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Deep corruption in Indonesia: Discourses, practices, histories
... Previous studies suggest there is scope to explore the situated cultural meanings of corruption in Indonesia in relation to the 'duty of care'. For example, practices associated with corruption are often referred to as 'uang lelah' (tired money) (Znoj 2007), 'uang rokok' (cigarette money) or 'tanda terima kasih' (thank you money) (Znoj, 2007;Budiman, Roan, and Callan, 2012). These are quite different to the 'corrupt' label which comes from institutions associated with more developed countries. ...
... Previous studies suggest there is scope to explore the situated cultural meanings of corruption in Indonesia in relation to the 'duty of care'. For example, practices associated with corruption are often referred to as 'uang lelah' (tired money) (Znoj 2007), 'uang rokok' (cigarette money) or 'tanda terima kasih' (thank you money) (Znoj, 2007;Budiman, Roan, and Callan, 2012). These are quite different to the 'corrupt' label which comes from institutions associated with more developed countries. ...
... Through discourse analysis, researchers are able to shed light on the almost invisible power asymmetries between members of societies within which the discourses are produced (Fairclough, 2003). What corruption means according to the global anti-corruption actors may differ to what it means to people who deal with the issue in their daily lives, which previous research has suggested (Jakimow, 2018;Znoj, 2007). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to problematize existing conceptualization of corruption by presenting alternative perspectives on corruption in Indonesia through the lens of national/cultural identity, amidst claims of the pervasiveness of corruption in the country. In so doing, the paper also sheds light on the micro-processes of interactions between global and local discourses in postcolonial settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies discourse analysis, involving in-depth interviews with 40 informants from the business sector, government institutions and anti-corruption agencies.
Findings
The findings suggest that corruption helps government function, preserves livelihoods of the marginalized segments of societies and maintains social obligations/relations. These alternative meanings of corruption persist despite often seen as less legitimate due to effects of colonial powers.
Research limitations/implications
The snowballing method of recruiting informants is one of the limitations of this paper, which may decrease the potential diversity and lead to the silencing of different stories (Schwartz-Shea and Yanow, 2013). Researchers need to contextualize corruption and study its varied meanings to reveal its social, historical and political dimensions.
Practical implications
This paper strongly suggests that we need to move beyond rationalist accounts to capture the varied meanings of corruption which may be useful to explain the limited results of existing anti-corruption efforts.
Social implications
This study calls for a greater use of qualitative methods to study broad social change programs such as anti-corruption from the perspective of the insiders.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the discussion of agency at the interplay between the dominant and alternative discourses in postcolonial settings. Moreover, the alternative meanings of corruption embedded in constructions of national identity and care ethics discussed in this paper offer as a starting point for decolonizing (Westwood, 2006) anti-corruption theory and practice.
... Corruption is seen as a primary impediment to growth (Kaufmann & Kraay, 2002), with serious consequences for the economies of developing countries (Hamilton & Hudson, 2014). While the phenomenon of corruption is multifaceted and difficult to measure, and can be encountered in all sectors of an economy (see, e.g., World Bank, 1997Bank, , 2005aBank, , 2013Campos & Syquia, 2005;Senior, 2006;Znoj, 2009), two perspectives emerge in the current financial literature and official pronouncements: bribery and extortion. 1 Bribery entails malfeasance, fraud and embezzlement by a public official (Myint, 2000;Enu-Kwesi, 2014), whereas extortion refers to the use of public office or the use of official position, rank or status by an office holder to extort money or favours for the individualˈs own personal benefit (see Kaufmann, 2005;World Bank, 2005a;Heyneman, Anderson & Nuraliyeva, 2008;Enu-Kwesi, 2014). ...
... In sub-Saharan Africa, corruption has been substantially documented in the financial literature as one of the drivers inhibiting development and fuelling poverty (see, e.g., World Bank, 1997, 2005aVan Gansberghe, 2005;Znoj, 2009;Hamilton, 2013;Hamilton & Hudson, 2014;Pring, 2015). One important aspect of corruption in sub-Saharan Africa is administrative corruption (Campos & Syquia, 2005;Hamilton & Hudson, 2014). ...
... Corruption, a symptom of system and institutional failures, has been identified as one of the drivers inhibiting development and fuelling poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (Van Gansberghe, 2005;Znoj, 2009;Hamilton, 2013;Hamilton & Hudson, 2014;Pring, 2015). The phenomenon is considered a bad omen for development as it keeps development in a perpetual reverse gear because governments are forced to intervene where they need not, thus undermining their ability to enact and implement policies in other areas in which its intervention is clearly needed: environmental regulation, health and safety regulation, social safety nets, macroeconomic stabilization and contract enforcement (World Bank, 2014). ...
Using structural equation modelling (SEM) we analysed the link between corruption and effective internal audit function (EIAF) in Ghana through a survey of directors and managers of selected public sector organizations. A decade after the promulgation of the Internal Audit Agency Act (IAAA), 2003 (Act 658) as an instrument to fight administrative corruption in Ghana, there is little empirical evidence to show its impact on corruption, though anecdotal evidence suggests it has played a critical role in maintaining financial discipline and public sector accountability and transparency. We established that full implementation of Act 658, size of the internal audit department and independence of the audit department significantly affect the effectiveness of the internal audit function which negatively impact on corruption. We conclude that strict adherence to and the implementation of regulations and laws as well as independence of the internal audit function will help fight administrative corruption in Ghana.
... This, however, does not necessarily mean that such training guarantees a change in behavior, especially when cultural factors come into play (Hauser, 2020). For example, in the context of underpaid civil servants, especially in regional areas, it is common for public service users to give "thank you money" or "cigarette money," partly to compensate for the low wage (Znoj, 2017). Still, others attempted to push public participation towards anti-corruption through the notion of public integrity and citizen activism, suggesting that increased scrutiny of public officials can help address corruption (World Bank, 2003). ...
... Meanwhile, these supposedly "ethical" individuals are left to their own devices to find other more legitimate sources of income since the existing one is no longer acceptable according to the anti-corruption formula. The fact that members of the KPK enjoy a relatively higher level of income compared to the rest of Indonesian society was rarely discussed when explaining their capacity to break away from the socially and culturally condoned practices commonly labeled as corruption (Znoj, 2017). Coupled with simplistic expressions such as "fighting corruption is easy," discussed in the previous section, anticorruption educational campaigns denied the existence of various contextual, discursive, and material tensions in trying to undo corruption. ...
Contemporary educational studies on anti-corruption have largely been underpinned by the conception of corruption as a moral problem. Consequently, anti-corruption curricula were mainly developed around instilling the correct moral orientations, characters, or decisions in individuals. The current study departs from such theoretical approaches by critically deconstructing dominant discourses constituting anti-corruption education in an underrepresented yet highly relevant setting: Indonesia, a country deemed one of the most corrupt globally. Analyzing Indonesian anti-corruption educational policies, learning modules, textbooks, and other relevant anti-corruption campaign materials, the current study unearthed two dominant discourses in Indonesian anti-corruption education materials. The first is a discourse of neoliberalism, and the second is a discourse of individual morality and heroism. We discuss these findings in relation to the ways Western-originated agendas of rationalism, neoliberal capitalism, and individualism have become the central organizing principles through which anti-corruption educational praxis is imagined and enacted in the Global South. We propose that Indonesian anti-corruption education might find benefits in adopting critical and decolonial approaches to corruption and education more broadly.
... Apart from that, every institution tends to have a unique organizational culture, level of influence, and interests that can be formal or informal and legitimate or illegitimate. The problem of cooperating and coordinating thus poses a threat to implementing the port state control regime and in the end securing the ports of Indonesia (Znoj, 2017). This paper thus seeks to elaborate the challenges faced by Indonesia in securing sea ports by explaining the dynamics of decision making and policy implementation in Indonesia in the context of port security. ...
... Competition happens between bureaucratic actors because there are incentives to be gained from winning such competitions. Increased contact between the bureaucratic actors and the people enables the bureaucratic actors to benefit in less than legal ways (Znoj, 2017;Turner, et al., 2022). A common theme of going through the Indonesian bureaucracy is the fact that it is quite complex and that a lot of the time bribes are used to make the administrative and bureaucratic processes easier. ...
The economy of maritime states such as Indonesia rely on the sea, not only to extract natural resources but also as an essential medium for domestic and international trade. Focusing on the aspect of trade, it is important for maritime states such as Indonesia to have sea ports that function optimally. One of the determinants of the functionality of sea ports is port security. Despite being a maritime state, the security of sea ports in Indonesia is questionable. The presence of the so called “port mafia” and numerous accounts of crime in Indonesian sea ports as well as maritime traffic accidents indicate that Indonesia is not doing well enough to safeguard the security of her ports. This article scrutinizes the security of major international ports in Indonesia. Analysis is conducted using the bureaucratic politics theory framework. Based on the assumptions of the bureaucratic politics theory, this paper finds that the multiple actors involved in securing Indonesia’s major international ports have failed to function in a coordinated matter due to poor implementation of port security policy. The poor implementation of port security itself is caused by the competing interests of said actors. Keywords: Bureaucratic competition, bureaucratic politics, Indonesia, Port security, Sea ports
... Corruption, being a disease to society, encompasses individuals who are meant to serve as societal role models. These individuals are elected based on their pledges to the public, possess education and extensive knowledge, and assume their responsibilities (Prabowo et al., 2017;Znoj, 2008). Despite having taken oaths in accordance with their religious and personal beliefs, corruption remains prevalent in Indonesia (Yogi Prabowo, 2014). ...
Plain language summary
Corruption cases in Indonesia have long been a concern of the people. This research aims to gain a deeper understanding of how women in Indonesia view and engage with corruption cases in the country. This study explores the level of concern, concern, and interest shown by women toward corruption, taking into account various situational, perceptual, and objective factors. By investigating these aspects, this study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of women’s perceptions of corruption and their role in overcoming this problem in Indonesia. The research results show that the index of women’s perceptions of corruption cases in Indonesia has a very good index on the object factor, a good index on the situation factor, and a good index on the perception factor. Regarding the survey, can be concluded that there are quite many women who think that the problem of corruption in Indonesia has become entrenched. This research results illustrate that for women, corruption is considered a common thing that occurs in people’s lives and has even become entrenched in everyday life. Corruption is a common thing in social life in Indonesia. Corruption cases become objects or targets of events that are very influential in the minds or perceptions of women in Indonesia. Indonesia’s government and KPK should be able to carry out a massive anti-corruption education from an early age to the next generation so that honest attitudes and behavior can be well inculcated. Women who have a big role in education in the family should be more involved in anti-corruption education so that corrupt acts can be eliminated from the lives of Indonesian people.
... Since corruption is systemic and prevalent across many sectors [25], some researchers discuss the culture of corruption and the complexity of corruption in Africa [26]. Others believe that apart from corruption other unique socio-cultural traits in African countries, including ethnic differences [27], or ethnic violence [28], impede economic development. ...
Many developing countries suffer high levels of corruption, which contributes to the divergence in economic development between more developed and developing countries. Corruption perceptions play a key role in forming a culture that is more or less tolerant of corruption, which contributes to its persistence. Individuals who have high perception of corruption believe that bribes must be paid. Customers will be more likely to accept a bribe if they believe many people pay bribes. The importance of this research is that it contributes to the micro-level research tradition by providing a deeper understanding of the factors that influence corruption perception. What factors influence the perception of corruption? I conducted an empirical analysis using 2017 Afrobarometer survey data, fo-cusing on 34 democratic African countries. The study finds that those who are relatively poor are more likely to have a high perception of corruption and develop an unfavorable view of corruption than those with high income. The study also provides the potential mechanisms involved in the perception of corruption, finding that individuals with high access to information through the media, and higher education have a higher perception of corruption.
... In South East Asia, Indonesia is known for its bureaucratic and hierarchical system, unethical lobbying, and high level of corruption; where bribery is commonly practiced (Znoj, 2007). Similarly, despite its long history under the British ruling, Malaysia is also known for its hierarchical system and the pervasiveness of bribery and corruption (Joseph et al., 2016). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to extend existing research on ethics in advertising through investigating the key factors that influence students' reaction towards ethical dilemmas.
Design/methodology/approach
Several hypotheses are developed and tested across twenty three ethical dilemma scenarios relative to advertising and business. Using information collected from business students (1297 useable responses) at a large Western Australian university.
Findings
The results indicates significant differences amongst culture, educational background, gender, work experience and corporate culture towards students' reactions to ethical dilemmas.
Practical implications
This research suggests that providing a stronger emphasis on ethics in educational institutions will increase the likeliness for students in behaving ethically. The managerial implications of these findings are also discussed, including the development of a potential ethical work context and programmes that enhance ethical sensitivity. Managers and executives would also benefit from this study by encouraging better ethical performance through understanding employees' behaviour.
Originality/value
Extant studies on ethical dilemmas in advertising highly focus on European's and North American's ethical beliefs. Thus, this paper look at the Western Australian sample of students at a broader context through acknowledging East Asian student sample in Western Australia; Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Taiwanese.
... Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives, discretionary powers, monopolistic powers, lack of transparency, and a culture of impunity. Specific acts of corruption include bribery, extortion, and embezzlement in a system where corruption becomes the rule rather than the exception (Znoj, 2009). Increasingly, a number of indicators and tools have been developed which can measure different forms of corruption with increasing accuracy (Hamilton, 2017). ...
Discussing corruption is extremely difficult as it is a hidden phenomenon in all world countries. The main objectives of the study are to identify the descriptive analysis for corruption indicators and to investigate the relationship between corruption index and demographic, economic, development indicators in the world countries. Data were collected from various sources. The sample involved one hundred thirty eight countries. The statistical methods include descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. The results of both correlation coefficients and multiple regression imply that decreased corruption are more likely to occur among countries that have more life expectancy at birth, more female participation in labor force, a higher GDP, high GDP per capita, good quality of infrastructure, more quality of education, more advanced in markets efficiency, highly technology development, and more innovations development. Also, the results suggest that increased corruption is more likely to occur among countries that have more population, more infant mortality rate, highly inflation percent, and more country credit rating. The data from world countries show that this finding is consistent with the research hypotheses. Clearly, corruption will not disappear from world countries, but all efforts are aiming to restrict corruption, and to improve features of social and economic life.
... From this perspective, the discourse about corruption can be seen as an attempt to control threats to social and normative orders (Parry, 2000). Similarly, the above-mentioned sociability that ethnographers attribute to petty corruption and informal practices is observed in the case of widespread corruption talk (Gupta, 1995;Corbin, 2004;Humphrey & Sneath, 2004;Znoj, 2007). In some countries, people talk freely and abundantly about corruption. ...
The social importance of corruption and its complex nature have led management scholars to study the phenomenon. However, they have largely ignored the research conducted by anthropologists on the matter. The aim of this article is to provide a critical review of the anthropological literature on corruption in relation to the management science research. Anthropology offers valuable insights into the understanding of the study of corruption. The field provides new perspectives particularly in relation to the definition of the concept, the morality of corruption, the processual approach, the methods of inquiry, and the holistic perspective. Management research can gain important insights from the results of ethnographic investigations that support the idea that the great diversity in the practices of corruption worldwide is imbued with the particular cultural and social implications of this phenomenon.
Pancasila is the basis of the Indonesian state which is used as the guideline for the Indonesian state. Pancasila means five principles or five principles. The relationship between corruption and Pancasila is that corruption is behavior that violates Pancasila as the basis of the Indonesian state, therefore corruption must be subject to appropriate sanctions or punishments for using people’s money arbitrarily (personal interests). Pancasila in Indonesia plays an important role in people's lives, starting from the rights and obligations regulated in Pancasila.
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority to acquire illicit benefit or abuse power for one's private gain. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries. Political corruption occurs when an officeholder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain. Corruption is most commonplace in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-states, and mafia states. Corruption can occur on different scales. Corruption ranges from small favors between a small number of people (petty corruption) to corruption that affects the government on a large scale (grand corruption) and corruption that is so prevalent that it is part of the everyday structure of society, including corruption as one of the symptoms of organized crime.
When corruption is contextualized in the daily work of organisations the ethical focus may be on the use of morality to transmit ideas about what is acceptable or not. The typical approach may be that of communicating values from leadership (which indeed happens more rarely). A second approach may be dealing with moral standards in the everyday patterns of socialization within and out of the organisation. Finally, the final focus concerns the problematizing of moral claims in social contexts in which corruption is a daily issue. Here, instead of delegating culture as the explanation for the resiliency of corruption, it may be fruitful to gather more empirical evidence on how moral standards become poisoned in social contexts.
This article offers the first comprehensive review of the interdisciplinary state of knowledge regarding anti-corruption policies, with a particular focus on reducing corruption among civil servants. Drawing on the work of economists, political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, we examine seven policy categories: (1) rewards and penalties; (2) monitoring; (3) restructuring bureaucracies; (4) screening and recruiting; (5) anti-corruption agencies; (6) educational campaigns; and (7) international agreements. Notably, rigorous empirical evaluation is lacking for the majority of commonly prescribed anti- corruption policies. Nevertheless, we find growing evidence of the effectiveness of policies based on monitoring, including anti-corruption audits and e-governance. In addition, adequate civil service wages seem to be a necessary but insufficient condition for control of corruption. An emerging skepticism regarding the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies also is apparent in the literature. We conclude with broader lessons drawn from our review, such as the recognition that when corruption is a systemic problem, it cannot be treated in the long term with individual-level solutions.
This paper aims to establish how organization and management research, an extensive field that has contributed a great deal to research on corruption, could apply insights from other disciplines in order to advance the understanding of corruption, often considered as a form of unethical behavior in organizations. It offers an analysis of important contributions of corruption research, taking a ‘rationalist perspective’, and highlights the central tensions and debates within this vast body of literatures. It then shows how these debates can be addressed by applying insights from corruption studies, adopting anthropological lens. The paper thus proposes a cross-disciplinary approach, which focuses on studying corruption by looking at what it means to individuals implicated by the phenomenon while engaging in social relations and situated in different contexts. It also offers an alternative approach to the study of corruption amidst claims that anti-corruption efforts have failed to achieve desirable results.
Scholars and policymakers today are confronted with the fact that corruption has become one of the most pervasive notions in public debates about quality and efficacy of governance. Due to its social importance and complex nature, corruption has been studied by diverse social sciences. Thus, over the last three decades, various social sciences have covered numerous topics related to corruption, such as the movement from an evolutionary concern for the historical forms of corruption in the Western world (Scott, 1972; Heidenheimer, 1989), its influence on political factions and parties (Della Porta and Vannucci, 1999; Kawata, 2006), its functional role in political systems (Leff, 1964; Huntington, 1968; Montinola and Jackman, 2002), its nexus with democracy, civil society, and development (Bardhan, 1997; Rose-Ackerman, 1999; Doig and Theobald, 2000; Johnston, 2005). Obviously, each field has its own priorities in investigating corruption. For example, economists have been interested in, among other topics, the causes of corruption and its influence on economic development (Mauro, 1995; Svenson, 1995). Political scientists have addressed political themes such as the importance of political institutions, and the regulation or freedom of the press in relation to corruption (Rose-Ackerman, 1999). For example, Anderson and Tverdova (2003) showed that citizens in countries with higher levels of corruption express more negative evaluations of the performance of the political system and exhibit lower levels of trust in civil servants.
Eastern Indonesia, most notably Nusa Tenggara Timor province, has been frequently referred to as the poorest region in Indonesia and claims have recently been made that it is the most corrupt as well. The spread of corruption in the post-Suharto period, with the introduction of regional autonomy and decentralisation, has often been commented on; but what is corruption? How do people define it? This paper uses an anthropological lens on corruption to suggest that with the spread of ideas of `good governance' and `democracy', one significant way that local communities in NTT province engage with the state and define corruption is as an abuse of power and non-consultation with the populace. This has become particularly acute with the government belief that new investment opportunities in the reform era will become a road to development and prosperity for local communities, who are, however, seen to be unable to provide for themselves or seek their own ways out of poverty. Several regional governments in NTT province have taken advantage of new laws put into effect in the reform era to award mining concessions to domestic and foreign mining companies. A swell of protest has arisen across the province, however, and an increasing critique of poor government and corrupt practices focuses on these mining contracts.
Spectacular events tend to capture our attention—the war in Cambodia, oil exploration and production on Malaysia's coast, the assassination of Benigno Aquino and internal strife in the Philippines, the election of two solitary opposition candidates to Singapore's parliament, the rejuvenation of Indonesia's military command structure, coup rumours in Thailand: an endless string of more or less spectacular or even decisive happenings that find themselves in the headlines of the international press.
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