municipal Hospital.

3 Methodology and sampling

As mentioned before, our research focused on the health sector, with a special interest on the implementation and operation of social accountability mechanisms aimed to enabling citizens to identify, denounce and act upon instances of corruption encountered while seeking health services. For this reason, besides approaching average citizens for the survey and interviews, we also interviewed health service providers in the three wards and invited community members familiar with the concept and implementation of social accountability to join a focus group discussion.

The survey on institutional performance and social values was applied to 113 respondents across the three wards. 24% of the surveys were conducted in Goba ward, 37% in Mwananyamala ward, and 39% in Manzese ward.

The survey respondents were chosen randomly as we wanted to get a meaningful picture of the attitudes prevailing among community members. However, given the reduced sample size, we do not have bold claims about the representativeness of the views expressed by the respondents. Also, for this reason, findings from the survey are to be complemented by those obtained through the interviews and focus group discussions.

For the survey, individuals were approached in a variety of different contexts and situations: at the household, in public spaces of the respective study sites and in health centers. The sample of survey respondents is characterized as follows:

The survey was applied to members of both genders in equal proportions (57 male respondents and 56 female respondents).

The proportion of participants that completed primary school is 36%. 48 % completed middle school, 7% completed high school, 2% of our survey participants


9

were college graduates, 1% completed technical school and 1% have not had any formal education.

Table 1 summarizes the demographic features of our survey participants.


Gender %

Male 50

Female 50

Age

15-25 25

25-35 38

35-45 25

45-55 11

55-65 0

65 + 1

Education level

Primary 36

Middle school 48

High school 7

College 2

Technical 1

None 1


10

Occupation




Housewife 1


and so on) 194


Self-employed-occupations that do not require expertise (grocery,

trades, real estate and so on) 47

Student 10

Unemployed 4


Region (Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)

Manzese ward 39

Mwananyamala ward 37

Goba ward 24

In addition to the survey two focus group discussions (FGDs) were organized with community members of the three wards. One FGD involved community members randomly chosen and the other one involved community members who have received training in social accountability monitoring techniques through Integrity Watch’s programme “Social Accountability Monitoring-Performance Management and Oversight” (SAM-PMO). This programme is a participatory initiative through which citizen volunteers are trained to use available information on a) allocated budgets for health service delivery b) responsibilities of service providers, and c)

3Police 4Nurses and teachers in the public sector


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citizen’s rights in order to monitor, record and rate performance to improve service provision through better accountability of health care providers.

A total of 123 interviews were conducted of which 110 involved average citizens and 13 were with health workers: 3 from Goba dispensary and 10 from Mwananyamala ward-health center and hospital. In Goba a doctor, a nurse and a health assistant were interviewed. In Mwananyamala 5 doctors, 3 nurses and 2 health assistants were interviewed. We also conducted interviews with two medical doctors and a senior nurse who impart courses at the Kam College of Health Sciences in Dar es Salaam.

As a general comment on the manner in which target communities reacted to the study we can say the following:

In approaching regular citizens, the overall experience was that it was at first hard to get most of them to participate in the research. Many people have the impression that there are often researchers wanting to interview residents but that they never actually see any changes happen as a result. Their belief is that collecting information from their communities must serve the purpose of bringing change later on but, since in their experience this is hardly the case, the perception is that spending time answering questions is useless.

Nevertheless, after taking time in explaining to them the intention of the research most of the citizens that were approached willingly participated. Some of them were happy to elaborate on their answers while others just consistently gave very short answers, perhaps as an indication of not being completely convinced about participating in the study.

Women were, compared to men, much more willing to talk and also more emotional in doing so. The reason appears to be that women tend to be in more frequent contact with the local health services because of the need to receive prenatal care and also because they are the ones usually responsible for bringing the babies and children in for their regular checkups, in addition to the times when they fall sick.

Older people seemed to believe that we were collecting their views, comments and complaints in order to bring them to the authorities. They often used expressions such as ‘tell those who sent you’ or ‘tell those in power’ which suggests that, even after explaining that we were conducting an academic research project, some people still believed we were sent by the government.

The hardest people to interview were the health workers. From the first time we approached their in-charge, we were assured no one would be willing to participate in the research project without a payment. With their attitudes, several of them made it clear that they felt that we were wasting their time and that they just wanted to get it over with as fast as they could. Even the way they answered questions portrayed a sense of fear, thinking perhaps that if they said something negative this could be used somewhere or sometime against them. The way several health workers answered many questions showed their unwillingness since they gave very short responses and did not want to explain anything. It was not easy to get their excact positions at their places of work except for the Goba


12

doctor who is also the head of the Goba dispensary a doctor at Mwananyamala who said he was also the secretary for his fellow doctors, the others simply identified themselves as doctors, nurses and assistants. At several points we had a feeling that some health workers were not providing genuine answers, so this is something to be taken into consideration for the analysis of the information.

The interviews with the academic staff at Kam College of Health Sciences, however, proceeded in a very smooth and cooperative tone. The two doctors and senior nurse who participated in the interviews were very knowledgeable of the different aspects that have an impact upon the delivery of essential health services to inhabitants in Kindondoni district including the institutional frameworks regulating the health facilities, as well as the actual experiences, incentives, constraints and motivations of health practitioners. These respondents were very enthusiastic and interested in sharing their knowledge and experiences.

The remaining 110 interviews were with community members across the three wards as follows: 50 in Manzese (35 female respondents and 15 male respondents), 37 in Mwananyamala (19 female respondents and 18 male respondents) and 23 in Goba (12 females respondents and 11 male respondents).

The research activities took place between January and August 2013.

4 Summary of findings

4.1 Local ınstitutions

The first four questions in the survey compiled general information about the respondents (gender, age, education level and occupation). The next group of questions (questions 5-15) focused on various aspects relating to the relationship between citizens and the public institutions with which they interact on a regular basis.

4.1.1 Question 5. Importance of Institutions

Respondents were asked to rate a list of institutions in terms of their perceived importance to community wellbeing. The possible answers were a) not important, b) fairly important and c) very important.



13

Graphic 1. Importance of Institutions for Community Welfare

Noteworthy in the responses to this question are the low importance given to the ruling political coalition and the high importance attributed to NGOs and local associations.

First, the fact that the ruling party is perceived as having little impact on community wellbeing is very symptomatic of the weaknesses of the Tanzanian state. As was described above, Tanzania has been ruled by the same political party, the Charma cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and political power has been substantially centralized. For this reason, in Tanzania we may speak of a situation where the distinction between the ruling party and the state is meaningless, both concepts are in practice deeply intermeshed. On the other hand, especially since the mid-1980s, the situation regarding corruption in the public sector and the state’s ability to provide basic services to the population deteriorated sharply. These two elements taken together provide the context in which to interpret how the low importance attributed by survey respondents to the political ruling coalition in terms of its ability to improve the communities’ well being reflects an underlying alienation of the population from the state.

The high importance given to NGOs is very likely associated to the situation described above involving the government’s inability to provide essential services. One of the roles that NGOs have taken in Kinondoni is to disseminate information and impart trainings to create awareness among citizens about their rights and entitlements and to enable them to demand accountability from their local authorities. In interviews with participants of one such social accountability initiative, designed to empower citizens to resist corrupt practices and demand

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Very important

Fairly important

Not important

N/A


14

redress for abuses of power, participants explained that the having the support of an NGO helped them in becoming more proactive. One such participant said that he and other project participants felt much more confident and empowered when they had a letter from the NGO supporting them during visits with local government officials when they tried to demand accountability for problems faced by their communities. They expressed that without the endorsement of the NGO they would have never dared confront local government officials. These experiences are useful to illustrate why NGOs are perceived to be important actors that have the ability to improve the well being of the communities.

In the category of local associations of special relevance in the communities of Kinondoni are self help networks which have developed spontaneously among the inhabitants of these areas in order to organize to meet immediate needs of people. These are mechanisms to cope for the absence of an effective state, to which local people turn to when they are in need. These local associations are given such importance because even though they deliver mundane benefits, they nevertheless have a substantial impact on people’s lives (more on these below).

4.1.2 Question 6. Identification of Public Officers

Respondents were asked, from a list of categories, to identify those that are examples of public officers.


Graphic 2. Identification of Public Officers

An interesting insight from the responses to this question is the extent to which journalists, NGO activists and religious functionaries are regarded as public officers among the survey respondents. We interpret these responses in the sense

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

No

Yes


15

that these actors perform important roles in their communities and as perceived as public officers because they address public problems. This may have partly to do with the manner in which the public sphere is understood in Tanzania, which is associated with the concept of Umma (loosely translating as public), meaning an area that does not belong to an individual, but rather pertains to the collectivity.

A very interesting discussion regarding precisely this topic took place in the FGD with regular citizens when the question was posed about the distinction between the public and private spheres. Generally speaking, participants were of the view that public property is for all while private property is for a specific person/group or community. They added that public property is misused simply because people do not feel attached to it, people feel that they are not able to demand accountability for it, whereas the private property is well handled since the owners are alert. Examples were cited from government hospitals whereby first of all you find long queues, there is a lot of corruption and the treatment is deficient. Contrarily, in the private hospitals, the treatment is close to perfect although it is expensive, there is no corruption therefore one pays their money whole heartedly. The same, they said, applies to private and government schools where even the performance at the national level is found to be best in private schools.

Overall, the perception expressed among FGD participants was that the public sphere belongs to nobody and therefore no one has incentives to get involved. Actually they expressed that they do not see the benefit of getting involved. People need to see a benefit in the form of a public service (resource) then they feel obliged to look after it and hold accountable whoever is misusing it. But when they no longer feel connected or attached to a resource then apathy takes over.

4.1.3 Question 7. Trust in Institutions

Respondents were asked to rank institutions in a list according to how much they trust each institution on a scale from 1 (lowest trust) to 5 (highest trust).


Responses to this question reveal that institutional trust is lowest in the cases of national and local government, the tax collection office and the district council. Conversely, highest trust was conferred to local associations and media.

Both findings are consistent with the manner in which state-civil society relations

have historically evolved in Tanzania. Since colonial times, a wide variety of civil

society associations have flourished in Tanzania, including Ngoma (dance)

societies, mutual aid societies, burial societies, football clubs, musical clubs, and

home associations. However, it has been in the post-colonial period, and

especially after the mid 1980s, with the economic crisis, that there has been a

notable reinvigoration of local associations. According to Tripp (Tripp 1992, 221)

since then local voluntary associations became an important means to provide

alternatives to limited state resources, emerging ‘where the state’s ability to

guarantee security, adequate incomes, and various social and public services

declined’.


16

Graphic 3. Institutional Trust

The creation and explosion in the numbers of local associations can be thus seen

in light of a vacuum generated by a state increasingly incapable of providing

essential services to the population. Therefore, these associations have been born

out of the efforts made by people to meet their basic needs (Kiondo 1994, 65).

For example, some of the most popular local organizations among urban women

have been upatu—rotating credit societies formed to pool money and other

resources. As Tripp (Tripp 1997) has shown, women in Dar es Salaam are keen to

form self-help associations and have done so with alacrity and great success.

Another example of a very popular modality of local organization is the wedding

committee, through which families in a given neighborhood pool resources in

order to finance lavish weddings for each other’s sons and daughters. No matter

what the economic status of the families may be, being able to celebrate large

wedding festivities is seen as an important indicator of status in these

communities and therefore wedding committees are extremely effective and

involve strong relationships based on reciprocity (Dill 2009). Because of the fact

that these self help networks provide tangible benefits to their members and

because they involve close relationships of trust among them, it is not surprising

that they should be given highest levels of trust in comparison to other

institutions.

In both our FGDs, all participants knew about different types of local associations,

and they explicitly mentioned examples of associations based on family ties,

workplace, place of residence (neighborhood), friendships and gender. For

example, a woman (Christina) described an association she is part of which

consists of relatives who meet every week and have set a certain amount of

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

N/A

Lowest trust 1

2

3

4

Highest trust 5


17

money to contribute every time they meet. She said it is a very helpful association

during funerals, sickness, festivals, because they then use the money collected to

contribute. She added that it has grown to be something very beneficial and that

other people who are not relatives have requested to join in.

There was also a motorcycle driver who described his association in pretty much

the same terms as Christina, only this time the members were meant to be

motorcycle drivers. Another participant shared her experience in a women’s

association. They also added that many people join the associations after seeing

that tangible benefits are achieved, not necessarily because they know someone

from the group or because they specially trust anybody in it. There are also rules

and regulations and not everyone can be a member of any association, there are

limitations in every association, and any person can be expelled from an

association if he/she does not follow the rules and regulations.

On the role attributed to the media, while there were mixed perspectives expressed in the FGDs, mass media was all and all regarded to be of great importance in relation to the issue of corruption. One discussant pointed out that recently the media has lost its morals in that they have reached a point of covering up corruption issues. Other participants suggested that media is often paid off to keep a certain corruption story covered up and that it is not easy to get the media to publish any type of information without paying any amount of money. Examples were given on how hard it is to get the media to report whatever the community wants to put out in the open.

However, in spite of these concerns, we also found that in the experience of several community members who have been active in community affairs, media has high relevance for citizens as a means to make their grievances and complaints known. This was described to be the case specially when resorting to formal complaints mechanisms has failed and also after direct interactions with local state representatives has failed to yield answers. In these cases, it was the experience of several people interviewed that even mentioning the potential involvement of media in exposing their grievances was enough to achieve immediate change of attitudes on the part of local government officials.

4.1.4 Question 8. Experience with institutions

Respondents were asked to indicate, out of a list of institutions, those in which they (or members of their family) have recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service.



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Graphic 4. Quality of service encountered

The reports of bad service were highest for public schools (67% of survey respondents), health care providers 44% (though in this case reports of good service were slightly higher 51%), judges (42%), Municipality (39%). Good service was reported to be highest with local associations (64%) and Church/Mosque (63%).

In interviews with citizens, 70% of respondents believe that they do not receive what they are entitled to. Some respondents in a very straightforward pointed to the education sector as being plagued with corrupt practices. It was said that just to be able to enroll one’s child in a public school very substantial bribes are commonly demanded.

Regarding the case of healthcare, the perception was that although services are in most cases available it is hard to get what they are entitled to because users are regularly asked to pay an extra fee in order to receive treatment, medicines are often out of stock and the health centers are in many cases far away from the citizens’ residences. The latter situation is especially the case in Goba where there is only one health center, which provides limited services. As noted by one pregnant woman, when one goes to the health center registration is frequently obtained free of charge, especially if the patient is an expecting mother, a child below five or an elderly person. However, she added, obtaining prescribed medicaments can be very expensive since health facilities typically only have pain killers in stock and therefore anything else needs to be bought from a nearby pharmacy. “The pharmacy is owned by someone known by the nurses and health workers,” said another pregnant woman.

Another very common problem accessing health services is the extremely long waiting times. In our interviews with users, 83% of the respondents said waiting for services typically takes up so much time it affects their ability to work. ‘Here at

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

0=good srv.

1=bad srv.

N/A


19

Mwananyamala one could arrive at 7:am and leave at 3:pm just waiting for services because of the long queues everywhere, consultation, laboratory, collecting results from the lab, pharmacy….’ Explained one Mwananyamala respondent. Many interviewees expressed that one has to spend the whole day seeking services, and therefore no other work can be done on that day.

4.2 Local Topics

The next group of questions was geared to explore a range of topics of a local nature.

4.2.1 Question 9. Serious problems in community

Respondents were asked to mention the three most important problems affecting their communities. Table 1 summarizes the responses to this question:

Table 1.

Type of problem mentioned Number of

respondents Percentage Water 8 7% Corruption 66 58% Embezzlement 65 58% Embezzlement and Corruption 36 32% Either Embezzlement or Corruption 90 80% Poverty 65 58% Unemployment 15 13% Crime (robbery, sexual harassment) 28 25% Robbery 17 15% Sexual harassment 12 11% Health related (health centres, lack of drugs, sickness) 15 13%

As can be appreciated from the responses to the survey, the most serious problems affecting the communities that we studied, as reported by their own inhabitants, are corruption (mentioned as either corruption or embezzlement) and poverty. If we consider embezzlement and corruption to conform one category of problem affecting the community, then this would be by far the most serious problem facing the communities of Kinondoni with 80% of respondents to the survey raising this topic.


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4.2.2 Question 10. Ability to obtain services on one’s own resources

Respondents were asked to indicate from a list of institutions those in which they are unable to obtain the required services with their own means.


Graphic 6. Ability to obtain service from institutions relying on one’s own resources

A first observation based on the responses to this question is the extent to which more than half of citizens responding to the survey reported not being able to obtain services with their own means from state institutions (the only exception being the district council for which inability to obtain service based on own means was reported by 47% of respondents).

Most striking is that 96% of respondents reported they cannot obtain services at health facilities on their own. With such an overwhelming experience in one of the most essential services to the population it comes to no surprise that alternative coping mechanisms are of great importance to the population. In this context, the importance given to NGOs and local self-help associations can be further understood.

In our interviews we asked people to describe how difficult it is for them to obtain medical treatment at nearby health facilities. As mentioned before, one of the issues mentioned that impact ability to obtain healthcare is long waiting times. In Mwananyamala respondents reported not having problems in terms of accessibility of the health centers or hospitals since they are many of them around. All they have to do is go early and follow the procedures at the center. The main problem identified is the congestion and the long waiting times due to

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Yes

No


21

the slowness with which the staff attend patients. Health facility staff reportedly use their phones too often, chat too much and sometimes leave their offices leaving their patients waiting and piling up by the hour.

In other cases accessibility of the health facilities was signaled as a major obstacle to obtaining health care. This is the case of Goba ward, where the only health center available is far from most of the Goba inhabitants since the ward covers a large geographic area. When one needs to get further treatment, they have to go to Mwananyamala, which is a two-hour trip if one uses public transport, which is for most people the only choice. Considering the fact that the transport within Goba is a problem, one has to be economically well off to afford private transport or hire transport to the health center. ’Many women get labor pains at night and because of the fact that the health center is very far and small too, many of them have unsafe births when not losing both mother and baby’s lives’ says one Goba resident.

In the course of the research we were also able to compile ample evidence of the extent to which corruption is widespread in the health sector and how it severely impacts the ability of citizens to obtain healthcare. In interviews with citizens 51% of respondents reported to have been asked to make informal payment so as to receive treatment or to receive preferential (expedited) treatment. It does appear that being asked for bribes as a precondition for treatment is one of the most common forms in which corruption takes place in the health sector at the community level.

In all the three wards it was reported that it is often the nurses who ask bribes from the patients (or their caretakers). A FGD participant explained:

’If you want your patient to get proper treatment, especially for the admitted ones, then one needs to pay a little something to the nurse in charge. If you do not give them something you may find your patient in a bad condition the next day when you go to pay them a visit. It has therefore become an imperative in order to receive a minimum standard of treatment. We do not have the money but we try a lot to get any amount to give the nurse.’

It was repeatedly recounted that “when there is a long queue heading to the doctor’s room, the easiest way there is to bribe a nurse who will take you straight to the doctor’s room.” In addition, our informants noted that even when one needs certain drugs he or she has to pay a considerable amount to health facility staff to avoid having to buy them from a pharmacy, which may be more expensive. According to the prevailing regulations, these drugs are meant to be given either free of charge or at a subsidized price but in practice they are sold at a higher price or one is told that drug is not in stock. As remarked by one man in an FGD ”you are told the drug is not in stock but when ‘you talk to them well’ (meaning bribing them) they get you the drug as prescribed!”

Doctors were also reported to take bribes, especially if one wants speedy treatment. Most of the informants noted that instances of occurrence of sickness at late hours of the night can be specially problematic, “a doctor might not show


22

up unless you bribe them, or they may show up but delay treatment until one pays a bribe.”

Many citizens are aware that it is illegal to bribe any one and it is not proper to buy one’s own right but they still do so because corruption or bribery is rampant and deep rooted in the public sphere. Still, most of the people we interacted with during this study perceive that it is wrong and improper to bribe a service provider. Many of the respondents agree that it is against the law since the government always claims to be fighting corruption. Furthermore they think it is unfair to those who are poor because they cannot afford to pay for the treatment.

A case of an old poor man from Mwananyamala (this assumption was made after looking at the place he was living, poor housing, dirty surroundings among other things) illustrates the point in question. This old man repairs buckets, sauce pans, knives etc. for a living. He visited Mwananyamala hospital some time back and this was his story:

‘I went to Mwananyamala hospital after I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB). I had come back to the hospital for my treatment as I had been told that TB treatment is given free of charge in government hospitals. The first time I went I was not able to get treatment, I returned home not knowing why I was not given medicine or any treatment, I had gone with no money since I did not have any and was sure this was a free service. The next time I went back I found a nurse and asked her about my situation, she told me I could not get the treatment I needed unless I paid some money. I was very sick and, remembering the fact that last time I did not get treatment, I had to search for money until I got it and paid to get treatment.’

Another young man in Goba told a sad story:

‘My wife was pregnant and her days were due so I decided to take her to the health center since it was late at night. I reached at the health center and the nurses saw me struggling with my wife but continued doing whatever they were doing. I tried to ask for help but they were not quick to help. My wife and I lost our baby’s life not because she could not produce normally but because I did not pay any money to the nurses that night so they could take good care of my wife and baby during and after delivery.’

In our interviews we also asked respondents whether they knew anyone who had been refused medical treatment due to inability to pay. A total of 60 respondents (55%) said that they knew at least one person facing such a situation. The following story of a mother unable to obtain treatment for her child illustrates an example of this situation:

’I have a child with albinism and individuals with this condition are meant to get treatment free of charge, to get drugs for their skins but I assure you I have given up visiting Goba health centre since I do not get any relief of treatment there. I have decided to try and collect money and take my child to MICO private health centre since it is even nearer. If I do not get the money then my child will suffer the consequences. It


23

hurts knowing we are supposed to get medical treatment free of charge and then not getting it.’

In order to understand the problem of adequate acces to health services in the three wards we also conducted interviews with health workers in which we inquired about the biggest challenges they face in fulfilling their tasks. All of the health workers interviewed said they did not have enough resources to carry out their work adequately compunded by poor working conditions. For example, a nurse at Mwananyamala coplained of not having enough resources in the maternity ward. ’Expecting mothers have to buy things like gloves, razor blades and gauze when coming for delivery. They have to bring these supplies themselves because many times women come in here and we are short of these very essential tools. This in turn contributes to the many unsafe births and increases corruption among others.’ On his part, the doctor and head of dispensary in Goba explained: ‘the laboratory is the most vulnerable part, like here we lack a microscope so it is hard to know who is really suffering from malaria and who is not since the symptoms for malaria and some other diseases are nearly the same.’5

Overall, the health workers we talked to would like to have answers from responsible decision makers as to why this situation prevails. ’We always wonder why we do not have enough resources to carry out our work, we think perhaps the government is not aware of the inadequacies although we always take complaints to them.’

In interviews with the academic staff of the Kam College of Health Science a different perspective was offered, the perspective of many medical doctors. Interviewees elaborated on the costs and efforts that are involved in obtaining a medical degree, and how generally speaking people who undertake such efforts to get a degree do so with the expectation that through their training they will achieve a comfortable living standard. However, this is not the case because Tanzanian doctors are paid salaries that, as explained, after deductions are very low. Therefore, corrupt behaviors among doctors can in many cases be explained as coming out of a sense of frustration and disappointment with unmet expectations that translate into individuals engaging in behaviors through which they hope to make their original expectations come true.

An additional finding that we came to through our research was on the ultimate impact that the difficulties to access health services in public facilities have on the health seeking behaviors of people. Broadly speaking, one could speak of a “medical pluralism” of sort, where people have to continuously improvise and try several different avenues to tend to their health needs. These include, besides public health facilities, traditional medicine, services provided by the church and self-medication.

5 This case, in which the microscope actually went missing, has been talked about by the citizens for more than two years now and it has never been solved yet it is a sensitive issue. As described by a FGD participant: ’When you go to the health center the doctor checks your temperature by touching your neck and concludes you have malaria after listening to your symptoms. After this one is given malaria prescription, this is very dangerous’


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4.2.3 Question 11 Preferred problem resolution techniques

In the next survey question respondents were asked to choose from a series of possible strategies, what would be their best advice for somebody having problems in dealing with a public institution.

The possible choices were:

• Ask for intervention from a friend

• Ask for intervention from a relative

• Ask for intervention from an important person

• Pay a fee

• Give a small gift

• Denounce the disservice to the competent authorities

• Try several times until I get a good result

• Avoid in general dealing with that institution

• Don’t know


Graphic 7. Preferred problem resolution techniques

As graphic 7 illustrates, the strategy most often chosen (80%) is to give a small gift, followed by denouncing disservice (69%) and asking for intervention of friends and relatives (both chosen by 52% of respondents). These results are interesting because they suggest how, on the one hand, public service users are accustomed to the fact that obtaining public services often requires adding “a little something” to get on the good side of the provider. At the same time, the high number of people suggesting that bad service should be denounced points to the extent that people are aware that deficient provision of public services is wrong, and is something that should be tackled by some responsible authority.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

ask for friend's

ask for relative's

ask for intervention of

pay fee

give small gift

denunce dissservice

try several times

preferred strategy to solve problems with service provision

preferred strategy to solve problems with service provision


25

Such contradictions, as is the case between the desire for the rule of law to prevail and the practicalities of an environment where without corruption it is very difficult to obtain services, seem to permeate the lives of the inhabitants of Kinondoni.

4.2.4 Question 12. Who can most help improve community wellbeing

Respondents were asked to indicate who can help improve the general well being of their communities. This question is meant to probe into the perceptions as to who has the capability to exert positive change, rather than an assessment of whom in practice does bring about change. It is, therefore, a question about capabilities rather than actual performance (multiple answers were possible).


Graphic 8 Agents capable of improving community wellbeing

Consistently with previous answers, respondents most frequently thought that the stakeholders who have the greatest capability to improve the well being of their communities are NGOs, with 66% of respondents selecting this answer. The central government came in as the second institution most frequently chosen as response to this question (52% of respondents chose this answer), followed by media (48% of respondents).

The identification of NGOs and media as drivers of change is consistent with responses to other questions, as elaborated above. The fact that the central government was also chosen frequently suggests a recognition of the crucial role that government plays in influencing development outcomes in Tanzania, regardless of experienced shortcomings.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Central government _ Opposition political parties

_ District council _ Mtaa government

_ Police forces _ Judges and magistrates _ Traditional authorities _ Citizens themselves

_ Media _ NGOs

_ International organizations

Who can help improve community wellbeing?

Who can help improve community wellbeing?


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4.2.5 Question 13. Practices against good society

Respondents were asked which, from a list, are practices that spoil the good development of a society (multiple choices possible).



While on all counts the individuals surveyed found the listed practices to be detrimental (all were chosen by over 75% of respondents), the practices most condemned were buying votes during elections (95%), bringing gifts to obtain access to health services (94%) and giving jobs to friends and relatives instead of the people who deserve them (91%).

Here it is worth the while to briefly discuss the situation regarding political corruption in the form of vote buying and manipulation as it often takes place in Tanzania. Several studies have provided empirical evidence as to how budgetary decisions are based on a political need for bases of support. In a detailed statistical analysis of government budget allocations and election results at the district level, Weinstein concluded that the government disproportionately targeted higher per capita expenditures and larger budget increases to the those districts most supportive of the CCM, in order to continue to win elections formidably (Laura Weinstein 2011, 54).

Also, the official party actively uses other means of patronage to benefit supporters. As Phillips (Phillips 2010) describes, voters jokingly refer to campaign season as “harvesting season” – the season of exchanging votes for gifts of money, beer, meals, and party apparel referred to colloquially as “food,” “soda,” “sugar,” or “tea.” Gifts of t-shirts, hats, khangas, and scarves circulate widely, and

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of the people who deserve them

Bringing gift to obtain access to health services



Exchanging con`idential information to get tenders and public construction bids

Convincing journalist not to publish sensitive articles




27

because villagers incorporate these items into wardrobes consisting of few other items, they are worn with frequency.

4.2.6 Question 14: Behavior of public officials

Respondents were asked to indicate the veracity of the following statement: “Public officials providing services to my community do not behave they way they should” The possible responses offered were: Always true, Frequently true, Occasionally true and Exceptionally true.


Graphic 10: Behavior of public officials

A large proportion of respondents feel that public officials behave inappropriately always (62%) or often (22%). Consistent with this result, in our research concerning public health service, most interviewees were also not satisfied with the attitudes of the healthcare providers, complaining that they often do not listen to the patients, that patients are, in most cases, simply ignored.

In one of the FGDs a participant narrated an incident whereby one woman had to give birth in the car that had brought her to the hospital. ‘On arrival at the hospital, the relatives let the nurses know that they have a woman who is due, the nurses told them that they were busy and that besides the doctor was not around so they should wait (the nurses were actually busy taking their tea). The woman gave birth in the car.”

Another element that we could identify as presumably having impact on the behavior of health service providers has to do with the working conditions they

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Inappropriate behavior of public of;icials

Inappropriate behavior of public of`icials


28

face. Besides the resource scarcity that has been mentioned before, the doctors seem over worked. During the course of the research several care givers expressed the wish that they could have some more time to rest or have more co-workers to help them out because patients come in large numbers. They even use this as an explanation of why they sometimes do not deliver as the patients would like them to.

In order to acquire a more nuanced understanding about the reasons behind lack of responsiveness of service providers we made a series of inquiries about the role of the ethnicity and place of residence of the service provider.

In this regard, some people argued that when a service provider is from their society, they favor the people they know, such as their relatives, giving them preferential treatment. There was one common example from Goba where most workers are at the residents in the community and as such well known. An FGD participant (in the social accountability group) said: ’

‘Most health workers are Goba residents so sometimes it is especially hard to carry out accountability measures since citizens are afraid that when they do so it may affect some workers who are also their relatives or in-laws and so on. For example when we were doing the social accountability research it was hard to ask the doctor about the funds and all the problems at the center since one of our colleagues was a son to the doctor, another one was an in-law. You find that some fouls are left unsaid in fear that one may hurt family members or friends.’

This type of situation can be expected to reinforce poor performance of workers since they are assured of silence from the patients.

Conversely, several people pointed out that if a service provider is not from their society they will be more likely to treat every patient equally and fairly because they do not know anyone from that particular area.

4.2.7 Question 15: Availability of means to express inconformity with public services

Respondents were asked the following question: “Do you feel you have means to express inconformity with provision of public services?”

To this question 81% of respondents said that they do have channels to express discontent with the quality of public services, the most cited mechanisms were the suggestion box and different public meetings.

This topic was explored in more depth during the FGDs. and interviews. Participants elaborated in how they have the possibility to attend public meetings to air their views and concerns. Such meetings are meant to be held every three months, but usually take place very rarely, in occasions just once a year. They also have the possibility to channel their views through health committee board


29

members who meet every month to talk about the health issues of their wards. These mechanisms they say, would be effective if only the suggestions were to be looked at and worked upon. According to one participant most concerns and queries go completely unaddressed: ’I think only less than half of the suggestions from the suggestion boxes are dealt with the majority are probably not even looked at all.

Respondents from all the three wards think that if the suggestions from the community were listened to it could lead to change. However, there is a little change seen after repeated complaints from the citizens. One concrete example that was given is as follows:

’Here at Goba, we had one deaf nurse who was very harsh to patients. This issue was raised time and again in the box, in meetings, at the ward leader’s office until it was finally looked at and the nurse was transferred from there. The same applied to one other doctor who was said to be corrupt, lazy and irresponsible.’

Generally the complaints methods are deemed to be not very effective.

What is extremely meaningful to mention at this point is that, formally, the Tanzanian state has put into place a multiplicity of institutional platforms and instances that are meant to incorporate citizen participation and inputs into the decision making process in across many sectors. In the health sectors these participatory mechanisms include local health committees, a health board assembly, a council health board, hospital governing committees, health center committees, and dispensary committees. All of these instances are mean to include participation from members of the communities the different health facilities serve with the expressed intention to bring in their feedback and concerns directly to facility management and local government decision makers.

In our interviews, we found that 90% of the respondents did not know of the existence of health committees overlooking health governance in their communities. Most respondents actually seemed shocked at the idea. This was more evident among the people of Goba. Most of the 10% who did express to know some people on the health committee however admitted they did not know the real significance of it. Similarly, 79% of the respondents have not heard of the health board assembly, 74% of respondents were unaware of the existence of the hospital governing committee, 70% of respondents were unaware of the existence health center committees, 65% of respondents were unaware of the existence of the ward health committee and 72% had not heard about the existence of a dispensary health committee. In spite of the fact that all these health committees are supposed to meet on a regular basis (at least every quarter), 86% of the interviewees did not know of any meetings taking place to discuss their health issues in their community during the previous 12 months.


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4.3 Social norms

The next group of questions aimed to draw insights about prevailing social norms and values prevailing in the communities.

4.3.1 Question 16: Importance of certain customs

Participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of a set of customs (see below) on the scale of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very important”. The question was posed: “In your community, how important is to:”

• Provide hospitality to guests

• Enjoy meals with other people

• Give presents during festive celebrations

• Reciprocate received gifts

• Reciprocate received gifts in time

• Reciprocate received gifts in same value

• Satisfy a personal request of favor

• Know who is the best person to ask a favor to

• Protect a person if I am in the position to do it

• Be in good terms with important persons

• Avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficient

• Keep a secret not to harm another person even if this is not legal

• Be cautious when talking of politics in public

• Spend time with friends outside the home



0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

very important fairly important not important


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The most striking aspect of the responses to this question is that the one type of action deemed among survey respondents to be most important in the community is to “avoid bureaucracy,” with 80% of respondents stating it is very important to do so. Also perceived as being very important by most respondents was “being cautious discussing politics in public,” with 74% percent of respondents rating this as very important. The next most important kind of action was to “be in good terms with important persons,” with 65% of respondents ranking this as very important. 59% of respondents thought that “knowing the best person to ask favors from” is very important in their communities.

The importance attributed to avoiding bureaucracy among survey respondents can be understood in the broader picture that is emerging from the study, in which performance of public officials and provision of services are seen as being deficient. The prevalence of corrupt practices among public service providers has a clear and significant detrimental impact on users, especially given the fact that these communities a sizeable proportion of the population living in poverty. The evidence also suggests that people find that other organizations (such as NGOs and self help networks) are better able to provide services and resources to address their needs. With this in mind, it makes sense that people would want to avoid dealing with a bureaucracy that fails to provide and which, through corrupt actions, instead extracts very scarce resources from the population.

The importance given to “being in terms with important persons” and “knowing the best person to ask favors from” is indicative of a well documented feature permeating social relationships in Tanzania: the predominance of informal networks as the means to obtain good and services and basically to get things done.

4.3.2 Question 17: Gift giving related to better treatment/service

At this point in the survey, two questions have been asked: First of them, is about the effect of gifts on service quality in institutions. The question was asked as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “gift giving creates a bond where people know they will receive better treatment/service next time they visit the clinic/office?”


A majority of respondents (65%) agree that gift giving improves quality of services received. Several of the answer to the survey described above also indicate that this is a generalized view, including answers to question 11 where most respondents considered that the best advice to somebody who is having trouble accessing services is to give a small gift. The anecdotal evidence that has been presented so far also points to the fact that service providers also expect to obtain something from users as a precondition to provide the service or to grant preferential treatment.


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Graphic 12: Gift giving improves service provision

Here we will expand the discussion on the topic of bribe giving in order to obtain better service (or, in some cases, in order to obtain any service at all).

In FGDs a participant described her experience in visiting public health facilities where “the worst part is in the maternity wards, I have noted very poor treatment of the pregnant women by the mid wives at Mwananyamala and some of them talked to me and said without bribing the nurses then one will be treated like trash.”

4.3.3 Question 18: Personal relations affect quality of service

The following question asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement:

“the quality of the services obtained is associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship with the service provider”


The perceptions of survey respondents in regards to this question were pretty much evenly divided, with 51% disagreeing that personal relations impact quality of service and 49% agreeing that that is the case.

65%

35%

Gift giving impact on services

Agree

Disagree


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In our research we found evidence of both scenarios. For example, a FGD participant (Mwakansepe) from Mwananyamala in discussing examples of how vulnerable groups (pregnant women, infants, the disabled, and elderly people) who are formally exempted from co-payments at local health facilities in fact are made to pay recounted the following: ‘One old man called me and asked for my help as he saw me doing research through the social accountability project. I agreed and we went to the hospital, I tried to talk to the nurse in charge (who also happens to be my sister) about this old man getting treated as directed by the government. The nurse told me to mind my own business and do away with whatever work I am doing (here she meant me being involved in the SAM project). The old man had to pay after all.”

In another case during an interview a community member described how the security guard at the local hospital asked people for money in order to pose as a relative in order to gain faster access and better treatment for the patient, the assumption being that patients of staff are granted preferential status.

4.3.4 Question 19 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios

Under this subtitle, participants of survey have been given some hypothetic stories in order to understand behavioral patterns and social values. Respondents were given five stories in the survey to which they had to describe whether they agreed with the behavior of a charatcer in each scenario.

Agreement/disagreement with different stories coded 1(strongly disagree)-6(strongly agree)

The stories are as follows:

49% 51%

Personal relations impact on service

Agree

Disagree


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Story a.

In the district council a new person has been appointed recently. This person is very hard-working and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift from citizens to sort out problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all by himself, not to be put under pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people avoid him.

Story b.

He is a very resourceful person, he does what he can to help his friends and relatives and he knows a lot of people. When he needs a favor he always finds someone to turn to because he has always helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and corruption. Most of the people who know him, however, still esteem and care for him for what he has done to them.

Story c.

A family has plans to build a new house in a village. They have asked what the official procedure is and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult and they realize they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person. They decide to leave the village and look for another where things are going according to the rules.

Story d.

He has a small business in preparing sandwiches, which he sells to local schools. Last year he was successful to win a tender and gained a contract in one local primary school. Unfortunately the school head has changed this year and his contract has expired. Before applying for the next tender he looks for an influential person who will introduce him the new school head.

Story e.

She runs a local NGO for human rights protection. She is very active and well established in the region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an international donor last year so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In the end she failed because she was not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the money to approve the projects. Next time she will secure the proper agreement with them first.



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Graphic 14: Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios

Story a. This story is about a person who places integrity and transparency above social standing. This was, of the five scenarios, the one with which most people disagreed in our survey (54% either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing).

Story b. This story is about a person who has rich social networks and ties but who nevertheless ends up in jail accused of fraud and corruption. 40% of survey respondents disagreed with these behaviors and 25% agreed, while 35% remained undecided.

Story c. This story is about a family that would rather abandon their plans than to give in to corrupt demands. 61% of survey respondents agreed with these behaviors, 29% chose answers coded as undecided (numbers 3-4) and 10% disagreed.

Story d. This story is about a person whose strategy to prepare for a tender bid is to look for an influential person. In this case the responses from our survey respondent were almost equally divided with 34% disagreeing, 35% undecided and 29% agreeing.

Story e. This story is about a person who fails to win a tender bid because of lack of knowledge that kickbacks were required and who will incorporate those kickbacks in future bids. In this case, 77% of respondents to our survey agreed with this behavior, 15% disagreed and 8% were undecided.

4.3.5 Question 20. Expectations about leadership behavior

Respondents were asked how they expect leaders in their community to behave. They were allowed to choose multiple answers from the following list:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Story a. Story b. Story c. Story d. Story e.

6-‐5 Agree

4-‐3 Undecided

2-‐1 Disagree


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e) Protect members of the community from intrusion from outside influences







Graphic 15: Expectations of leaders’ behaviors

0% 50% 100%





e) Protect members of the community from intrusion from









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Each one of the describe behaviors of leaders got at least a 65% endorsement from respondents to our survey. Those with the highest percentages (over 90%) were to “provide goods and services to all citizens” (96%), “to strictly follow the legislation governing his/her mandate” (94%), “make sure harmony prevails in the community” (91%).

Those with the lowest percentages (below 70%) were “follow guidelines from their political parties” (65%) and “protect members of the community from intrusion from outside influences” (67%).

4.3.6 Question 21: Self identification with different characters

Respondents were asked to relate themselves to a series of hypothetical individuals with certain attributes and state whether they considered themselves on a scale from 1 not similar to 6 very similar.

The character descriptions given to respondents were as follows:

Character a. He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as possible.

Character b. He would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society.

Character c. He thinks that traditions must be respected because they make up one person’s culture.

Character d. He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from elderly people.

Character e. He is very religious because religion helps people to be part of a community and get together regularly.

Character f. He thinks that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of the people don’t want so.

Character g. His house is often visited by guests and he has an intense social life.

Character h. He thinks that being loyal to one’s superior or boss is a very important virtue.

Character i. He will try not to show his true feelings in public in order not to appear selfish or egocentric.

Character j. He prefers not to show to others his economic standards of living to avoid jealousy.



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Graphic 16: self identification with different characters

Character a. This character was the one with which more people identified among survey respondents with 90% stating to be very similar. It is very interesting that one of the attributes of this character is that he relies on other people’s help as little as possible because as has been noted in relation with other questions of the survey, in Kindondoni districts one of the most prominent features of the social landscape and one that shapes behaviors and social interactions is the existence of numerous self help networks where people pool resources to actively support each other.

Character b. A large percentage of respondents (84%) closely identified with this character. This is an interesting result to the extent that the character refuses to break the rules that give order to the community whereas the evidence compiled about the state of the rule of law prevailing in Kinondoni district suggests a rather bleak picture. Here a valid question to ask would be which rules are we referring to? In a context such as the Tanzanian, where formal rules and regulations coexist with and are often superseded by informal ones, the argument can be made that individuals are constantly faced by different sets of normative frameworks (explicit and not explicit) which are often conflicting with each other.

Character c. Respondents to the survey were mostly (42%) undecided about the degree to which they are similar to this character, which places great value on the traditions. 34% considered themselves to not be similar to this character while 24% did identify with this character.

Character d. Responses to this question were almost equally divided between those who consider themselves to be very similar or are undecided (46% each) regarding this character, who places great value on the advice of elders. Only 8% of survey respondents considered themselves not to be similar to this character.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

6-‐5 Similar

4-‐3 Undecided

2-‐1 Not similar


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Character e. This character places religion very highly as a means to bring cohesion in a community. 70% of respondents identify with this character, whereas 16% were undecided and 12 did not identify with this character.

Character f. 42% of respondents identify with this character who believes outsiders should not be accepted in the community if most people feel that way, whereas 31% consider themselves not to be similar and 24% are undecided.

Character g. This character has an intense social life. 56% of respondents consider themselves to be similar to this character, 32% are undecided and 11% believe they are not similar.

Character h. This character gives great weight to being loyal to one’s superior. 73% of respondents identify themselves as being similar to this character, while 20% were undecided and 4% think themselves as being not similar to this character.

Character i. This character prefers to hide his feelings in public to avoid being seen as selfish. 57% of respondents identify themselves as being similar to this character, 31% are undecided and 10% think themselves as not being similar to this character.

Character j. This character avoids showing his living standards to others in order to avoid jealousy. 72% of respondents feel similar to this character, 19% were undecided and 6% do not think of themselves as being similar to this character.

4.3.7 Question 22: Most appropriate statement

One of the last items in the survey has given the participants choose from the following statements they would deem most appropriate to them:

A) To believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions

B) To believe only those in power can improve our living conditions

C) To believe only our community as a strong group can improve living conditions

D) To believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not improve easily


The majority of respondents agreed on the power of collective action as the means to improve on living standards (90%) although also a sizeable number thinks that individual action is important (76%).


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Graphic 17: statement most appropriate to me

To some extent, in the interviews we repeated this question where we asked respondents to choose one of the following statements:

a) People should look after themselves and be responsible for their own success in life.

b) The government should bear the main responsibility for ensuring the well being of people.

c) Only by joining together with other citizens can we make a difference in improving our living standards.

Interestingly, in the case of the interviews out of 110 interviewed citizens only one chose answer a. whereas 54 (49%) chose answer b. and the remaining 50% chose answer c.

4.3.8 Question 23: Most important statement

Participants were asked to choose “the most important” statement for themselves. The question was posed as follows: “Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you.”

A) To do all my best to help the community in which I live

B) To do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


No matter what I do conditions will nto change

Only our community as a group can change our conditions

Only those in power can change our conditions

Living conditions can be changed through my actions


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C) To do what I can to improve things according to the indications of those who administer the country

D) To do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to change things as everyone will do his best too


Graphic 18: Statement most important to me

91% of survey respondents agreed on the importance to improve their own living standards and 82% also thought that it is important to support their community. 43% furthermore agreed on emphasizing the importance of abiding by the laws whereas only 4% chose to underscore that each individual should concentrate on improving the living standards of their own families.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


To do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help change things as others will do too

To do what I can to improve my living standards but always abiding by the laws

To do all my best to improve the life of my family, others will do by themselves

To do all my best to help the community in which I live


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5 Additional findings and final reflections from the ethnographic study of institutional performance and social values in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This section presents additional insights obtained through the research on how corruption is experienced and understood by regular citizens in Kindondoni district, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Also, some preliminary findings are compiled in this section pertaining to the impact of a grass roots social accountability initiative aimed at empowering citizens to detect and counter instances of corruption.

5.1 Corruption: “something for something and nothing for nothing”

During the Focus Group Discussions we explicitly took up the topic of corruption with participants in order to draw deeper insights into how community members in Kinondoni district understand and experience corruption.

FGD participants agreed that the stakeholders initiating corrupt transactions recognize that corruption is an illegal act. One participant (Victoria) argued that that is why it is given different names like ‘takrima” (which in Swahili can mean both favor and hospitality) that have the intention to cover up corrupt acts and make them look as if they were normal and legal. So the question then was raised as to how can one identify the difference between a corrupt and a legal act.

In this respect, one discussant (Iddi) argued that when one goes to the hospital and is treated according to the law that is a legal act but if one is made to pay more than is allowed then that is corruption. For example, if one goes to the hospital and is told to pay Tsh3000 for a drug that is supposed to be sold at Tsh2000 then that is understood to be corruption. The problem is that many times people do not have the information about rights, entitlements and elements such a drug prices that would enable them to make a valid assessment of the legality of specific situations. In the same argument another participant added that paying for treatment may not be corruption per se until you are made to choose between situations i.e. a doctor explains how the situation will be handled if you follow the legal procedures and how it can be if you pay more than you are meant to, that is when one decides to pay more in order to get better treatment that can be considered corruption.

Most of the FGD participants were of the view that corruption is that situation whereby you have to give something to get something. “Something for something,


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nothing for nothing“ Four out of the seven people who answered this question directed their explanations in this direction.

We experienced one clear example of this “something for something and nothing for nothing” type of attitude during the research when during the activties undertaken to carry out interviews with health service providers,

The researcher went to the health facility management office to seek permission to interview the workers, the permission was granted and names of people that could be interviewed. The researcher then went to speak to the senior staff members in order to ask where these people could be founnd. The manager of the nurses asked the researcher how much money were we giving these after the interview. The researcher explained that there was no pay involved, that we just wanted to ask them a few questions and would not take a lot of their time. The senior nurse then said: ‘Mnhhh, do you think any one will sit down for free to answer these questions of yours? I am assuring you it will not be easy but any way come back tomorrow, I will let them know’

Since permission from the facility management had beed obtained, the researcher left the chief nurse’s office and independently approached nurses and doctors to conduct the interviews.

5.2 Corruption as extortion

One FGD participant (David) said bluntly that corruption has become part and parcel of any Tanzanian’s life. Some others said it was something that those in power have made up so that they get themselves some money out of service users, Another user pointed out that in this country one cannot get good services without corruption, he said ‘it has become an institution through which people make money.’ Another participant explained that there is no way one can forego corruption because it is everywhere and it always comes in situations where one will definitely comply.

In other words, the general feeling is that, although corruption is always wrong in principle, in practice it is often experienced in situations of great need in which those affected by the corrupt behaviors have little choice but to go along. The following are examples that FGD participants gave of such kinds of situations:

Bilali is a leader of one association in Manzese. One day he was called upon when one of his organization members got an injury. He took the casualty to Tandale dispensary (which is the nearest dispensary since Manzese has no dispensary). On reaching there, he pleaded that his was an emergency so it should be handled that way. He was told to follow the right procedures no matter how serious the casualty was. After sometime he decided to enter the doctor’s room without permission with his casualty. He talked to the doctor and asked him to kindly look at his patient who was bleeding at that time. The doctor looking at the patient simply told him ‘You see the situation here, people are many waiting for treatment and they have been here for a long time, besides certain medicine needed for this patient is not available’. After all this explanations (which according to Bilali was meant to show him how hard the situation is hence making him think in another direction-bribe). He told Bilal that if he could pay Tsh24000 (about 11 EUR) at that


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moment, he (the doctor) would work on the patient right away. That is exactly what Bilali did and within a matter of seconds even the drugs that were said not to be available materialized.

He gave another incident whereby he lost his grandmother and had to go to the Mwananyamala mortuary to make sure the body was well kept before burial:

“All is not well at the mortuary, when you approach the attendant and ask him to keep the body of your deceased in the fridge he tells you to go with him and see how overloaded the place is, when I followed him in there it was disgusting since bodies were just laying without any order, some in fridges and others not, so he told me if I wanted my relative’s corpse to be put in the fridge I should pay Tsh20000 (9 EUR) more (that is besides another fee already paid at the reception). When I paid, I could not believe my eyes, the attendant mercilessly brought out a corpse out of the fridge and put my grandmother’s in there”

Jackeline from Mwananyamala recounted how she and her relatives took a pregnant woman to Mwananyamala hospital because she was due. Their patient was very sick on top of having labor pains and therefore she was helpless and needed everything done for her including bathing, helping her whenever she wanted to ease herself and so on. Time came when they had to leave her admitted at the hospital, and the fact that she needed close attention led them to request for one of them to remain overnight and take care of her whenever necessary. The doctor in charge informed them that it is illegal for anyone other than the nurses to spend the night at the hospital. After some pleading, the doctor directed them to the nurse in charge. They talked to her and she too refused. At that point they decided to give her some money and she immediately changed her attitude and promised to take close care of their patient. When they came back the next morning, they found their patient in a clean condition and she confirmed that she had been taken care of very well. The interpretation Jackeline gave of the story was that had it not been for the bribe, they would have found their patient in the worst condition possible.

David from Goba wanted to bail out his uncle from jail. At the police station they told him to collect a letter from the ward executive officer, which he managed to obtain and bring back although the ward executive’s office is not at a walking distance from the police post. He was then told to go collect another letter from the Mtaa leader (Mtaa roughly translates as “street” and is one of the most decentralized administrative levels of government in Tanzania), he managed to obtain that too and again was told to go collect another letter from his representative (a lower level after the Mtaa). Again, he did as told and submitted all documents whereby a letter from the judge was written for his uncle’s release but in spite of that the policemen did not let his uncle go until he paid Tsh40000 (18 EUR). David understands that all this was done in order to tire him up so that he would give up and pay a bribe so that his uncle could be released.

From these examples one gets the feeling of how corrupt practices take place by very blatantly taking advantage of desperate situations of people, which can be especially critical in the health sector.


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5.3 Preliminary findings on the impact of an anti-corruption social accountability intervention

Participants of the SAM-PMO social accountability initiative shared some of their experiences acquired through the implementation of the training on social accountability that they received.

One of the most significant issues that was brought to light by these citizens was the extent to which they found that a very substantial elements that enables corruption to thrive and remain basically unpunished in their communities is the fact that most people have no knowledge about their rights and about the duties of the providers of public services. At the same time, they expressed that through the trainings they have become knowledgeable and have now started to see instances where making use of their newly acquired information is yielding positive good results.

The following are examples given by SAM-PMO participants that illustrate the previous points:

One young man said he has been drawn to the project because he is a citizen and he wants to know exactly what he is entitled to, he wants to know if he is getting more or less than what he is entitled to. By learning about these topics he has come to realize that normally citizens are not getting what hey should, he has learned that health facility staff tamper with the supplies and service provided on the assumption that people do not know what to expect.

Mohammed from Manzese said if the citizens get sensitization about their rights then it becomes easier for development to take place. He explained that before the beginning of SAM project Manzese did not have a dispensary and because people did not know they had a right to one they just ignored the fact. With the training they acquired from SAM, they realized that by law each ward has to have a dispensary and thus they gained the confidence to face their local government leaders and ask about the dispensary. At the moment the dispensary is at the final stages and the citizens are following up closely.

Muhsin, a participant from Manzese, recounted that he was arrested one afternoon being accused of hooliganism and smoking weed. He was innocent of the crime and the policemen themselves did not even have any evidence of the same since they searched him publicly and found no trace of weed or any other illegal drugs. They took him to the police post and locked him in. Later his relatives went to the police post and paid Tsh20000 (9 EUR) and he was released. Two days later he went back to the police post and demanded to talk to the policeman who arrested him and get his name because he wanted to get what he called justice. The policeman was called and he asked for forgiveness and returned the money paid by his relatives. Muhsin says that before the trainings he would have never confronted an abusive authority because it is common knowledge among people that such a behavior is unwise and dangerous.

Katherine from Goba recalls what happened when she was approached by a pregnant girl who had no support from the father of her child:


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“She wanted me to help her but I also had no money so I decided to take her to a government hospital where I would not need to pay for anything. We reached Mwananyamala hospital and she was admitted. Later the nurse came and asked me to give her Tsh20000 so that she can buy gloves and other necessities for the procedure. I told the nurse that is okay but I need a receipt for my payment, the nurse insisted there were no receipts. I also refused to pay for anything if I will not be given a receipt. On seeing that I was seriously not about to pay with no receipt the nurse left and attended to my patient very well with no extra payment.“

She says this is the confidence she has gained from the SAM project.

Mwinyigogogo, another participant, added that through their work in the social accountability initiative they have begun to built trust in the hearts of the citizens. He explained that this happened mainly after the results of the research that they conducted on the state of provision of health services were presented to their fellow community members at which point the latter realized how much they did not know. Now citizens consult the SAM-PMO citizen monitors about many things that are related to their rights, which in turn has made SAM-PMO participants known, trusted and dependable in their society.

Furthermore, another participant explained how currently women do no longer pay for family planning pills and injections. All contraceptives are provided free of charge at the Goba dispensary as a result of informed community members making inquiries and demands. This had many of the citizens surprised because they were used to paying for this service.

Back in their wards SAM-PMO participants have got both enemies and friends through this project. Several of them believe that local government officials now ‘fear’ them for they believe they know their rights. They express that it is now easier for them to get services than before and without any bribes.

Engaging with the public sector, especially with local government officials remains a challenge, though. SAM-PMO participants generally felt that the most disappointing aspect of following through the social accountability programme was the lack of availability of information, especially when requested from government authorities. In this respect several programme participants said that having the support of a recognized NGO made a big difference. Government officials are somewhat more approachable when they come to them with a letter of support from Integrity Watch than when they come simply as individual citizens.

Other interesting experiences that SAM-PMO participants shared involved the use of media to achieve their goals. The case recounted involved an Mtaa leader who was abusing power in a decision regarding land tenure in one of the wards. The project participants went to national TV to expose their case. At first they said it was difficult to engage the reporter and only after they agreed to pay for his transportation to the ward did he agree to come to cove the story, but in the end they prevailed, the story was made public and the corrupt Mtaa official was removed from office.


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5.4 Final remarks

Overall, one of the most salient findings of this study can be said to be the extent to which there is widespread lack of trust on the part of citizens toward public officials and the public sector in general. Many examples have illustrated the manner in which corrupt acts take place which amount to extortion based on the exploitation of the needs of people. Under such circumstances it comes as no surprise that citizens should respond by seeking to develop their own coping mechanisms (self-help networks) and all in all seek to distance themselves from public institutions to the greatest degree possible.

The lack of awareness of regular citizens about the existence of institutional frameworks which are formally supposed to engage them and promote responsiveness of the state is one manifestation of what seems to be a coexistence of parallel spheres, public and private, where lack of information enables abuse of power to take place more easily when citizens interact with public institutions.

The situation of widespread corruption in Tanzania is undoubtedly linked to an underlying situation of extreme resource scarcity. This generates frustration among public officials who are not well remunerated, face overwhelming working conditions a well as shortages of the supplies they need to perform their functions. On the other hand, extensive poverty creates a situation of huge need and demand for public services, which can barely be met with existing resources. Corruption, in this sense, becomes a mechanism through which the very scarce resources are allocated, with extremely negative consequences in terms of social justice and equity.

However, the evidence brought forward also suggests that mechanisms to empower citizens, by raising awareness of their legal rights and entitlements as well as of certain mechanisms they can make use of in order to demand their rights, can yield positive results and, perhaps in the long run, be conducive to positive change.


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6 References

Development Partners Group. 2006. ‘Tanzania Joint Program Document’. Dill, Brian. 2009. ‘The Paradoxes of Community-Based Participation in Dar Es

Salaam’. Development and Change 40 (4): 717–43. Hyden, Goran. 2008. ‘Why Things Happen the Way They Do? A Power Analysis of

Tanzania.’ Kiondo, Andrew. 1994. ‘The New Poltiics of Local Development in Tanzania’. In

The New Local Level Politics in East Africa. Uppsala, Sweden: Nordic Africa Institute.

Kiria, Irenei Boniphace. 2009. ‘Downward Accountability in Public Health Care Systems: The Case of Temeke Municipal Council’. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Muhumbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

Koechlin, Lucy. 2010. ‘Corruption as an Empty Signifier: Politics and Political Order in Africa’. Basel, Switzerland: University of Basel.

Laura Weinstein. 2011. ‘The Politics of Government Expenditures in Tanzania, 1999–2007’. African Studies Review 54 (1): 33–57.

Morgan, Peter J, Heather Baser, and Denyse Morin. 2010. ‘Developing Capacity for Managing Public Service Reform: The Tanzania Experience 2000–2008’. Public Administration and Development 30 (1): 27–37. doi:10.1002/pad.553.

Mwenda, Andrew M. 2007. ‘Personalizing Power in Uganda’. Journal of Democracy 18 (3): 23–37.

National Bureau of Statistics. 2013. ‘Tanzania in Figures 2012’. The United Republic of Tanzania.

NBS. 2013. ‘The 2012 Population and Housing Census.’ National Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

NBS and ICF Macro. 2011. ‘Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10’. National Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Phillips, Kristin D. 2010. ‘Pater Rules Best: Political Kinship and Party Politics in Tanzania’s Presidential Elections’. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 33 (1): 109–32. doi:10.1111/j.1555-2934.2010.01095.x.

Tilley. 2009. ‘“Missing the Point: Accountability and Aid Effectiveness in Tanzania, 2000-2009”’. In South Africa.

Tripp, Aili Mari. 1992. ‘The Impact of Crisis and Economic Reform on Women in Urban Tanzania’. In Unequal Burden: Economic Crises, Persistent Poverty and Women’s Work. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.

———. 1997. Changing the Rules: The Politics of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy in Tanzania. University of California Press.

HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY


GLOBAL TRENDS AND EUROPEAN RESPONSES TO THE CHALLENGE OF CORRUPTION


WP4 SURVEY


PROF. DR. MUHİTTİN ACAR

COORDINATOR

MURAT YAĞCI

ETHNOGRAPHER

ANKARA, 2013

2

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 3

2. METHODOLOGY, SAMPLING AND FIELD ......................................................................................... 4

3. LOCAL INSTITUTIONS ..................................................................................................................... 11

3.1 Trust in institution ....................................................................................................................... 11

3.2 Experience with institutions ........................................................................................................ 13

4. LOCAL ISSUES ................................................................................................................................. 16

4.1 Serious problems in community .................................................................................................. 16

4.2 Ability to obtain service from Institutions relying exclusively on own means ............................ 18

4.3 Preferred problem resolution techniques ................................................................................... 21

4.4 Institutions important for improving well being ......................................................................... 23

4.5 Practices against good society..................................................................................................... 25

5. SOCIAL NORMS .............................................................................................................................. 27

5.1 Importance of customs................................................................................................................ 27

5.2 Statement: Gift giving related to better treatment/service ....................................................... 30

5.3 Statement: Personal relations affect quality of service .............................................................. 31

5.4 Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios .................................................................... 32

6. VALUES .......................................................................................................................................... 39

6.1 Self-identification with character from “True of myself” to “Not at all true of myself” ............. 39

6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you: .................. 49

6.3 Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you: ........................... 51

7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 52

3

1. INTRODUCTION

As part of agreed-upon research issues and methodologies developed within WP4, a survey has been

conducted with a small sample in Ankara in 2012. It was meant as a supplement to the main

ethnographic fieldwork. The current report is prepared to inform the reader about the data obtained

and observations made through the survey.

The field research in its entirety aimed to gather data on the interactions between public institutions

and citizens, definitions of corruption and its perception, types of corruption, effects of corruption,

practices of anti-corruption, cultural and social norms in this field, national and local media, and local

policies. In addition to the survey, participant observation and interviews have been main research

methods in the ethnographic fieldwork. Interviews have been made with local government officers,

politicians, entrepreneurs, anti-corruption activists, political civic organizations and citizens’ groups...

Participant observation has been made possible through involvement in various relevant meetings,

workshops, and conferences. It must be noted, however, that only the findings and observations

gathered through the survey will be reported in the current report.

Again, this survey study has been carried out as a supplement to the briefly explained ethnographic

fieldwork. With this survey, it has been aimed to reach the views and perspectives of ordinary

citizens. The main reason of including local people in such a survey is to provide a bottom-up

perspective by focusing on the social and cultural values and norms underlying state-citizen

interactions, including corruption. In this way, survey has been used as an additional mean to main

ethnographic work conducted within the framework of WP4. This survey has focused on social-

cultural norms (such as common behavioral patterns), social values, and performances of institutions

as forms of expressions of socio-cultural practices.

4


As was in the entire ethnographic field research, the survey area has been Ankara Province. The

survey has been conducted with a sample of 100 people over the age of 18 in the last two months of

2012. While designing questionnaire, which was entirely conducted face to face, a set of questions

was prepared by the WP4 Coordinator was used. The questionnaire has been only slightly changed

while translating it into Turkish and after pilot-testing it with 5 people. Given the smallness of the

sample, we don’t have bold claims about the representativeness of the views expressed by the

participants: We have tried to put forward a proxy profile on the bases of the relationship of

institutions and citizens in the country through the survey consist of questions related to local

institutions and issues, social norms, and values.

The surveys have been conducted in Ankara province, a little more than half of them in Yenikent

settlement and 3 villages located therein. Through a snowballing sampling method, a communication

network occurred and we have reached demographic characteristics given in Table 1.

Main factors for choosing Yenikent settlement as starting point for survey research can be explained

as the follows:

As a settlement located in the periphery of Ankara, Yenikent has both rural and urban

characteristics of the region: it is in a rapidly urbanization process of rural life based on

agricultural production.

On the other hand, the community still largely maintains the networks of kinship and fellow-

countryman relationships.

Increase in the value of agricultural land in the region as a result of the process of

urbanization and emerging high rents.

In the process of transition, there might be both continuities and changes in their

expectations from local and central institutions.

Yenikent, which is one of the oldest settlements of Ankara and located on the Ayaş- Beypazarı Road

that opens to western corridor of Ankara, has become a “first-tier municipality” in Sincan with an act

promulgated in 2008.1 Its distance to Ankara city center 35 km, while it is about 7 km far from Sincan

district. According to results of Turkish Statistical Institute Address-Based Population Registration

System, the total population of Yenikent Municipality in 13 neighborhoods is 20.770 including 11.554

men and 9.216 women2. There are five high schools, five elementary schools, one kindergarten, one

1 http://web.tbmm.gov.tr/gelenkagitlar/metinler/144966.pdf

2 Turkish Statistical Institute, Address-Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Data Base (2007):

http://rapor.tuik.gov.tr/reports/rwservlet?adnksdb2&ENVID=adnksdb2Env&report=belediye.RDF&p_il1=6&p_i

lce1=62&p_kod=2&p_yil=2007&p_dil=1&desformat=html

5

health center, two outpatient clinics, agricultural credit cooperative, one post Office, one bank

branch and automobile repair center.

One of our interviewees residing in the center of Yenikent district sums-up social, economic and

demographic characteristics of settlement as follows:

There are people in villages getting retirement pensions. Small farming continues

too. In winter months, 8- 9 households remain in the village, rest of them spend the

winter in the center of Yenikent. Because, there is not much work to do in the village

during the winters. Furthermore, houses in the center are more comfortable and

with natural gas. Nearly everybody has bought an apartment in Yenikent. Youngsters

are in Ankara, some of them study, under-educated ones are working. Young people

almost never stay in village. We have two students in the village. They are going to

Yenikent by service vehicle. Actually all villages here make a living by selling lands. I

don’t know a person who does not sell land. He sells because his child will marry, he

will buy a house etc... Lands are bought by those who want to make a long-term

investment in urban rent (Participant I)

Economic production based on agriculture and animal husbandry is greatly weakened. The portion of

the elderly population residing in villages compared to young population is an indicator that shows

labor force has shifted to city center. It can be understood from the interest in these lands of

investors especially coming from outside that on the one hand, while agricultural structure of the

region as a small settlement with rural characteristics is spoiling, on the other hand, settlement is

shifting into the urban development area. One another assessment that shows the situation of the

settlement has come from our informant residing in the center of Yenikent but at the same time he is

headman of one of the villages:

We are very near to Ankara but we did not benefit from blessings of Ankara. We did

not get sufficient aid from the state. Our neighborhood is underdeveloped. They

have relied on its soil and land. One generation studied generally. People who study

at university are very few though… Lands are worthy enough even if they are not that

as much expensive as those in villages on Eskişehir Highway. Agriculture and animal

husbandry are almost over. One could earn a living from apple, melon and pear, and

wheat would be extra income source. Agriculture was much reduced. Peasants are

still cultivating, fields are not empty but old order is over. Akdere dried out too.

Brook dried out because of misapplication of Ministry of Forestry. They planted

poplar tree at the stream side. Some people had nearly 2500 sheep when I was

young. Now, almost none left. Dairy cattle used to owned by almost every

household, it was also very much reduced. Wheat, barley and chickpeas are being

planted now. There is no irrigated farming. The past 10 years, there are land sales.

People from outside are buying land for investment by saying that “There can be land

planning in the future, lands increase in value.” They think of it as a long-term

investment. Akıncı Airport put this region of its stride. Furthermore, prices of

6

fertilizer, forage and fuel are very high in this country. It is no longer possible to make

a living with agriculture. (Participant II)

As understood from these statements and from observations made in the field, while labor force

basically turns into urban wage labor, agriculture and animal husbandry are being maintained

especially by over middle-age population still living in the village as a supplement to income earned

by wage labor. Land sales as a new form emerged from urbanization have been raised by this

interviewee too. Another effect of urbanization as this interviewee stated just the beginning his

speech is changing expectations from local and central governments.

Yenikent is the beginning point of snowball sampling method used in this study. After the end of five

week study, sample has reached a certain volume. Then surveys have ground to a halt. At this point,

the study has shifted from this demographic area with relatively rural characteristics towards an area

with intensive urban characteristics. In this process of study, surveys have been conducted in

Çankaya district.

After Ankara became the Capital City of Republic of Turkey, Çankaya has become a district in which

administrative center of Turkey located. Besides its service sector, Çankaya district is an educational

center in which there are eleven universities and over hundred thousand students3. With these

features, it is the city of students, public servants, bureaucrats and commerce. According to Address-

Based Population Registration System data of 2012, total population of Çankaya, the district with the

highest gross domestic product in Ankara, is 832.075; 406.801 men and 425.274 women. Entire

populations of Çankaya live in urbanized areas.4

Table 1 shows the demographic features our survey participants.

In our sample, the percentage of men interviewee is 57 %, the percentage of women is 43 %.

The proportion of participants that graduated from primary school is 13 %. 36 % of our

survey participants were college graduates.

In our sample, 22 % of participants are working for public organizations, 22 % of them are

engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, while 20 % of them are private sector

employees. The percentage of professionals-experts such as doctor, engineers, and lawyers

is 7 %. The ratio of self-employed occupations that do not require professional educations

and expertise is 5 % and the ratio of those engaged in large-scale trading is 3 %.

When we think together housewives, students and unemployed, 16 percent of those

participated in the survey do not currently work in a revenue-generating job.

3 Municipality of Çankaya’s official web site: http://www.cankaya.bel.tr/oku.php?yazi_id=77

4 Turkish Statistical Institute, Address-Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Data Base (2012):

http://rapor.tuik.gov.tr/reports/rwservlet?adnksdb2&ENVID=adnksdb2Env&report=wa_turkiye_ilce_koy_sehir

.RDF&p_il1=6&p_ilce1=1231&p_kod=2&p_yil=2012&p_dil=1&desformat=html

7

60 % of surveys have been conducted in Yenikent settlement and in its villages, 40 % of

surveys have been conducted in Çankaya settlement.


Gender %

Male 57

Female 43

Age

15-25 10

25-35 33

35-45 21

45-55 24

55-65 11

65 + 1

Education level

Primary 13

Middle school 17

High school 27

College 36

Technical 7

Occupation




Housewife 8

Occupations that require expertise (doctors, engineers, lawyers and so on) 7


Self-employed-occupations that do not require expertise (grocery, trades, real estate and so on) 5

Student 4

Unemployed 4


Region (Ankara, Turkey)

Yenikent and surroundings 60

Çankaya 40

After deciding on research location, we started working in Yenikent in November 2012. In the first

visits to households in the regions, they directed us to village headman who (in a sense) will allow us

to enter into the field, direct us and mediate. They gave us the address of headman’s office which is

8

in the center of settlement. Although we went to his office during 4 days, we couldn’t reach him.

Village headman was in the city center or in land office as part of his job of real estate professional

besides village headman. As a result of our persistence, we could get an appointment from him for

the following week and we could meet him on the agreed-upon day. In this conversation, we asked

for his help to reach out the people who need help of public institutions, who have a work in public

institutions, who interact frequently with public organizations, in short people that would be most

relevant for our study. However, we could only get the phone numbers and addresses of other

headmen in the region. Almost two weeks passed by talking with these headmen and a limited

number of people around them. At the end of third week, while we were walking around without

reaching a sufficient number of informants, coming across an informant who already has been before

completed the survey completely changed the course of field research. After asking “Are you still

here?” he gave us some names who will be interested in the subject. After this point, our access to

the field has significantly accelerated. Luckily, each new interview took us to new households and

individuals.

The boundaries and trajectories of the field changed throughout the study since citizens in the region

had interactions with so many places: the participant network has expanded rapidly from work

places to coffeehouses, from village chamber to households, from villages to city center. At the end

of the fifth week we traveled to Çankaya district where local people from Yenikent and surroundings

used to go very often to sell their home-grown farm products, especially dairy products up until 10-

15 years ago.

These data indicate another layer of the problem related with accessing to the field: only 17 of 60

surveys conducted with women. In the countryside, it is hard for a stranger, an outsider man to

communicate with women without help or mediation of a local agent (again a man, which can be

father, husband, brother or elderly relatives). It is thus not too much surprising that we faced

difficulties in reaching women for our survey in Yenikent and its surroundings. Starting from the

supposition that society is divided into different cultural groups, it can be said that rural life

especially based on agriculture carries traditional patriarchal values more than the urban culture. The

relations within family are predominantly patriarchal. Even the family becomes nuclear in terms of

size and structure; men are still at the forefront. In the context of our study, access to women in rural

areas has thus been required approval, mediation and monitoring of men.

In the framework of gender-based labor-division of women in rural areas, their living spaces and their

occupation of production are in domestic sphere. These reinforce the situation of women. Women

do not go to village chambers. They do not meet and chat at the village square. They do not usually

deal with public bureaus, nor do they socialize as frequently as men do in restaurants and

coffeehouses in the center. All of these explain (and may excuse us) why women are not represented

equally with men in parts of our survey conducted in Yenikent and its surroundings. It is interesting

to note, however, that when reached out, women were extremely interested in our survey. On the

other hand, women in Çankaya, which is the urban part of survey study, are more visible in public

sphere and they are freer. Here, 26 of 40 surveys have been conducted with women participants.

9

One somewhat interesting observation can be made here about the interest of informants to the

study: Especially some male interviewees who can be called as supporters of particular political

parties have paid much more attention to the study. Although their numbers are limited (8 persons),

these interviewees have stated that their own ideas and preferences reflect ideas and preferences of

a particular segment of society (voters of their parties). They have pointed that they interpreted

questions with attention and responsibility derived from this representation: “We are not from X

Party, we are from Y Party (referring to one another interviewee from same settlement), and we

cannot reach an agreement with them on these issues. That is why we think in this way” or “I am

known as a person from Z Party [one opposition party in the Turkish Parliament], I want to help you. I

will tell you the things that no one easily tells”. These kinds of statements, according to many

observers, reflect the polarization of political context in Turkey in recent years. On the other hand, it

should be noted that there is no significant differentiation in comments and responses besides two

exceptions.

As it might have become clear so far from this brief description, in this study, unlike usual

quantitative surveys, we have tried as much as possible to utilize the related field notes on relevant

themes, issues and key subjects in survey, along with the evaluations of interviewees on the subjects

not only conversations during survey implementations, but also after survey forms have been

completed. There are several reasons in ethnographer’s mind while finally deciding on the field notes

that will be included in the text5. First, the statements, illustrating especially common, typical

situations and repetitive behavioral patterns have been chosen. Then, the statements demonstrating

an unusual, exceptional situation or pattern have been brought to the light. On the other hand, it has

been paid attention to the expressions that reflect the concepts specific to subject, pointing and

detailing how these concepts understood and used. Thus, field notes, which were written during the

survey implementation and conversations, have been used to clarify the survey findings further. In

this way, the insight gained during the survey was employed to explain and enrich the information

and data obtained from the surveys and the participants.

For example, at the very beginning of the survey, one of the interviewees, with whom we met in the

field, has highlighted during the survey that nepotism is not a correct behavior and especially

managers and public officers providing public services should stand equal distance to citizens.

However after the survey, while drinking tea and making conversation, his statements help us better

understand a dimension of nepotism in Turkish society:

We are unlucky. What we are greatly lacking is that those who represent us [refers to

Ankara deputies in The Grand National Assembly of Turkey] do not serve us, they

serve their own hometowns. They do not defend Ankara’s rights, they pay attention

to works of their own hometowns. Most neglected villages, which do not receive

government aid, are Ankara villages. (…) There is no Ankara deputy who is originally

from Ankara! This is my biggest complaint. The kids has gone [refers to local

5 Robert M. Emerson, et. al. (1995) Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. University of Chicago Press.

10

association in the region] to the man. He has put the kids off and he was interested in

his own fellow countrymen, he has shouted to his secretary: “Let those came from X

in, my daughter”. This is so-called Ankara deputy…. I told him this too… (Participant

VII)

This mood is a kind of reflection referring to a special type of cronyism: The complaint of the

interviewee is that Ankara cannot sufficiently get the services it deserves because Ankara deputies

are originally not from Ankara but from other cities; The person, who comes from another city and

becomes Ankara deputy, is not interested in people and problems Ankara, but those of cities they are

originally come from. This field note, along with the emphasis of some survey participants on the

importance of seeking for someone close for access to public services and institutions, might be

interpreted as reflections of how things are understood and dealt with locally.

In the survey, five scenarios under the title of “Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios”

have been the most discussed set of questions of the interviewees. Answers have been given by

reminding them similar situations about themselves or about their relatives.

Finally, it should be noted that especially young people with high levels of formal training, who are in

the 25-35 age range, show both willingness to participate in the survey and act more critically than

other age groups.

11



Trust is one of the important indicators in evaluation of institutions. The first sets of questions are

intended to question the institutions and the first question of this set is trust in institutions. It can be

assumed that there is less corruption and nepotism in the institutions that have high rate of trust,

while their quality of services they provide and community satisfaction from them would be high. Of

course, main factors determining trust in specific institutions and causes of perceptions of

institutions among ordinary citizens are debatable at best. Although this question has its own

limitations, it is clear that it might give out important clues about societal institutions.

In order to measure trust in institutions, following question has been asked:

“How much do you trust the following institutions” (from 1: lowest, to 5: highest

trust).

Graphic 1: Trust in institution

As it is understood from the Graphic 1, interviewees’ trust in institutions ranges from 2,28 to 3,56 on

a scale of 1 to 5. “State Doctors” take the highest score of trust and “Health Centers” follow them.

12

The highness of these ratios might be related with the reforms in health sector and with citizens’

satisfaction with reforms. An interviewee has stated the following: “State is not the old state.

Formerly, we could not influence a nurse, a gendarme. But now, it is not like that.” (Participant IV)

One another interviewee has said the followings with regard to his experience in health care services:

“Formerly, we couldn’t go anywhere. Even though we went, our turn has never

come. We are comfortable with today’s administration. I got medical check. A stent

was placed in my body and I went out. I did not wait my turn for months as it used to

be. What shall I say?” (Participant I)

Many interviewees pointed out that people can reach to health care services much more easily than

they were in the past. This situation has increased significantly the trust in and satisfaction from in

health-care services.

“Public schools” and “Mosque” follow the “State doctors” and “Health Centers” by a small margin.

These were followed by the following local institutions, respectively “Local Associations”,

“Village/Municipality”, “Local Government”. Last institution, which is over “3” degree on the trust

scale, is “National Government”.

Respectively, “Police Force”, “District Council”, “Judges”, “International Donors and Organizations”,

“EU” and “Media” are institutions whose points are below “3” and therefore, if the scale of 1 to 5 is

taken into account, these institutions are seen as distrusted institutions. “District Council” has been

the only institution below the average among local institutions.

The institution, which has the lowest trust score, is media. Typical responses about the media as

followings: “Media exaggerates baseless news” (Participant IV), “Media stirs up trouble. We don’t

have any trust”. (Participant V).

13


As we have mentioned before, directly questioning and measuring of trust in institutions may have

some limitations. Thus, questions that directly dealing with the experiences with institutions might

provide better information than direct question of trust in institutions.

To this end, following question has been asked in order to measure the experience with institutions.

“With which of the following institutions have you or members of your family

recently encountered cases of good service or of bad service”:

Graphic 2: Experience with institutions

The data shown in this graphic and the data related with the previous question of trust in

institutitons show striking similarities. Results show that “Mosque” has the highest score of “good

service” and the lowest score of “bad service”. “Public healthcare providers”, in a way in line with the

responses from previous question of trust, has a high rate of “good service” and a low rate of “bad

service”. This situation, beyond the abstract assesment of trust, provides information derived from

experiences of people who know the day-to-day functioning of institutions in their close

environment. When we kook at the graphic at the level of local authorities too, “Mosque”, “Public

14

schools”, “Local associations”, “Village/municipality” are evaluated as local institutions providing

good services in the light of experiences of interviewees and their families.

In the graphic, while “International donor organizations” has the highest rate of “bad service” and

the lowest rate of “good service”, “Police force” follows it with second lowest rate of “good service”

and second highest rate of “bad service”.

An example of response from the people participated in the survey is provided below and it refers to

importance of reforms in institutions in most recent years.

If you don’t create difficulties to the Police, it is good. If you do, it is bad. The best

citizen is the one who does not cause any difficulties for the Police. But today’s cops

are better than old ones. In the past, we couldn’t draw near to man with the gun in

his waist. But current cops are not like that. Young policmen are well-trained, and

they know how to behave toward citizens. (Participant IV)

A typical response that indicates general perception about “International donor organizations” is as

follows: “There are 4-5 countries that dominate these international institutions. Those big countries

always get what they want. It is very hard to trust in these institutions. It is also difficult to get good

service from them. (Participant IV)

On the other hand, initial clues about cronyism (more specially nepotism in this example) in

institutions which is discussed in upcoming questions of survey (See discussions on Graphic 4 and

Graphic 5) have begun emerge. A problem solving method about involving municipality was reported

as follows:

I will take “receipt of discharge” from X Municipality. Officers say frequently “I

couldn’t find your file.” But, it seems, he was asking a bribe. My two days passed like

this. I had a relative there, a principal. He called the officer and chewed him out. The

document, which I have waited for 2 days, came just in 5 minutes… It won’t be

without acquaintance, you need a mediator… ıf you have pull with someone, your

works are going well… (Participant VI)

Again, the emphasis on the importance of close face to face relations with people working in public

institutions and copmlaint about bureaucracy which both will be handled in next questions of survey

(see Graphic 11) have been stated as follows:

Our mayor has good communication skills, his door is open. The old one was from X

Party, that’s my own party, but he was a poor communicator. The current one is from

Y Party but his communication is fine. Party affiliation is of secondary importance,

relations are most important. At least they are listening problems. If they can, they

find a way. If they cannot, they show a way. Village headman gets his service. In the

past, bureaucracy was hindering us. Now, it was changed. It is not like that.

(Participant VIII)

15

In experiences with public institutions, another interesting emphasis on importance of “knowing the

ropes” is as follows:

Public institutions are overhelming us because we are people wearing cap on our

heads [we are from rural areas, uneducated people] Educated people like you know

the ropes but they [bureaucrats] overhelm us. Of course, if you have a pull with

someone in these institutions, you can make him do your works. If you are a poor-

fellow, you suffer. You’re screwed. (Participant IX)

16

4. LOCAL ISSUES


Following question has been asked in order to learnthe problems that are found important within

society by participants of survey and to understand the importance atrributed to the local problems.

“What in your view are the most serious problems in your community? List at least

three starting from the most important.”

The options have not been given to interviewees and the categories composed of their answers are

listed below:

Unemployment, Cost of living/inflation, Economic instability/crisis; Education, Security and terror,

Transportation and urban infrastructure, Health care, Inequality in income distribution, Corruption,

Democracy, Environmental issues, Women right’s, Others.

Responses given in this list are the topics which participants of survey specified most serious top

three problems in the society in which they live. Their percentage in the total is shown in graphic

below:

Graphic 3: Serious problems in community

17

According to interviewees, “Unemployment” and “Cost of living/inflation” with a rate of 14 % are in

first group in the most serious, top three problems of the society.

“Economic instability/crisis”, “Education” and “Security and terror” are emerged with an equal rate

of 13 %.

When the graphic is analyzed, it is seen that economic problems under the topic of “Unemployment”

and “Cost of living/inflation” take the first two places, “Economic instability/ crisis”(13%) follows

them and “Inequality in income distribution “ (2%) which can be related with economy and

“Corruption” (2%) as economic problems are seen as most serious top three problems of society.

Therefore, economic problems with the rate of 45% are the dominant pattern on the graphic. It is

possible to explain this situation to some extent with ongoing economic crisis which affects whole

world since 2008.

“Security and terror” (13%) as a problem specific to Turkey is another topic which takes part together

with “Education” (13%) in the second group. “Transportation and urban infrastructure”, that stresses

the quality of urban life, follows these topics with a rate of 12%.

As it is seen in graphic, each responses of “Inequality in income distribution”, “Corruption”,

“Democracy”, “Environmental issues” and “Women right’s” are represented by a rate of 2% in the

graphic. Because “the most serious top three problems” are asked in this study, answers are

collected under main leading problems which can cause many other problems. Therefore, it cannot

be concluded that issues of “Inequality in income distribution”, “Corruption”, “Democracy”,

“Environmental issues” and “Women right’s” are not rated as important because they are

represented by a rate of 2%. Graphic does not show that these topics are not taken into account but

it just shows that these issues rank among nearly end in top three lists.

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4.2 Ability to obtain service from Institutions relying exclusively on own means

Another question asked for the evaluation of relations with institutions below. With this question, it

is expected people to present their ideas and experiences about whether they can get service on

their own or not.

“With which of the aforementioned institutions do you feel that you are not able to

settle a matter/obtain a service with your own resources?” (Multiple choice

possible).

Village/municipality District council Mosque

Judges Police force Public hospitals/health centers

Public schools Tax Office Local associations

International organizations Others

Graphic 4: Ability to obtain service from Institutions relying exclusively on own means

19

“Mosque” with a rate of 93% comes to the forefront as an institution in which “problems can be

solved on its own”. In this institution, the ratio of person who says “I cannot solve problems on my

own” is the lowest percentage with 7%.

“Mosque” is followed by “Public schools” with the rate of 84% of “I solve own my own”. Here, the

response of “I cannot solve problems on my own” with the rate of 16% is second lowest ratio.

Participants of survey assess frequently additional/exceptional payments, like “reenrollment deposit”

(see Graphic 7) which is demanded in enrollment process, as a problem. However, they don’t see this

as a problem that “cannot be solved on its own”.

In the graphic, third institution in which “problems can be solved on its own” is “Public

hospitals/health centers” with the rate of 83% (this result is in line with Graphic 1). The response of “I

cannot solve problems on my own” to this institution is third lowest rank with 17%.

After this three ranks, “Village/municipality”, “Local associations” and “Tax Office” have higher rate

of “problems can be solved on its own” than the rate of “problems cannot be solved on its own”.

Institutions wherein rates of “problems can be solved on its own” is lower than rate of “problems

cannot be solved on its own” are respectively “, “District council”, “Police force”, “Judges” and

“International organizations” at the end. As it is seen in the graphic, “International organizations” are

the institutions which have the highest rate of “I do not come cross to them/I have nothing to do

with them, and therefore have no idea” option among participants of survey.

Two somewhat outlier responses might be examined closely. While one of the interviewees has said

that “You cannot have access to anyone without pulling some strings.”, (Participant X) another

interviewee has said “You can do everything on your own now. It will be a lie, if I say, you can’t. They

are helping, I am pleased.” (Participant II). A somewhat reconciling opinion was provided by another

interviewee: “If it is a difficult task, you need to take someone with you. However, if it is an ordinary

task, they are doing it in any case, when you fulfill the procedures or give money for documents etc”

(Participant V). The emphasis here is that citizens do not need exceptional methods to reach a

service which they deserve already legally, however, when illegal or borderline issues are in involved,

some out of ordinary methods are necessary. Thus, we can say that there has been made a

distinction between two exceptional behaviors (between exceptional payments and a bit cronyism

for services that people are legally deserved and exceptional payments or involvement of others for

‘illegal’, not-so-legal demands).

Apart from those somewhat ‘extreme’ cases, more typical responses for the focal point are

reproduced below:

My father has died, and inheritance transactions needed to be done. There were

some problems. I went to the land registry office. I tried to cope with them for 4 days

but I couldn’t. They did not do my work. On the fifth day I offered a bribe and then it

is solved. But now, there is no that kind of thing, they are working well. (Participant

IV)

20

I tried to get an appointment from highway authority), they gave an appointment for

months later. An acquaintance is needed to make your work done… (Participant XII)

Another interviewee gave a typical response related with the ‘renewal’ of human resources and

reform in public institutions:

Behaviors of new generation in public institutions are fine. Old ones were expecting

bribe. New chief of police is like a friend of you, you couldn’t have an answer from

the previous one. The same is true for doctors, tax offices now. Services of new

generation, newly appointed ones are better. Once in the past, I was asking my file,

“Your file is with Mr. X” he says… three people were sitting around the table. I went

to principal and I complained. It turned out that, Mr. X was sitting around next table

but he would not say “It is me”. Finally principal solved my issue. But my 300 Liras

and three days were lost. Participant VI)

21


Well, if we don’t solve problems on our own, what are we doing? The tools that used to solve the

problems emerge from the relations with institutions, have been tried to be evaluated by the

question below:

“How would you advice a person who can’t successfully deal with institutions to

resolve his problem?” (More than one answers possible):

I would advice him to:




Pay a fee

Give a small gift




Don’t know

Graphic 5: Preferred problem resolution techniques

22

The most preferred option emerged from survey is “Ask for intervention from an important person”

with a rate of 35 %. These important people are big guns who are effective and influential in

institutions, will act as a mediator in solving problems. Relatedly, options of “Ask for intervention

from a relative” and “Ask for intervention from a friend” are represented by the rates of 12% and 7%

respectively. These results combined stress the importance of “personal solutions” in problem

solving. In other words, personal solutions are seen as by and large the most significant option in

problem solving.

“Pay a fee” and “give a small gift” options each preferred by only one participant. Thus, they have

not been reflected in the graphic. This might said to be captured well in the following explanation:

You need to have something for gift and bribe. In fact, even to give a bribe, you need

a relative. But bribe is declining compared to the past. Bribe has been helved,

declined fifty percent compared to the past. Both sides, who gave the bribe and who

accepted the bribe, are afraid now. (Participant VI)

It can be said that petty corruption is related with both economic situation of citizens and that it has

become harder as a result of the expansion of some measures such as increasing the capacity of

public institutions, transition to computerized work places, and recording with security cameras and

so on.

The answer in the second rank in the graphic is “Denounce the disservice to the competent

authorities”. This response can be evaluated as a positive response in terms of administration of

institutions. Option of “Try several times until I get a good result” is preferred by 18% of the people

involved, while the statement “Avoid in general dealing with that institution” is was chosen only by

2% of the participants.

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4.4 Institutions important for improving well being

The question, which aims at gathering the views of interviewees about the institutions that could

help to improve general wellbeing of their society, is worded as follows:

“Who do you think could help to improve the general wellbeing of your community?”

EU (Europe only) The state (national government)

Opposition political parties District council

Village/municipal council Police forces

Judges and magistrates Traditional authorities

Citizens themselves Media

NGOs International organizations


Graphic 6: Institutions important for improving well being

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Participants of survey have preferred the option of “The state (national government)” with a rate of

72%. Beyond the assessments within the frame of trust in institutions and experiences with

institutions, this finding indicates that, national government and its policies (positive or negative) are

seen as playing significant role of improving or worsening of status quo, Typical response about this

topic is as following:

Only those in power can increase the public welfare. Because crops are being sold for

five liras for five years. Diesel fuel price increases incrementally every year but crops

are still being sold for five liras per kilo. Therefore, I cannot help the recovery,

improvement of my life, it is in the hands of those in power.” (Participant I)

It seems that attitudes of interviewees reflected here are part of a feeling that central government

is/should be responsible for the well being of society, rather than pointing out positive or negative

tone towards government and its policies. Two other options emerged from the survey are “Judges

and magistrates” and “Citizens themselves”. Yet, even the sum of all options cannot come closer to

the “National government” option.

25


A question has been asked to obtain the views of survey participants about the some hypothetic


“In general which of the following practices are, in your opinion, spoiling the good

development of a society?” (Multiple choices possible).


Giving jobs to friends or relatives instead of people who deserve them



Exchanging confidential information to get tenders and public construction

bids





Graphic 7: Practices against good society

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Except four participants who have not evaluated the option of “Bringing gifts to be accepted at a

good school” as an incompatible situation with the development of a society, all practices were

regarded as incompatible situations with the development of society by all survey participants.

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5. SOCIAL NORMS


Participants of the survey have been asked to evaluate the importance of customs below on the scale

of “Not important”, “Fairly important” and “Very important”.
















All participants of survey have chosen the option of “Provide hospitality to guests” as “Very

important” without any hesitation. Hospitality is one of the most common and important values in

Turkish Society.. The Turkish word “misafirperver” is composed of the words “misafir” (guest) and

“perver” (phil) suffix which creates word with the meanings of “care, feed, raise, defensive,

affectionate”

Even if the changes experienced as consequences of modernization and in the meanings and

practices of this concept, being not hospitable can be assumed (commonly) a serious personal

shortcoming6. A typical expression about entertaining a guest is as follows: “Entertaining a guest,

drinking a glass of tea with him/her increases abundance of that house” (Participant V). The option of

“Enjoy meals with other people” has been evaluated substantially together with the option of

“Provide hospitality to guests” and seen “Very important” with a rate of 95%.

6 A short assessment on hospitality in society of Turkey can be found in this monography: Delaney, Carol, 1991.

The Seed and the Soil: Gender and Cosmology in Turkish Village Society. University of California Press.

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Third topic appeared in the graphic is “Give presents during festive celebrations” with a rate of 93%.

Interviewees have assessed this situation largely in the context of marriages and weddings 7. A typical

7 It can be said that gift as a social/historical fact is a special mean of communication between the rulers and

the ruled in society of Turkey. Reindl-Kiel, who expressed this idea in the context of Ottoman society, says that

“Types of the selected gift were determined by the statue of accepter besides the giver. While the gift package

of Governor and Governor of Sanjak generally included especially silver carafe, stoup, server and luxury fabrics;

Gadi asker’s and members of the financial department’s package also included books.” (Reindl-Kiel, Hedda,

2007. “The Gift in Ottoman”, in Gift Book, Eds. Emine Gürsoy Naskali, Aylin Koç, İstanbul, Kitabevi Publications,

(“Osmanlı’da Hediye”, Hediye Kitabı, Editörler: Emine Gürsoy Naskali, Aylin Koç, İstanbul, Kitabevi Yayınları.)

On the other hand, the gifting process before marriage, which is the common types of gifts in Turkey is

evaluated by Türkdoğan such as: “(…) it is aimed to symbolize the bride and groom’s families’ socia-economic

statu.” (Türkdoğan, Orhan. 1976. “Social Description of the Custom of Başlık in to the Marriage”, I.

International Turkish Folk Congress’ Papers, VI., p. 315. Ankara, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture

Publications, (“Evlenmede Başlık Geleneğinin Sosyolojik Açıklaması”, I. Uluslararası Türk Folklor Kongresi

Bildirileri, VI. Cilt. S. 315. Ankara, Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları.). Meanwhile, the gifting before the marriage is an

important tool for social solidarity in Turkish culture.

29

expression of an interviewee is as follows: “It is needed to give something in return for his/her gift,

for sure. We (refers to weddings) have resentments like ‘I had pinned gold coin on you, you did not

pin’” (Participant IV). “Reciprocate received gifts” has been evaluated as “Very important” with a

rate of 80% and as “Fairly important” with a rate of 20%. This situation is explained by these words:

“If you are able to do it, you can reciprocate received gifts.” (Participant VIII). “Reciprocate received

gifts in time” has been found “Very important” with a rate of 63% and “Fairly important” with a rate

of 37%. Case of “Reciprocate received gifts in same value” has been found “Very important” with

37% and “Fairly important” with 63%. The sentence of “There is no such a thing as big gift or small

gift. Gift is gift.” (Participant VII) reflect a common sentiment.

As shown in the graphic, “Satisfy a personal request of favor”, “Know who is the best person to ask a

favor to”, “Protect a person if I am in the position to do it” and “Be in good terms with important

persons”, exhibit a similar pattern. One interviewee has summarized ithe mportance of these

situations as follows:

“In order to be able to help people, one need to know the right person that can be

asked for help and one needs to be in a situation which one can ask for help… When

you help a person, you share his/her happiness.” (Participant IV).

Option of “Avoid bureaucracy because it is inefficient” has the most “Fairly important” rate of all

with 74%. It has been found as “Very important” by 8% and as “Not important” by 18%.

“Keep a secret not to harm another person even if this is not legal” has been evaluated as “Fairly

important” with a rate of 60%. When “Very important” rate with 18% is included, it seems that 78%

of interviewees are in tendency to keep the secrets which can harm to another person, even this is

not legal. Only 22% people stated the otherwise.

The case of “Be cautious when talking of politics in public” is seen “Fairly important” with a rate of

44% and is evaluated “Very important” with a rate of 12%. 44% of interviewees have given out the

response of “Not important”.

“Spend time with friends outside the home”, last situation in the rank, is represented by the

responses of “Very important” with a high rate of 63%.

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5.2 Statement: Gift giving related to better treatment/service

At this point of survey, two questions have been asked: First of them, is about the effect of gifts on

service quality in institutions. Question has been asked as follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “gift giving creates a bond where people

know they will receive better treatment/service next time they visit the

clinic/office?”

Graphic 9: Gift giving related to better treatment/service

As it is seen on the graphic, while 86% of interviewees have thought that giving gift ensures getting a

better treatment next time, 14% of interviewees have not agreed with the statement.

Assessments of two interviewees on this subject are as follows: “In here, among us, being

acquaintance matters more than gift... being acquaintance helps you more. Gift is not very

common.“ (Participant I) and “Yes, gift makes the things easier, but it is not proper, everyone should

do his/her task.” (Participant XII).

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5.3 Statement: Personal relations affect quality of service

Another case question is not about gifts, but about the link between personal relations with the

positions in institutions and service quality of institutions. Question has been stated in the survey as

follows:

Do you agree with the following statement: “the quality of the services obtained is

associated to the patient’s/citizen’s personal relationship with the service provider?”


All interviewees have agreed with the statement that quality of services of is associated with

personal relations with the providers. Graphic 10 emphasizes one more time (as in Graphic 5) the

importance of “personal relations” with (people in) institutions.

32


Under this subtitle, participants of survey have been given some hypothetic scenarios in order to

understan behavioral patterns and social values. Thefocus of the cases was the question: “What are

the tendencies of interviewees in various situations and how do they justify them?”. From this

framework, there have been five scenarios in the survey.

The question below has been asked at the beginning of these scenarios and participants of survey

have been asked to prefer on the scale of “Strongly disagree”, “Disagree”, “Somewhat disagree”,

“Somewhat agree”, “Agree”, “Strongly agree”:

“The following stories have happened in other countries in the world. Please indicate

if you would in principle agree with the behavior of the characters”

Story a.

In the district council a new person has been appointed recently. This person is very hard-working

and loves to do things transparently. He would never accept any fee or gift from citizens to sort out

problems. For doing this he avoids people and lives a lonely life all by himself, not to be put under

pressure for demands of favors. For this, local people avoid him.

Graphic 11: Story a

33

As can beseen in Graphic 11, responses of “Strongly agree” with 28%, “Agree” with 45% and

“Somewhat agree” with 12% have been given to hypothetic situation in Story a.

Explanations of interviewees who gave one of the “Agree” responses are as follows:

There were 50 people around the former mayor, he would bestow a privilege on

them. Those having acquainted with him used to get things done, while people that

were outsider, disadvantaged couldn’t get things done. But current mayor is just like

in this question. (Participant I)

Answer of this question depends on the people. In fact, it is a right behavior. This

behavior can be called as “being equal to everyone” too. Being equal to everyone is a

right behavior too. (Participant VIII)

It is a right behavior but it does not suit citizen’s interest… (Participant XII)

Interviewees, who choose “Disagree”, have evaluated the scenario as follows: “We love friendly

people, we don’t love cold fishes” (Participant V) and “It is a right behavior but there is no validity

for us. In current system, he can neither behave like this, nor people allow him to do so.” (Participant

VI).

34

Story b.

He is a very resourceful person, he does what he can to help his friends and relatives and he knows a

lot of people. When he needs a favor he always finds someone to turn to because he has always

helped out. Unfortunately, last week he has been jailed for fraud and corruption. Most of the people

who know him, however, still esteem and care for him for what he has done to them.

Graphic 12: Story b

As it is seen in Graphic 12, responses have been given to scenario in Story b. “Strongly agree” with

9%, “Agree” with 53% and “Somewhat agree” with 21%.

On the other hand, responses of “Somewhat disagree” with 11%, “Disagree” with 4%, and “Strongly

disagree” with 2% have been given.

Exemplifying the responses clustered on “Agree” scale, one participant commented as “The

accusations may be slander... If people trust him, they must know something” (Participant XIV)

In addition, comments such as “If man had a fault, it is not needed to erase him immediately and

completely. It is needed to win him. He will serve his sentence within the limits of the law but you

can’t crush him totally.” have been made. (Participant VIII)

35

Another comment to this scenario is that allegations of corruption may be used as a mean of political

pressure: “Some things can be done politically. They may do it as political pressure. They are not

right.” (Participant VII).

Story c.

A family has plans to build a new house in a village. They have asked what the official procedure is

and are ready to follow it carefully. After some months everything turns difficult and they realize

they would not get ahead of it without paying some fee to the right person. They decide to leave the

village and look for another where things are going according to the rules.

Graphic 13: Story c

As it is seen in Graphic 13, while the responses of “Strongly agree” with 1%, “Agree” with 8% and

“Somewhat agree” with 22% have been given to the hypothetic case in Story c (the sum of responses

on the “Agree” scale has come up to 31%); “Somewhat disagree” with 31%, “Disagree” with the rate

of 22% and “Strongly disagree” with the rate of16% have been given as response.

Illustrative comments of supporters of the idea to leave the village are as follows: “If they left to not

give a bribe, it is a right behavior.” (Participant V) and “It is right in some cases. What is the value of a

house in village! The game is not worth to the candle. And also giving bribe is not right either.”

(Participant I)

36

On the other hand, those who opposed to the behavior of leaving the village have explained situation

as follows: “Where is the brave fellow to do it… Sometimes you cannot do the right thing. You cannot

take such a big risk.” (Participant IV), “Getting the job done by giving a bribe is not right, but being

displaced is not right either. You have to continue to fight.” (Participant VIII), “They should pay, they

have begun to build things after all.” (Participant XIII), “But you have already started, you have

already put money… You will give some things to someone… If you went another place, you would

meet the same situation again… They should not go...” (Participant XII), “It is a difficult question, their

order will be damaged. Is it easy to move from one place to another ? Behavior is right, but they will

face with the same situation in there, where they moved to.” (Participant XIV).

Story d.

He has a small business in preparing sandwiches which he sells to local schools. Last year he was

successful to win a tender and gained a contract in one local primary school. Unfortunately the

school head has changed this year and his contract has expired. Before applying for the next tender

he looks for an influential person who will introduce him the new school head.

Graphic 14: Story d

As it is seen in Graphic 14, the response of “Strongly agree” has not been given to the hypothetic

situaion in Story d. The responses of “Agree” with the rate of 19% and “Somewhat agree” with the

rate of 19% have been given. (The sum of responses on “Agree” scale has come up to 38%). On the

other hand, responses of “Somewhat disagree” with 19%, “Disagree” with 23% and “Strongly

37

disagree” with 20% have been given. (The sum of responses on “Disagree” scale has come up to

62%).

Some explanations for the responses on “Disagree” are as follows: “ This work will be given to a

person who does it well. ‘Those kids are our kids. Let him do it properly. It should be given to a

person who does the job properly.” (Participant II), “There is no work without help in our country.

You deserve, but you cannot get the job. You don’t deserve, but you get it by finding the right

person… That is not right.” (Participant XV), “The school principal takes some money from canteens.

He demands 5-10 thousand liras per annum. In fact, it is wrong from the start. If there isn’t any

problem, the canteen shouldn't be changed just because the school head has changed. Old one

should continue to work.” (Participant IV)

Some explanations for the responses on “Agree” scale are as follows: “He will earn money. What

shall he do?.. Necessity…” (Participant IX), “ Nobody says for no reason to anybody that “let’s come

here and manage it”. What shall the man do?, He is right…” (Participant V)

Story e.

She runs a local Ngo for human rights protection. She is very active and well established in the

region, but she also has a lot of competitors. There was a large bid by an international donor last year

so she applied, being one of the most successful in that field. In the end she failed because she was

not aware that some politicians wanted a share of the money to approve the projects. Next time she

will secure the proper agreement with them first.

Graphic 15: Story e

38

There was no “Strongly agree” response to the hypothetic situation in Story d. Responses of “Agree”

with a rate of 8% and “Somewhat agree” with a rate of have been given. (The sum of responses on

“Agree” scale” were 37%) . On the other hand “Somewhat disagree” with a rate of 35%, “Disagree”

with rate of 21% and “Strongly disagree” with a rate of 7% have been given as responses. (The sum

of responses on “Disagree” scale has been 63%).

One example for responses on “Disagree” scale is: “We cannot do all our tasks by asking for

intervention of some people, no…” (Participant IX). An example for responses on the “Agree” scale is

as follows: “If a very necessary work is being done and if the money will be spent on a much

necessary/needed task, it can be, I agree. Otherwise it is not right, I disagree.” (Participant VIII).

39

6. VALUES

6.1 Self-identification with character from “True of myself” to “Not at all true of myself”

In the survey, we have tried to understand how the participants are relate to themselves some

values through gauging their association with some hypothetical characters.

A Five-scale tool involving the following options was used in evaluating portrayals of each

hypothetical character: “True of Myself”, “Mostly True of Myself”, “About Halfway True of Myself”,

“Slightly True Of Myself”, “Not at All True of Myself”.


From 1 (Not at All True of Myself) to 5 (True of Myself) can you tell me how similar

you think this person is to you:

Character a.

He lives his life as a fully autonomous individual, trying to rely on other people’s help as less as

possible.

Graphic 16: Character a

As it can be seen in the graphic above, a great majority of the respondents have somewhat identified

themselves with Character a, albeit with a varying degrees of association.

40

Some negative responses given related to Character a are as follows: “Here, everyone is in need of

other. You live alone in big cities, but you can’t live alone especially in small places most particularly

in villages.” (Participant VI). “Neighborhood and cooperation are common here, among us. Especially

in small places, when the things were not done in time, everyone helps each other to get things

done.” (Participant I)

It is interesting to note that “Slightly True Of Myself” with a rate of 26% and “Not at All True of

Myself” with a rate of 10% are reflected in the preferences of urban participants.

Character b.

He would not break the rules because rules are what make order in a society.

Graphic 17: Character b

All of the respondents have somehow strongly identified themselves with Character b: It seems that

this character is perceived by the participants as a socially accepted, a ‘rightful’ figure.

41

Character c.


Graphic 18: Character c

As it can be seen in the graphic above, the participants have identified themselves mostly with

Character c. As in the case with Character b, this character, too, has been evaluated highly as having

a socially acceptable, right person.

42

Character d.

He believes that young generations should learn more from listening to the advices from elderly

people.

Graphic 19: Character d

Almost half of the participants have emphasized mostly the importance of advices of elderly people.

43

Character e.


regularly.

Graphic 20: Character e

As it can be seen in the graphic 20, majority of the respondents have somewhat identified the person

depicted in the statement. While there are some people explicitly disassociate themselves with this

hypothetical character, it is important to note that some of those that akin themselves to the

character have nevertheless felt a need to add such reservations as “I am religious, but not too

much.” Their reasoning for such an addendum usually related to perception of associating the term

of “religiosity” to “terrorism”, “fundamentalism” , “bigotry” and so on.

44

Character f.

He thinks that strangers should not be accepted in the community if most of the people don’t want

so.

Graphic 21: Character f

May be the most interesting response related to this character dwells on the acceptance of strangers

into community:

“Some people are very adapting and conforming while others are not much so. If we

know that you will not give any harm to us, we would embrace you... There is a dam

near the pond. A worker who used to work in its construction was being loved in the

village. Peasants have said to him “All right!” and they have sold him a house. But

after a while, this worker who bought the house has sold it to drunkard. Drunkard

has frequently clashed with the peasants. Now, as was in this case, an incompatible

man damages the community. (…) The road separating two fields is called “tonç”

(border stripe) in our local language. Before stranger came, those stripes were

insomuch wide that cars could pass through between two fields. Now, since

newcomers don’t have such a custom, they redraw their boundaries so as to include

these stripes into their own field. One cannot become rich from capturing that piece

of land; it is an unethical thing to do. This is why strangers become problem.”

(Participant IV)

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Another explanation has to with considering general idea of community in acceptance of strangers

into the community: “We ask our neighbors when we are about to sell our land. We say that, ‘I am

selling my field. A stranger will come. What are you saying?’ We ask definitely.” (Participant XI).

Another response has made reference to a proverb: “There will always be a spoiled one in a sack of

walnuts.” (Participant XII)

Character g.


Graphic 22: Character g

This character has some relations to the previously mentioned issue of posting and hospitability. (see

Graphic 8) As such, it drew a high resonance with the participants. The main point of those do not

completely identify with the character lays not with hospitality but with “maintaining an intensive

social life.”: their interpretation is that spending too much time “outside” might mean socializing

with people outside ones’ family, neighbors, and relatives, in which case these participants will not

consider themselves associating with the character g.

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Character h.


Graphic 23: Character h

As can be seen in Graphic 23, responses of our informants are gathered in the middle. It must be

noted that participants who preferred responses of “Slightly true of myself” and “Not at all true of

myself” are mainly educated people living in urban areas.

47

Character i.


Graphic 24: Character i

Although a typical explanation would read as “Selfishness is very shameful in our custom”

(Participant I), majority of the responses related with this character would not show much

identification with him/her: 39% percent of informants have chosen the option “about halfway true

of myself”, an equal number of participants opted for “Slightly true of myself”, not to mention those

7 people opting selecting as an answer “Not at all true of myself”.

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Character j.


Graphic 25: Character j

As it can be seen in graphic 25, many participants do not support hiding their living standards to

avoid jealousy. The understanding here can be explained by this expression: “Be as you are. People

should be as how they are”. A remark confirming this finding, a popular adage widely known and

used in the country: “Either is seen as you are, or be as you seem”.

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6.2 Choose from the following list the statement that is the most appropriate to you:

One of the last items in the survey has given the participants choose from the following statements

they would deem most appropriate to them:

to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions


to believe only our community as a strong group can improve living conditions

to believe no matter what my actions are our conditions will not improve easily

Graphic 26: “Most appropriate to you”

As it will be seen in the graphic 26, the highest percentage (47%) is on the option of “to believe only

those in power can improve our living conditions.” This response is very much in line with the

response of “The state (national) government” given to the question “Institutions important for

improving well being”, depicted in the graphic 6.

The situation in Graphic 26 becomes clearer with explanations such as the one below:

Like father being the richest person in a family, if the ‘father state’ (benevolent state)

is not rich, nobody can get rich. It is not good that you don’t leave pocket-money to

your children while you are going out. The state is the same for us. Although now it

does not meet the demands of all… (Participant II)

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The term, which creates a metaphor by coming together with the “state”, “political leaders” and

“bosses”, is “father”. One of the ways to think about a model of social fact is thinking it with

metaphors. Terms that are included in a metaphor take on a new meaning when they enter into

connection. The terms did not have those meanings, when they were separate. Since the parts are in

interaction with each other, a metaphor creates a broader meaning than the sum of these parts.

Constituent parts of the metaphor can be different social classes or/and they may represent various

roles in society. The whole gives special meanings to the parts.8 In the last note compiled from the

field, effort has been made in the direction of combining two quite different realms in a single image:

Paternalism is this kind of metaphor. When father and state, father and prime minister, father and

boss come together, their own meanings when they were alone changes. Father and state, “the

father state”. The way of marshaling the terms together transforms the meaning of each. At this

point, power of the metaphor lies at the heart of the things gathered. This metaphor puts the facts of

taking care of others and power together. We can define a person who is encumbered with the

terms of family and has power as follows: a person who will use his power to take care of others.

When the term of father becomes an active part of the metaphor, the term of state undergoes a

transform. The term of “state” is kneaded with the meaning of dominating love of others. The state

alone is not able to have such a meaning. The resulting image of authority has both strong and fragile

character. As it is in the reproach: “Although now it does not meet the demands of all…”

Without a doubt, paternalism includes a fake love too to those who are subject to state. It is fake

love, because the leader takes care of the people subjected to him as long as they serve his interests.

The condition of mercy of the leader is to be subjected totally to his (own) control. Even though

promise of caring of dependants in metaphoric family is given, basic nature of this caring is denied:

Taking care of someone makes another powerful. Responsibilities of those who are cared will be

assigned to the power.

The result of the world formed as a result of dominance of the option of “to believe only those in

power can improve our living conditions” in the graphic is the option of “to believe no matter what

my actions are our conditions will not improve easily” which is represented by the rate of 24 %.

Options that are in inverse relationship with “to believe only those in power can improve our living

conditions” are “to believe only our community as a strong group can improve living conditions” with

a rate of 21% and “to believe living conditions can be changed mainly through my actions” with a

rate of 8%.

8 Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark (1980). Metaphors: We Live By. The University of Chicago Press.

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Participants have been asked to choose “the most important” statement for themselves. Question is

as follows: “Choose from the following list the statement that is most important to you”.


to do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves

to do what I can to improve things according to the indications of those who administer the

country

to do what I can to improve my living standards, this will help to change things as everyone

will do his best too

Graphic 27: “Most important to you”

Option of “to do all my best to improve only the life of my family, others will do by themselves” with

a rate of 60% is on the top.

However, perhaps the most remarkable option here is the option of “to do what I can to improve

things according to the indications of those who administer the country” with the lowest rate 5%. As

the graphic 26 shows, it looks like responsibilities entirely have been undertaken to the “power”.

Option of “to do all my best to help the community in which I live” with the rate of 26% has been

thought together with the terms of kinship as a small community which people live in and citizenship.

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7. CONCLUSION

With the help of this survey conducted at the end of 2012, it has been tried to provide information

about issues such as trust in institutions, experiences with institutions, serious problems of society,

quality of services provided by institutions and access to these services, patters of behavior, and

social values

According to survey results, “State doctors” and “Health centers” have taken the highest rank in

trust. Interviewees are satisfied with health care services as a result of reforms in the last years,

when they compared with the past. The institution which has the lowest trust credit is media.

When we look the results in perspective of experiences with institutions, “Mosque” becomes

prominent as institution which people get the best service from. We see that in a way that proving

the result of trust, “Public healthcare providers” have high rate of “good service”. In the results, the

institution which has the highest rate of “bad service” and the lowest rate of “good service” is

“Internationale donor organizations”. Although it is not specifically search information, with the

questioning of experiences with institutions, ideas about “cronyism” have been stated in the context

of experiences of interviewees.

When data are analyzed, it is seen that economic problems such as “Unemployment” and “Cost of

living/inflation“, “Economic instability/crisis”, “Inequality in income distribution” dominate the most

serious top three rank of society. It is possible to explain this situation to some extent with ongoing

economic crisis which affects whole world since 2008.

Almost all participants of survey have described “Mosque” as an institution of “problems can be

solved on its own” matching with previous questions. Institutions which have low rate of “problems

can be solved on its own” are respectively “District council”, “Police force”, “Judges” and at the last

rank “International organizations”. Interviewees have drawn attention to both applying an

intervention of an acquaintances to get service in institutions and recoveries related with reforms

and especially renewal of human resources in institutions in last years.

The most important tool used in solving problems about relations with institutions has been “Ask for

intervention from an important person”. In addition, all participants have evaluated quality of

services provided by service providers as connected with personal relations. These results highlight

the importance of “personal solutions”. And “personal relations” are seen as a dominant tool. The

things, that one of our interviewees has told us after the survey, include important experiences that

show situation of development of personal relations. Public officers, who try to go out of the

personal networks, will be criticized harshly:

I took tea-sugar off to the police station, head of guardhouse got angry: “State buys

tea and sugar for kids. They have everything, don’t worry” he said. He makes me

regret deeply for this. Everybody knows me here, I am local governor. I am not

hashish smuggler! He put me to shame. (Participant VII)

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Types of petty corruption such as bribe or giving gift to get a better service in institutions have been

explained in the context of situation that citizens have such a low-income to give a bribe. And it has

been stated that petty corruption decreased with the expansion of methods such as increasing

capacity in institutions, transition to computer, recording with the security cameras.

Participants of survey have preferred mainly the option of “The state (national government)” for the

questioning of “to increase quality of service of institutions. Attitudes of participants to this question

have derived from the idea that government should be responsible for wellbeing of society rather

than having a positive or negative approach to the government and its policies implemented. In

addition, they have preferred mostly the option of “to believe only those in power can improve or

living conditions” for the question that is related with changes of life conditions.

All hypothetic practices given related with development of society have been evaluated as

incompatible with this development. Only four participants have not evaluated the option of

“Bringing gifts to be accepted at a good school” as incompatible with development of society. This

situation has shown that even if it includes exceptional methods, ensuring their children to get a

better education is seen as a right.

Under the topic of “Importance of customs”, all participants of survey have evaluated the option of

“Provide hospitality to guests” as “Very important” without any hesitation. The option of “Enjoy

meals with other people” has been evaluated largely with the option of “Provide hospitality to

guests” by participants. In the results, another custom highly adopted is “Give presents during festive

celebrations”.

The question was “What are the tendencies of interviewees in various situations and how do they

justify them?” under the topic of “Agreement/disagreement with different scenarios” and

participants have been given five scenarios. This set of question has been the most disscussed one.

There have been presented potential different comments in this set of question.

As it is observed in many graphics, the relationship between the power and citizen (in this context,

they are our participants) is a relationship in which responsibilities are assigned mostly to the power

(state, government) and this feeling is at the forefront especially in participants of rural area. Citizens

establish the relationship with the power in this way and they don’t believe in their organized force.

The state and the government generally represent the whole structure and they are held responsible

for this structure. Public, politics and administration are seen as spheres in which citizens are out.

Thus, relations with public, politics and administration have been established over kinship, networks

of citizenship and clientelist interests.

This evaluation has found its tengible expression in the graphic 26: the state is being defined as

father, in this context citizens become childs as are in the family. The state are evaluated in

autonomous and sovereign framework besides political sphere. Thinking together citizens,

cientelism that dominates the relationship of citizens with this autonomous state and bribe that is

definer of these ralationships make the area totally problematic. It seems that the existence of

citizens in political area is limited with job opportunuties in public sector, the base prices of their

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products, access to various public services. Besides these, political participation is very limited. This

situation reduces the relations established with the political sphere to expectations of job and

service. Eventhough they complain, they try to benefit from this situation to do their own work.

Project profile

ANTICORRP is a large-scale research project funded by the European Commission’s

Seventh Framework Programme. The full name of the project is “Anti-corruption

Policies Revisited: Global Trends and European Responses to the Challenge of

Corruption”. The project started in March 2012 and will last for five years. The

research is conducted by 21 research groups in sixteen countries.

The fundamental purpose of ANTICORRP is to investigate and explain the factors

that promote or hinder the development of effective anti-corruption policies and

impartial government institutions. A central issue is how policy responses can be

tailored to deal effectively with various forms of corruption. Through this approach

ANTICORRP seeks to advance the knowledge on how corruption can be curbed in

Europe and elsewhere. Special emphasis is laid on the agency of different state and

non-state actors to contribute to building good governance.


Project full title: Anti-corruption Policies Revisited: Global Trends and European

Responses to the Challenge of Corruption

Project duration: March 2012 – February 2017

EU funding: Approx. 8 million Euros

Theme: FP7-SSH.2011.5.1-1

Grant agreement number: 290529

Project website: http://anticorrp.eu/

This project is co-funded by the Seventh

Framework Programme for Research and

Technological Development of the

European Union

http://anticorrp.eu/

Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited Work Package: WP4

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Transcript of Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited Work Package: WP4