Galery

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The comparison between the percentages of the survey is very interesting compared to data from Eurobarometer in 2011 and 2009. The percentage of citizens who believe that corruption is widely spread among political parties (MPs and local leaders) has increased while the percentage of those who believe that there is corruption in other categories of public employees (doctors, police officers, university professors) has decreased. It is the same in terms of categories such as tax officers, urban development employees, and employees who authorize investment projects, which have also marked a decrease of the negative opinion.

"Yes, I gave a bribe"

In most cases, impressions of corruption in the public sector come from personal experiences. 42% of respondents answered in the affirmative to the question whether they have been asked for a bribe by a public official in order for him or her to solve a problem. The percentage is roughly the same in the different categories. 17% responded that this has last happened in the past 12 months, 25% said that this happened 1 - 3 years ago, and 58% - more than 3 years ago (Figure 4).

The possible association between bribery and the vote in the elections of 2012 is also interesting. At the time, the issue of corruption of public officials was of paramount importance. The two former ruling parties New Democracy and PASOK collected the highest percentage of votes among respondents who answered that they have not been asked for a bribe. Those who responded that they have been asked for a bribe voted for SYRIZA (which won a higher percentage than New Democracy in this category), as well as for the Independent Greeks party and other parties. SYRIZA is 5 points ahead of New Democracy among those who said that they have been asked for a bribe in the last year or in the last 3 years, i.e. during the crisis.

Causes of corruption of public officials

The study seeks views of citizens on causes of corruption of public officials. Table 2 shows answers of respondents that cover a large part of the reasons, which start from the political culture and reach the control and fight against corruption. All explanations are accepted by many citizens, and the highest percentage is collected by those who explain corruption with the reluctance of the government to fight it (82% absolutely agree with this), and opacity in government spending (84% fully agree with this). Explanations that affect the quality of civil servants themselves, or people who think that windows in legislation allow employees to ask for money, have accumulated lower rates, as well as the opinion of those who identified the culture of the Greek society that perceives bribery as the main reason.