Corruption and Civil Society in Romania: Striving for an Answer, or at Least a Clear Picture

Corruption and Civil Society in Romania: Striving for an Answer, or at Least a Clear Picture Andrei Tiut The author is a political science student, University of Bucharest, Romania. There is a widespread belief that the increasing number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helps diminish corruption. In this article, I question the assumption that civil society organisations per se, by virtue of their existence, numbers, and social activities, can be sufficient to diminish corruption and its causes. Many believe that civil society is a positive force, growing in a “natural,” “spontaneous” way, and covering various aspects of social life in its activities. They say that NGOs compete among themselves for the same (limited) resources, and that often they also compete with the state for influence and prestige. [1] As a result, citizens have more options, a more open society, more freedom from the discretionary power of bureaucrats, civil or public. Moreover, NGOs are believed to have a direct interest in bringing to light and eliminating any malfunctioning in the system that interferes with their activities. This is a plausible theory. However, there are at least two problems with it. First, there is little empirical evidence supporting it. Second, it appears that this theory applies more to larger and stronger NGOs with sufficient resources that can sustain themselves; small NGOs may often fall prey to corruption, rather than succeed in containing it.