Abstract
This article focuses on the interplay between political corruption and trust, both interpersonal and institutional. A model of corruption and trust is tested based on data from Transparency International and the European Social Survey. The European states which have not been yet considered in this context vary widely in the pervasiveness and level of corruption and, thus, offer an excellent case to study this relationship. Both new and established European democracies have experienced episodes of government corruption. Using pooled data from 24 European countries multivariate regressions show that lack of interpersonal trust increases perceived political corruption. Political corruption lowers trust in political institutions. Furthermore, twenty years after the collapse of communism, differences between Western and Central and Eastern European countries still prevail.
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Der vorliegende Artikel untersucht das Wechselverhältnis von politischer Korruption und Vertrauen, sowohl auf interpersonaler als auch auf institutioneller Ebene. Basierend auf Daten von Transparency International und dem European Social Survey wird hierfür ein Modell entworfen und getestet. Europäische Staaten, die in diesem Zusammenhang bislang von der Forschung unberücksichtigt blieben, variieren deutlich bezüglich der Verbreitung und dem Grad von Korruption und bieten sich somit für eine Analyse an. Basierend auf gepoolten Daten von 24 europäischen Ländern, zeigen multivariate Regressionsanalysen, dass das Fehlen von interpersonalem Vertrauen die wahrgenommene politische Korruption vergrößert, während Korruption wiederum Vertrauen in Institutionen verringert. Zudem wird deutlich, dass auch 20 Jahre nach dem Zusammenbruch des Kommunismus immer noch Unterschiede zwischen westeuropäischen sowie mittel- und osteuropäischen Ländern herrschen.
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Kubbe, I. (2014). Corruption and trust: a model design. In: Debiel, T., Gawrich, A. (eds) (Dys-)Functionalities of Corruption. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-04633-0_6
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