Corruption in Public Administration Units and Organizational Measures to Prevent and Fight Corruption1

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that investigated the attitudes of civil servants in public administration units in Slovenia regarding corruption at work. The results show that civil servants employed in public administration units take corruption seriously. The employees’ perceptions of corruption and their willingness to report the offender are closely connected to their opinion on how others - their colleagues – perceive it (i.e., how serious they find corruption and whether they are willing to report the offender). There are important gender differences regarding the perceptions of corruption, as well as differences in the function they have and their membership in organizational units. The authors conclude that it is necessary to develop and strengthen the feelings of the employees’ security and increase the link between perceiving corruption and one’s own judgment of the seriousness of corruptive behaviour, as well as to decrease the tolerance regarding corruption.