May 2002

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

CORRUPTION INDEXES

CHIEF PROBLEMS FACED BY BULGARIA

ATTITUDES TOWARDS CORRUPTION

CORRUPT PRACTICES

ASSESSMENTS OF THE SPREAD OF CORRUPTION

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

Sample
National representative survey of the population covering 1170 respondents aged 18 and over.

Survey method
The survey method used is face-to-face interview.

Field work
Field work was conducted between May 22- 31, 2002.

CORRUPTION INDEXES

• Corruption indexes are among the important outputs of the Corruption Monitoring System (CMS) of Coalition 2000. Their values are updated quarterly based on survey data.
• Corruption assessment index numbers assume values from 0-10.
• The closer the value of the indexes is to 10, the more negative are the assessments of the evaluated aspect of corruption in Bulgaria.
• Index numbers closer to 0 indicate approximation to the ideal of a "corruption-free" society.
• Corruption indexes have been grouped into several categories:

• - Attitudes towards corruption;
• - Corrupt practices;
• - Assessment of the spread of corruption;
• - Corruption-related expectations.

CHIEF PROBLEMS FACED BY BULGARIA

The trend towards increased public attention to corruption, started at the beginning of last year, marked a sharp drop in May 2002. The nearly 10% decrease, compared to the previous monitored period (January 2002), of respondents citing corruption as the most serious problem facing Bulgaria is an indicator both of the saturation of media space with the subject of “corruption”, and of shifting the problem at the expense of other “illnesses of the transition” such as unemployment, poverty, low living standard, etc. These problems were in turn permanently established as most acute from the very start of the monitoring.

Base N=1170

ATTITUDES TOWARDS CORRUPTION

This index reflects the level of value acceptability of the different corruption practices.

The decrease in the levels of this index, since September last year, is compensated by their slight increase in January and May this year. The trend illustrates both public sensitivity to the manifestations of corruption, as well as the increasingly more permanent negative public opinion to these acts on a moral and value level.

Base: N= 1170

 Susceptibility to corruption

This index measures the tendency of citizens to make compromises with their value system under pressure of circumstances.

The started decrease in the levels of the index, characteristic of the start of the monitored period, has stopped, but the former trend is being retained. The stabilisation of the index around the same level is an indicator of the existence of permanent attitudes towards compromises with one’s own value system. Corrupt behaviour is formed under pressure of everyday circumstances and the manifestations of corruption in everyday life, rather than by the value system of society. This is also evidenced by the significantly higher levels of this index than those of the “admissibility of corruption in principle” index.

Corrupt behavior tends to be sustained by the pressure of circumstances, rather than by the value system of society. This appears to find confirmation in the considerably higher values of this index compared to the index of corruption acceptability in principle.

CORRUPT PRACTICES

This index measures the spread of the attempts of employees in the public sector to directly or indirectly put pressure on citizens for receiving money, gifts or services.

A significant decrease in the levels of the index is being observed for the present period. They have virtually reached some of the lowest levels during the entire monitoring period. This shows that the overt coercion by civil servants continues to be an inconstant variable, which is influenced by accidental factors, rather than by permanent measures for limiting them.

The monitoring conducted in May 2002, shows a number of insignificant changes compared to previous periods in the assessments of corruption pressure exercised by the different groups of employees in the public sector. The increased corruption pressure by doctors since October 2001 is continuing. In practice, this professional group is turning into a traditional bearer of corruption. Compared to the previous monitoring (January 2002), corruption pressure by some representatives of the judicial system, and by prosecutors and investigators above all, has also increased.

Among the other professional groups, corruption pressure has increased slightly, more significantly among customs officers, and employees in ministries and the judicial system. A slight drop is registered among the police, municipal and tax officials.

This index reflects the level of the personal participation of respondents in different forms of corrupt behaviour, i.e. it reflects the real number of corrupt actions in the last three months.

This is practically the index with the lowest levels compared to all other indices. A decrease to the level of January last year is seen in it at the present stage. The variations in the index at a relatively low level still do not warrant the categorical conclusion that real corrupt actions have been permanently curbed.

Base: N = 1170

ASSESSMENTS OF THE SPREAD OF CORRUPTION

It registers citizens’ assessments of the degree of spread of corrupt actions among employees in the public sphere.

The assessments of the degree of spread of corruption for May 2002 mark one of their lowest levels since the start of the corruption monitoring. The drop in the index versus the previous monitored period is nearly 5 points. The reasons for this can, on the one hand, be sought in the genuinely taken actions against corruption and, on the other, in its perception as a permanently existing phenomenon which is becoming a standard in public life.

The so far stable levels of the index, without sharp fluctuations, show that a significant change in public assessments of the degree of spread of corruption in Bulgaria cannot be expected in the near future.

Base: N = 1170

The most frequently mentioned reason for the spread of corruption in the country in May 2002 continued to be the desire of the people “clothed” in power to quickly get rich. This moral attitude has a permanent place among the assessments of society as a basic factor breeding corruption.

Noticeably, the influence of the factor “lack of strict administrative control” marks a certain increase compared to the attitudes in January 2002. Conversely, although less noticeably, the assessments of the inefficiency of the judicial system are also changing. Despite some fluctuations, the other factors for the spread of corruption retain an unchanged level.

Base: N = 1170

No significant changes were observed in the assessment of “professional” spread of corruption among lawyers, businessmen, bankers and teachers for May 2002. According to public opinion, corruption among doctors and the police has increased within the scope of a few months, while it has decreased among most of the other professional groups. Customs officers continue to head the list of the most corrupt professions, despite the slight decrease in the share of respondents who put them at the head of the list.

According to the Bulgarian citizens, corruption is, as a rule, least widespread among the representatives of non-governmental organisations, journalists and teachers. The rating of journalists in this respect has also increased.

Despite the changed method for the registration of data, the internal structure of the state institutions, according to assessments of the degree of spread of corruption in them, has not changed significantly.

According to public opinion, corruption is most widespread in customs, the health system, the judicial system and the Ministry of Interior. In particular, the Privatisation Agency is cited as the most corrupt among the state institutions. The fact is indicative that only 0.1% of the respondents stated that there is no corruption in Bulgaria.

The media maintain a high rating among the population. The majority of respondents consider that corruption does not exist in most of them.

This index shows the assessments of citizens of the degree to which corruption is becoming an effective means of solving personal problems.

The overall decrease of the other corruption indices also influences the levels of the index of practical effectiveness. Since January 2001 there has been a lasting trend of a drop of this index. What this means is that, in the Bulgarian conditions, the solution of private problems by means of corrupt actions is increasingly becoming less effective in practice. This, in turn, warrants the conclusion that positive changes are starting to occur in the social environment which could help to decrease corrupt practices in the future.

Base: N = 1170

CORRUPTION EXPECTATIONS

This index reflects the assessment of the possibilities (potential) of Bulgarian society to cope with corruption.

The lowest level of this index, registered in October 2001 and compared to the whole monitored period, is slightly compensated by the subsequent increase for the present period.

As a whole, however, the level of the index continues to be high. This shows that the potential of Bulgarian society to cope with the problem of “corruption” is not linked only with the change of mass attitudes to this phenomenon, but also with the appearance of new social practices. New regulatory mechanisms are needed which are at the same time legitimate, morally acceptable and practically effective.

Base: N = 1170