Journal article
Does everyday corruption affect how Russians view their political leadership?
Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol.33(4), pp.255-275
07/04/2017
DOI: 10.1080/1060586X.2016.1227033
Abstract
Do Russians' personal experiences with corruption influence how they evaluate their political leaders and, if so, in what direction? In addressing this question, we focus specifically on small-scale corruption that arises when Russians encounter employees of service provision organizations. We analyze survey data gathered in the summer of 2015 from Russia to trace the links between personal corrupt behavior and political attitudes. We show that participation in everyday corruption lowers a person's support for the political regime, both as a bivariate relationship and in a multivariate model with controls. Being involved in corrupt transactions reduces support for the regime through two indirect mechanisms: by making the political leadership's performance seem worse and by heightening perceptions that corruption is widespread among the country's leaders. We find no support for arguments in the literature that bribery and other forms of bureaucratic corruption help citizens pursue their needs in the face of inefficient state institutions and less developed economies. In Russia, those who frequently encounter corruption are less, not more, happy with the regime.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Does everyday corruption affect how Russians view their political leadership?
- Creators
- William M Reisinger - Department of Political Science, University of IowaMarina Zaloznaya - Department of Sociology, University of IowaVicki L. Hesli Claypool - Department of Political Science, University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol.33(4), pp.255-275
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.1080/1060586X.2016.1227033
- ISSN
- 1060-586X
- eISSN
- 1938-2855
- Grant note
- W911NF-14-1-0541 / Army Research Laboratory (10.13039/100006754) W911NF-14-1-0541 / Army Research Office (10.13039/100000183)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/04/2017
- Academic Unit
- International Programs; Political Science; Sociology and Criminology
- Record Identifier
- 9983920520902771
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