NCJ Number
230869
Journal
Global Crime Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 145-163
Date Published
May 2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study empirically examined whether mass perceptions of corruption were an accurate proxy for the experience of corruption; whether the causes of perceptions and experience are the same or different and what consequences such attitudes and experience have for support for the political system.
Abstract
Corruption is important because it undermines bureaucratic predictability and is a potential threat to support for a political regime. The perception of corruption is the most commonly used measure of the actual incidence of corruption. This article marshals the New Russia Barometer survey data to challenge this assumption. Even though most Russians perceive a variety of everyday public services as corrupt, this assessment is not based on first-hand experience. Only a minority pays bribes. The article test four hypotheses about differences in individual perception and experience of paying bribes: the ability to pay, contact with public services, normative acceptability and political awareness. Contact is most important for paying bribes whereas political awareness is most important for the perception of corruption. It also tests how much the perception and experience of corruption, as against other forms of political and economic performance, affect support for the regime. Support is driven by the substantive performance of government, especially its management of the economy, rather than by the perception or experience of corruption. Figure, tables, and appendix (Published Abstract)