Corruption everywhere? A Central European case
Item
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Title
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Corruption everywhere? A Central European case
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:758c5ea34d77:11990
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identifier
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12677
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Creator
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Jancsics, David,
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Contributor
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Paul Attewell
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Date
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2013
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social structure | Organization theory | Criminology | Central Europe | Corruption | Economic sociology | Informal practices | Organizational sociology | Qualitative sociology
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Abstract
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Both petty and large-scale corruption are widespread in Central Europe. The granting of government contracts is frequently subject to political and monetary influence. Small-scale transactions, from avoiding a traffic ticket to obtaining a license, are sometimes the occasion for bribes. My dissertation examines corruption through several lenses. First, I review a large research literature that spans disciplines from economics to political science, management to anthropology, and I identify the main theoretical positions that scholars have taken towards corruption in its various forms. I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of alternative conceptualizations and suggest areas for theoretical synthesis and development.;Second, I present a set of empirical studies that depart from the dominant approach that uses reputational sample surveys of national populations. Instead, I undertook a multi-year interviewing project in Hungary, using a snowball technique to access individuals who had first-hand experiences with petty or larger-scale corrupt transactions. Based on 50 interviews, I provide detailed empirical portraits of several types of corruption, reporting the motives of the parties involved, their social class and other demographic characteristics, and their organizational positions. I recount the voices and opinions of Hungarians at all levels of society about their involvement in these transactions. Some are condemnatory; others provide justifications and rationales for their actions.;Third, I develop separate analyses of corruption at the top, in the middle layers, and at the bottom of organizations, drawing out the distinctive purposes and dynamics of corruption in each setting. I also examine the importance of go-betweens or middlemen and the roles they play in some types of corruption, and the emergence of entire corrupt networks in certain contexts.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
