Corruption and Social Trust: Why the Fish Rots From the Head Down

Grėsmių Visuomenės Gerovei Suvokimas: Socialinio Optimizmo, Socialinio Ir Institucinio Pasitikėjimo Bei Pasitikėjimo Savimi Įtaka

“…Pasitikėjimas politinėmis institucijomis nedaro statistiškai reikš-mingos įtakos jokių išskirtų grėsmių vertinimui ir tai iš dalies atitinka Rothstein (2013) teorijos, sureikšminančios viešojo administravimo institucijų svorį politinėje kultūroje, lūkestį, kad pasitikėjimas politinėmis institucijomis nedarys labai stiprios įtakos grėsmių vertinimui 99 . Pasitikėjimas administruojančiomis institucijomis statistiškai reikšmingai mažina politinių, ekonominių, sveikatos ir moralinių bei religinių grėsmių masto vertinimus.…”

Causas y permanencia de la corrupción, el rol de la confianza y los dilemas sociales: el caso de Ecuador

“…The other possible scenario, as proposed by Rothstein, is that societies that lack social trust will be prone to corruption, as this lack of trust drags both citizens and bureaucrats into corrupt practices such as bribes and tax avoidance, among others. Since most individuals perceive that others are not going to play by the rules of the social contract, corruption in turn becomes widespread (Rothstein, 2013).…”

“…For Rothstein, there are at least three mechanisms (as shown in graph 1) through which citizens' trust in others is developed. Rothstein's causal mechanisms indicate that individuals, being a part of society, cannot possess perfect information about the world that surrounds them, so they have to go through a learning process that draws upon their own perceptions and those they get from the ones surrounding them (Rothstein, 2013). Consequently, citizens can only hope to formulate their criteria of whether to trust those around them by reflecting on their perceptions of the events happening around them.…”

“…On the contrary, individuals in a society rely heavily on a large set of "collective memories, hearsays and rumours from an integral part of this history" (Rothstein, 2013). This is why individuals within a society have no choice, and the only way in which they form their beliefs is through whichever information is available to them, whether it corresponds to an actual reality or not.…”

“…Corruption then becomes the only possible option to fill this gap. As per Rothstein's analysis, this intertwined relationship can be summarized in the following statement: "it makes no sense to be the only non-corrupt citizen in a thoroughly corrupt society" (Rothstein, 2013). Corruption becomes the statu quo, which in turn influences citizens to be overall pessimistic about their social environment.…”