Download - Matei Oana
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
1/31
POLITICAL CULTURE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
IN ARAD ROMANIA
Oana Matei, [email protected]
Assistant Professor, candidate for a doctors degree
Western University, Vasile Goldis, Arad, Romania,Faculty of Humanistic, Political and Administrative Sciences,
3 Unirii Str., 310023 Arad, Roamania, tel. 0040/257/282324, [email protected].
ABSTRACT
Public administration is a component of government and therefore may be analyzed
from a political perspective, not only as another form of managerial activity (Peters1989:45). Patterns of political culture and general culture values influence the operation
of the administrative system. This paper tries to analyze political culture focusing to the
inputs side of the political system in order to understand and justify the results of the
political system seen as outputs. Attention is given to attitudes and values concerningpolitical participation, democratic procedures, political efficacy and political
involvement.
Romania is an Eastern European country with a subject political culture (Almond and
Verba 1996) in which institutional and role differentiation exists in political life, buttowards which the citizen stands in largely passive relations and they are oriented only to
the outputs side of the political system. Romanian citizens are not focused to the inputs
side of the political system and this is one of the reasons which determine their negative
perception on the public administrations activity. They do not consider themselves as apart of the democratic process and that is why they do not feel responsible in any way
and they do not relate political culture to the activities of government and to majorinstitutions. Romanian citizens tend to evaluate public administrations activity less
positive than citizens from Western European countries and they do have a cynical view
of corruption and favoritism in the public bureaucracy.
What this paper tries to demonstrate is the fact that the relation between politicalculture and public administration influences the citizens perception toward public
administrations activity. The more citizens of a democratic country feel themselves as
part of the political process and they focus their attention to the inputs side as well as tothe outputs side of the process, the less they will negatively percept public
administrations activity. The more they will see themselves as part of the democraticprocess, the less they will tend to underestimate public administrations activity and they
will feel themselves responsible for the whole process (inputs and outputs).
Arad city is a town with a population about 150000 citizens. My survey uses a
questionnaire applied to 1300 citizens and analyses their political participations because
it is an important issue in understanding political culture, societys system of values and
societys relations with the democratic institutions (including public administration).
1
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
2/31
Politics and governing cannot be appreciated just in terms of efficiency and
rationality, but are judged in terms of honesty, abiding of fundamental freedoms and
human rights, of equality etc. This moral dimension sums up the system of norms, beliefs,
values shared by a certain society in a given moment of its evolution and in the extent towhich these are reflected, or not, within the political process. Definitely, the moral
dimension of the political process manifests evaluations of the moral or immoral type;ethical or non-ethical. A certain governmental decision or a certain political view can beconsidered moral or can be labeled as immoral; both will always be imbued with
morality. And, as long as the political process invariably implies a moral dimension, it is
very important to observe the way in which the citizens relate themselves to thisdimension. It is very important how they perceive it, how they perceive themselves in view
of that dimension, which is the position they stand on as part of the political process and
how do they see the morality in which they can interact and influence that certain
dimension. It is very important to mention that the reference is made to the democraticsystems, more specifically what Popper (Popper 2005) referred to as open societies,
those that stimulate and liberate the creative potencies of the human being. Because the
relation between the perception, expectancies and the final results of the democraticprocess, namely the public policies implemented through the public administration, is
able to quantify positively or negatively the moral dimension of the political process in a
democratic country. When the citizens feel that they are a part of the democratic process,they will experience the feeling that they can influence the process, implicitly they will
acknowledge the fact that, one way or another they are responsible for the moral
dimension of that certain process, more specifically that morality or immoralityassociated to politics also depend on the status of their civic conduct.
Democracy is a morally-political, society project (Morar 2006), thus is it
important to notice how exactly does the relation between the value system from a certainsociety and the abiding of the principles that are implied by democracy as a process
work. The civic dimension of the behavior of the citizens of a democratic society cannot
be evaluated without making use of an elementary morality, composed out of the normsand values shared by that certain society.
2
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
3/31
1. INTRODUCTION
Democracy as a political process implies a certain type of specific ethics. The
democratic institutions develop and perpetuate a certain type of specific ethic.
Democracy as a civil practice requires, as well, a type of specific ethics. Thus, theassociation between ethics and democracy is nowhere near oxymoronic (Morar
2006:316) but, on the contrary, a very pertinent one. Ethics associated to democracy as a
political process involves abiding of the criteria for a democratic process (Dahl 2002:
139-167). Administrative democratic institutions imply a type of ethic inspired by
Webers model but adapted to the requirements of the institutional management with
potent deontological accents (MacIntyre 1988; Thompson 1992). Democracy as an
exercise implies a participative type of ethic, which manifests itself as a critical attitude
of the citizens towards the political decisions and as the actual possibility of influencing
the decision making process which regards the community to which they pertain to.
The violation of the criteria for a democratic process generates preferential
treatments and threatens the principle of equality of chances, both as an equal start, as
well as an equal access (Sartori 1999: 309). Unabiding the criteria for a democratic
process violates the rights of the citizens to have equal access to the services of the public
administration and deprives them of the actual participation in the democratic process.
Violating the criteria for a democratic process deprives the citizens of the opportunity to
form real opinions regarding the activity of the administrative institutions and to
formulate real proposals which targeted the improvement of the activity of these
institutions and of the whole democratics process.
The perception of citizens regarding the morality of the institutions of the state in
the political process is the determined by the conviction of the citizens that the goverment
will not act in the virtue of the competence, integrity and morality norms. (Sloterdijk
2001:24). If the democratic principles ethic generates trust for the political process and
participation at it, from the citizens, the cynisism of the political gaps generate an attitude
of distrust and non-participation from the citizens. Modern cynisism is that attitude of
rejecting agreements, after they have initially been accepted, due to the disappointment
caused by these agreements. The modern cynic has no faith in the political process, in the
institutions of the state nor in the political figures or civil servants, and this attitude is a
3
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
4/31
result of the fact that his trust has been betrayed and his expectations deceived. Modern
cynisism, thus implies, the perpetual decrease of trust in the competence, efficiency and
morality of the political and administrative process, leading to pessimism and lack of
participation.
2. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objectives of this study aimed to demonstrate that:
The violation of democratic ethic imposed through the criteria for a
democratic process, generates lack of participation, a negative conotation of
the whole political process, a rejection of the values promoted by the
political process (in one word, modern type cynisism)
The degree of satisfaction concerning the way citizens live is directly
associated with their perception of the morality of the states institutions and
with the participation to the democratic process.
Romania is a former communist country, with a relatively brief democratic practice,
and with a subjective type of culture (Almond&Verba 1996:47-50). The characteristics of
the subjective type culture (or dependent) are: the prioritized orientation towards the
output aspects of the system (the process through which the policies are imposed,
administrative authorities) and a relatively reduced orientation towards the input aspects
(flows of demands from the society to the administrative-political body and the
conversion of these demands into public policies). The subject is aware of the states
authority, be it political or administrative and is affectionately oriented towards it. He
labels this authority as moral or not, he sympathises with it or not, as a participant in the
system, he is passive.
The absence of democratic maturity and relatively brief period of democraticpractice, can be considered reasons for the lack of participation to the democratic process
but, ive considered that other essential causes may be found in the unabiding of the ethic
imposed by the democratic process. The modern cynic is passive and rejects the values
implied by the democratic process but he does this because he was disappointed by the
entire system. Thats why I have considered that the preferential access to the services of
4
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
5/31
the administrative institutions, in accordance to different gifts that the citizen must
offer in exchange for those specific services, represents one of the causes which generates
cynical attitudes and, thus, lack of participation.
Cynisism and lack of participation determine a critically negative attitude regarding
the whole democratic system. The citizens who dont partake to the democratic process,
who consider that they cannot influence the decisions of the administrative institutions
tend to negatively connotate their activity and to be unsatisfied by the way they live,
without assuming in any way responsability for this thing. Not assuming responsability is
due to the fact that they do not consider themselves as being part of the decision making
process.
The morality of the state institutions decisions is directly associated with the
increase in the satisfaction level regarding the way in which these institutions run, in
regard to the way in which they themselves live and determine the increase in the level of
participation to the democratic process. Therefore, the morality of the administrative
institutions will increase the citizens participation to the democratic process and will
determine the act of assuming responsability from their part, by the active involvement in
the decision making process, opening up the way towards deliberative democracy.1
3. THE STUDYS HYPHOTESES
HYPHOTESIS 1. The violation of the democratic principles deprives the citizens of
participation to the democratic process and of the opportunity to form real opinions
regarding the activity of the administrative institutions, determining a modern type
cynical attitude from their part.
HYPHOTESIS 1.1. The violation of the democratic principles deprives the citizens
of participation to the democratic process.
1The differences between participatory democracy and deliberative democracy rest on the communication
mode employed; public deliberation is present in all deliberative democracy process, but may not be
present in participatory democracy process. See TINA NABATCHI, Some Preliminary Frameworks for
Understanding and Evaluating Citizen Participation in Public Administration, paper presented at the FirstGlobal Dialogue on Ethics in Public Administration, 27-30 may 2009, Amsterdam;
5
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
6/31
HYPOTHESIS 1.2. The violation of the democratic principles deprives the citizens
of the opportunity of forming real opinions regarding the activity of the states
institutions.
HYPOTHESIS 2. The modern cynic is not actively involved in the democratic
process, having a distrustfull attitude and labeling as negative the activity of the states
institutions
HYPHTHESIS 2.1. There is a cleavage between the two aspects of the democratic
process (input-output), the citizens orienting themselves mainly towards the output
aspects.
HYPOTEHSIS 2.2. The orientation towards the output aspects negatively
connotates the activity of the states institutions.
HYPHOTESIS 3. The satisfaction level of the citizens reflects their implication in
the democratic process.
HYPHOTESIS 3.1. The participation and involvement of the citizens in the
democratic process is associated with the satisfaction level.
HYPHOTESIS 3.2. The citizens satisfaction level reflects their involvement in the
democratic process.
HYPHOTESIS 4. The morality of the states institutions influences the satisfaction
and involvement level of the citizens
HYPHOTESIS 4.1. The morality of the states institutions activities influences the
satisfaction level of the citizens.
HYPHOTESIS 4.2. The morality of the states institutions influences the
involvement level of the citizens.
4. THE STUDYS METHODOLOGY
4.1. VARIABLES INVOLVED IN THE STUDY
Independent variables (IV)
A. the violation of democratic principles
a1 low
6
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
7/31
a2 mean
a3 high
B. satisfaction level of the citizens
b1 low
b2 high
C. the democratic involvement level of the citizens
c1 low
c2 high
D. the states institutions morality
d1 high
d2 mean
d3 low
Dependent variables (DV)
X. participation to the democratic process
- the citizens opportunity to form real opinions
- the degree of influence over the local decisions
- the citizens degree of satisfaction for the way they live in
- the citizens degree of satisfaction for the way in which the states institutions
work
4.2 THE TYPE OF DESIGN
For hyphotesis 1.1 we have a basic between subjects quasi experimental design
Independent variable (IV)
unabiding democratic principles
a1 low
a2 mean
a3 high
7
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
8/31
Dependent variable (DV)
the citizens level of satisfaction for they way they live in
the citizens level of satisfaction for the way in which the states institutions work
For hyphotesis 2.1we have a descriptive design for the variable that measures the
citizens influence level over the decisions on a local level.
For hyphotesis 2.2 we have a correlational design, dependent variables among
which the correlation is made being the level of satisfaction of the citizens
regarding the way they live and the level of democratic involvement, on one hand,
and between the citizens level of satisfaction towards the way they live and the
level of satisfaction in which the states institutions work.
For hypothesis 3.2we have a basic between subjects quasi experimental design
Independent variable (IV)
citizens level of satisfaction for the way they live in
- high
- low
Dependent variables (DV)- the citizens democratic involvement level
For hypothesis 4.1 we have abasic between subjects quasi experimental design.
Independent variable (IV)
- the states institutions morality
- d1 high
- d2 mean
- d3 low
Dependent variables (DV)
the citizens satisfaction level
For hypothesis 4.2.we have a basic between subjects quasi experimental design
Independent variable (IV)
8
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
9/31
- the states institutions morality
- d1 high
- d2 mean
- d3 low
Dependent variables (DV)
the citizens involvement level
4.3 UTILISED INSTRUMENTS
Methodologically speaking, a questionnaire containing ten questions was used (see
annex nb. 1), questions which referred to the satisfaction level of the citizens regarding
the activity of the administrative institutions, the treatment they benefit of from the local
authorities, the level of satisfaction concerning the way they live and the way in which
the states institutions run their activity, as well as to the methods in which they think
could influence the decisions on a local scale. All the questions were closed, and some of
them (the ones that ranked the administrative institutions and the ones that wanted to test
the morality of the administrative institutions) with multiple choice.
Morality versus the violation of the democratic ethic were measured through
questions regarding the preferential treatment applied by the institutions of the state,
according to the gifts offered by the citizens for access to administrative services.
Cynicism and lack of participation were measured through questions referring to the level
of satisfaction in which the administrative institutions work and the level of satisfaction
of how citizens live, as well as through questions referring to the way things are headed
in Romania and to the way they consider that they can influence decisions on a local
scale.
The data was gathered in the period May 2008 February 2009, using the simple
random method. The data was processed by using the statistical program SPSS.
4.4 SAMPLE
1314 people from Arad city took part in this study (Arad city, according to the 2002
census2, has a population of 172827 inhabitants), out of which 661 (50, 3%) males and
2http://recensamant.referinte.transidex.ro, 14 iulie 2009;
9
http://recensamant.referinte.transidex.ro/http://recensamant.referinte.transidex.ro/ -
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
10/31
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
11/31
The subjects' distr ibution on education levels1%0%
46%
7%
4%
2%
7%
8%
25%
w ithout school m iddle school 5-8 grades apprentice school
fir st level of high-s chool vocational s chool high-s chool gr aduat es
post high-school college graduates MA-PHD
Figure 2.Distribution according to the education levels of the subjects
5. DATA LAYOUT
HYPOTHESIS 1. Unabiding the democratic principles deprives some citizens of
participation to the democratic process and of the opportunity to form real opinions
regarding the activity of the administrative institutions, determining a modern type
cynical attitude from their part.
HYPOTHESIS 1.1. Unabiding the democratic principles deprives the citizens of
participation to the democratic process.
In order to test hypothesis 1.1 we summed up the number of institutions ticked by
the subjects at the questions 3, 4 and 5 of the questionnaire, dividing this new variable in
3 categories: low, mean and high violation. According to this labeling, I have madecomparisons for the scores obtained at the 9
th question of the questionnaire, Do you
think that you can influence the decisions on a local scale? The results of the descriptive
processing have been centralized in table 1. The mean differences are graphically
exemplified in Figure 3.
11
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
12/31
Table 1. The results of the descriptive processing for the influence of citizens
over the decisions at a local scale in concordance to the violation of the democratic
principles
VIOLATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES
LOW AVERAGE HIGH
m1= 3,54
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m2= 3,35
med2= 3,00
mod2= 3
min2= 1
max2= 5
m3= 3,40
med3= 3,00
mod3= 3
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 1,00 sd2= 0,99 sd3= 1,01
Figure 3. The mean values for the influence of citizens over the decisions at a
local scale.
3,54
3,55
3,5
3,45 3,40
3,4 3,35
3,35
3,3
3,25
Unabiding the democratic principles
Low Average High
We can observe tendencies towards differences between the three categories of
violating the democratic principles. As a result of all the conditions being met for a
parametric inferential test, I tested the statistical significance with Anova unifactorial. As
a result of calculating the F test I have obtained F = 3,913 atp= .020, which means that
12
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
13/31
the violation of the democratic principles deprives the citizens of participating to the
democratic process.
Because the value of the F test only shows us a general influence of the degree of
violation of the democratic principles I used the post-hoc comparative test to see between
which categories of violation are the differences statistically significant. In Table 2 there
are shown the mean differences and the level of significance for comparing the violation
types two by two.
Table 2. The results of the post-hoc tests regarding the influence of the citizens over
the decisions on a local scale according to the violation of the democratic principles
(I) (J) Mean difference p
LOW MEAN 0,19 0,037
HIGH 0,13 0,106
MEAN LOW -0,19 0,037
HIGH -5,15 0,775
HIGH LOW -0,13 0,106
MEAN 5,15 0,775
There are statistically significant differences on a level p
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
14/31
Table 3. The results of the descriptive processing for how content the citizens
are with the way in which they live
THE VIOLATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES
LOW AVERAGE HIGH
m1= 3,04
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m2= 2,91
med2= 3,00
mod2= 3
min2= 1
max2= 5
m3= 2,95
med3= 3,00
mod3= 3
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 1,01 sd2= 0,93 sd3= 0,88
Table 4. The results of the descriptive processing for how content the citizens
are with the way in which the states institutions run
THE VIOLATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES
LOW AVERAGE HIGH
m1= 3,25
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m2= 3,33
med2= 3,00
mod2= 3
min2= 1
max2= 5
m3= 3,37
med3= 3,00
mod3= 4
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 0,95 sd2= 0,94 sd3= 0,85
14
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
15/31
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
16/31
HYPOTHESIS 2. The modern type cynic is not actively involved in the democratic
process, having a distrustful attitude and labeling as negative the activity of the states
institutions.
HYPOTHESIS 2.1. There is a cleavage between the two aspects of the democratic
process (input output), citizens mainly orienting themselves towards the output aspects.
To verify hypothesis 2.1, if there is a cleavage between the input and output aspects of the
democratic process, citizens mainly orienting themselves towards the output aspects, i
carried out the descriptive processing for question 9 from the questionnaire, Do you
believe that you can influence the decisions on a local scale?. The central tendency
indices are: the mean = 3,54; median = 3,00; modulus = 3; minimum = 1; maximum = 5.
The histogram of the 9th item is shown in Figure 5. and the answer frequencies in Table
5. Taking into consideration the fact that the scores of the participants were graded from
1 to 5, where 1 = a very great deal, 2 = a great deal, 3 = not very much, 4 = very little and
5 = i dont know/wont answer, we can notice by analysing the histogram and the
frequency table that the participants have answered in a percent of just 14,4% that they
could influence the decisions at a local scale, in a small and very small deal 68,3% of the
subjects and 17,4% have said they dont know.
Table 5. The frequency of answers for question 9 of the questionnaire
Answer Frequency Percentage Cumulated
percentage
A very great deal 41 3,1 3,1
A great deal 148 11,3 14,4
Not very much 544 41,4 55,8
Very little 353 26,9 82,6
Dont know/Wont
answer
228 17,4 100,0
Total 1314 100,0
16
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
17/31
Q9
5,04,03,02,01,0
Q9
Frequency
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Std. Dev = 1,00
Mean = 3,4
N = 1314,00
Figure 5. The histogram for the 9th
question of the questionnaire
From the analysis of the frequencies with the chi-square inferential test the value of
= 573,801, signifies at a level p = .000, we notice that there are significant differences
between the frequencies with which the answers were chosen, so a type of asnwers
significantly differs from the others in regard to the frequency with which it is chosen. In
other words, the orientation of the citizens towards the output aspects of the democratic
process is obvious, thinking that they cannot influence the decisions on a local scale.
HYPOTHESIS 2.2 The orientation towards the output aspects negatively
connotates the activity of the states institutions.
In the case of hypostasis 2.2, in order to investigate if there is a relation between the
orientation towards the output aspects and the satisfaction/dissatisfaction of the citizens
regarding the activity of the states institutions ive calculated the correlation coefficient r
Bravais-Pearson. The coefficient r = 0,226 significant at the level p =.000 points out a
17
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
18/31
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
19/31
HYPOTHESIS 3.2 The citizens level of satisfaction reflects their involvement in
the democratic process.
In the case of hypostasis 3.2., in order to analyze if the citizens level of satisfaction
reflects the involvement in the democratic process, I put together two categories: high
degree of satisfaction and low degree of satisfaction, towards the way in which citizens
live. The results of the descriptive processing for the democratic influence which the
citizens have on a local scale according to their level of satisfaction have been marked
down in Table 6. The mean differences are graphically shown in Figure 6.
Table 6. The descriptive processing results for the influence of citizens on the
decisions on a local scale according to their satisfaction level.
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION
LOW HIGH
m1= 3,17
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m3= 3,56
med3= 3,00
mod3= 3
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 1,12 sd3= 0,92
19
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
20/31
3,56
3,6
3,5
3,4
3,173,3
3,2
3,1
3
2,9
Level of satisfaction
Low High
Figure 6. The mean values for the influence of citizens on the decisions on a
local scale according to the satisfaction level
We can notice tendencies towards differences in the case of the results sets obtained
for the influence level according to the citizens satisfaction degree. We establish that
when the satisfaction level is higher, the people involve themselves a lot more,
considering they can have a greater influence.
With all the conditions being fulfilled for the application of an inferential
parametric test, I checked the statistical significance of the differences with the t test for
independent samples. Thus, Ive obtained a t= -6,704, (N1 = 414; N2 = 900) at a level of
significance p = .000. Therefore we can appreciate that the citizens level of satisfaction
in regard to their way of life is reflected by their involvement in the democratic process.
HYPOTHESIS 4. The morality of the states institutions influences the citizens
level of satisfaction.
HYPOTHESIS 4.1. The morality of the states institutions activity influences the
citizens level of satisfaction.
20
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
21/31
Hypothesis 4.1. investigates the fact that the states institutions morality influences
the citizens level of satisfaction. In order to accomplish the necessary statistical
processing I have summed up the number of ticked institutions at questions 2, 3, 4, 5 and
6 of the questionnaire, by each participant, questions which refer to the offering and
accepting of gifts or favours within the states institutions, therefore they reflect an aspect
of the level of the states institutions morality. Thus I have established 3 categories of
morality, high, mean and low, where high morality means a low number of ticked
institutions and low morality means a high number of ticked institutions by the
participants. Next, i carried out the descriptive processing for items 8 and 10 of the
questionnaire, items that measure the satisfaction level of the citizens towards their
lifestyle and the way in which the states institutions run. The obtained sets of results
were centralized in Table 7. and Table 8. In order to illustrate the mean differences I have
made the graphs from Figure 7 and Figure 8.
Table 7. The results of the descriptive processing for the satisfaction level of
the citizens concerning their lifestyle
THE MORALITY OF THE STATES INSTITUTIONS
HIGH AVERAGE LOW
m1= 3,11
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m2= 2,90
med2= 3,00
mod2= 3
min2= 1
max2= 5
m3= 2,94
med3= 3,00
mod3= 3
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 1,00 sd2= 0,94 sd3= 0,89
We can notice differences in regard to the satisfaction level of the citizens for all
three categories of the states institutions morality: when the morality is higher so is the
satisfaction level, in comparisson to the low level of morality, when the citizens
satisfaction level is lower.
21
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
22/31
3,113,15
3,1
3,05
2,943
2,902,95
2,9
2,85
2,8
2,75
The morality of the states inst itutions
High Average Low
Figure 7. The mean values for the citizens level of satisfaction towards their
lifestyle
Table8. The results of the descriptive processing for the citizens level of satisfaction in
regard to how the states institutions run.
THE MORALITY OF THE STATES INSTITUTIONS
HIGH AVERAGE LOW
m1= 3,30
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m2= 3,30
med2= 3,00
mod2= 3
min2= 1
max2= 5
m3= 3,34
med3= 3,00
mod3= 3
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 0,92 sd2= 0,97 sd3= 0,83
In regard to citizens level of satisfaction concerning the way in which the states
institutions run there are no notable differences for the first two morality categories of the
22
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
23/31
states institutions, the mean obtained by the high morality category being the only
different one.
3,34
3,34
3,33
3,32
3,31 3,30 3,30
3,3
3,29
3,28
The states institutions morality
High Average Low
Figure 8. The mean values for the citizens level of satisfaction towards the way in
which the states institutions run
We can notice general differences between the means obtained for all three morality
categories, but for the examination of the statistical significance Ive applied inferential
test one-way ANOVA, all the conditions for the accomplishment of the test being
fulfilled. The results for the inferential processing are shown in Table 9.
Table 9. The results for the inferential processing
F p
The citizens level of satisfaction concerning their lifestyle 6,099 ,002
The level of satisfaction in regard to how the states institutions run 0,307 ,737
The significant differences can be noticed in regard to the satisfaction level concerning
the citizens lifestyle, but in order to point out exactly the differences between the three
groups structured on the satisfaction level in relation to the morality of the states
23
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
24/31
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
25/31
Table 11. The results of the descriptive processing for the citizens influence level over
the decisions on a local scale
THE MORALITY OF THE STATES INSTITUTIONS
HIGH AVERAGE LOW
m1= 3,50
med1= 3,00
mod1= 3
min1= 1
max1= 5
m2= 3,47
med2= 3,00
mod2= 3
min2= 1
max2= 5
m3= 3,36
med3= 3,00
mod3= 3
min3= 1
max3= 5
sd1= 0,96 sd2= 1,03 sd3= 1,01
3,50
3,473,5
3,45
3,4 3,36
3,35
3,3
3,25
The morality of the states ins titutions
High Average Low
Figure 9. The mean values for the influence of citizens over the decisions at a
local scale.
25
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
26/31
6. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The violation of the democratic principles, that is to say treating citizens in a
preferential way by the states institutions, according to the gifts they offer to have
access to the services offered by these institutions, deprives the citizens of participating inthe democratic process, because they consider that they cannot influence the decisions of
the community to which they partain. When the access to the public services is made
preferentially, citizens live under the impression that they are not an active part of the
democratic process, not having real opportunities to participate and influence the
democratic process.
The hypothesis according to which the violation of the democrating principles
deprives the citizens of the opportunity to form real opinions regarding the states
institutions activity has been only partially confirmed, this thing could mean that the
citizens of Arad do not consider that the violation of the democratic principles is a must
so that they can form real opinions regarding the states institutions activity. Furthermore,
the citizens of Arad do not consider that the participatino to the democratic process is a
condition so that the states institutions undergo satisfactory activities. Therefore, the
democratic exercise is not perceived at its real importance, the citizens of Arad proving
that they posess a dependent or subjective type of civic culture.
The citizens perception concerning the violation of democratic principles differs
depending on the different categories of institutions. So, asked to rank the institutions of
the state according to the satisfaction level they have for these institutions, the citizens of
Arad have considered that they are the least satisfied by politics, the most satisfying
being the educational system. The public administration is situated on a relatively good
position, on the second place in terms of satisfaction, after the educational system.
When it comes to the real solving of a problem, health is considered that part of the
system where citizens feel the need to offer gifts in exchange for fair services. Thistime, the public administration goes up the pole in the institutions hierarchy, on the
fourth place, in which citizens had to offer something in exchange for the services they
are rightfully entitled to.
When asked if those gifts were asked for, again, the health system was on first
place, as institutions where these gifts were mostly asked for. The public administration
26
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
27/31
is on the last but one place. And when were asked if they thought it best themselves to
offer the gifts, the healthcare system took a substantial lead on a position which holds
the highest rate of offering gifts, the public administration coming fourth.
Therefore, although the citizens of Arad are the least satisfied by the political aspect
of the community from which they partake, the healthcare system is the place where the
most gifts have been offered in exchange for the services offered, regardless if these
gifts were or were not solicited, if they had to offer them to benefit of a fair treatment
or if the citizens thought by themselves that it would be best to offer them something so
they were better taken care of. Also, the perception of the fact that at the hospital you
have to offer something in exchange for a fair treatment was pretty obvious, taking first
place. The public administration was, most of the times, situated on a comforting last but
one place, therefore, it seems that some steps are being made regarding the improvement
of the citizens access to the services of the administration and the professionalism of the
civil servants. An interesting remark could be that when they are asked if they consider
necessary to offer such gifts to be treated fairly, the citizens of Arad place the
administration on the last but one place, whereas when asked if they had ever had to offer
gifts in exchange for a fair treatment, they place the administration on a lesser place,
quality wise speaking. One of the explanations might be cultural, in the sense that the
citizens have accustomed themselves with a sort of routine in offering small gifts,
without being asked for them. The same explanation is valid in the following situation:
when they are asked if those gifts were asked from them or not, the citizens of Arad put
the public administration on the last but one place, but when asked if they thought it best
themselves to offer them, again, they place the public administration on an inferior
position.
In regard to differences of the perception concerning the violation of democratic
principles by the states institutions, according to the gender of the questioned person, no
statistically significant differences have been noticed. Also, no significant differences
have been noticed in relation to the violation of the democratic principles by the states
institutions, depending on the level of education. Frequency differences have been
noticed on different education levels but these are due to the different number of subjects,
with different levels of education, that took part in the study (see figure 2).
27
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
28/31
There is a cleavage between the two aspects of the democratic process (input-
output), citizens mainly orienting themselves towards the output aspects. Therefore, the
statement that Arad has a dependent (or subjective) type of civic culture is also
statistically confirmed. The citizens of Arad have knowledge of the specialization of the
states institutions but the orientation as active participants towards the input aspects is
minimal (Arads citizens are not participative), orienting themselves mainly towards the
output aspects (the citizens of Arad qualify their satisfaction towards the states different
institutions differentially),
This orientation mainly towards the output aspects of the system, connotes mainly
negatively the activity of the states institutions. When the citizens do not feel as part of
the democratic system, not participating at the decision making process, they do not feel
responsible for the decisions taken and neither for the effects which they have socially.
Not being an active and integrated part of the democratic process, not assuming these
decisions, they tend to connote them preponderantly negatively.
The participation and involvement of the citizens is associated with their level of
satisfaction concerning their lifestyle and how the states institutions run. There is a
significant correlation between the satisfaction level of how they live and how the states
institutions run, on one hand, and their participation to the democratic process, in the
sense that those who have a high satisfaction level consider they can influence in a great
deal and very great deal the decisions on a local scale and those with a low satisfaction
level think exactly the opposite. When the satisfaction level is higher, the people involve
themselves more, considering that they can have more influence. So we can appreciate
that the citizens level of satisfaction regarding their lifestyle is reflected by their
implication in the democratic process.
There are no statistically significant differences concerning the citizens satisfaction
level for their lifestyle and for the way in which the states institutions run, according to
their gender and/or the education level of the people that are questioned. Also, there are
no significant statistical differences concerning the gender of the questioned people in
regard to the involvement in the democratic process but there are significant statistical
differences when it comes to the involvement level in the democratic process according
28
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
29/31
to the education level of the questioned people, the most involved being the ones with
average studies.
The morality of the states institutions influences the citizens satisfaction level both
in the way they live and in regard to how the states institutions run. When morality is
higher so is the satisfaction level concerning both the lifestyle of the people and the way
in which the states institutions run. Also, when morality is higher, citizens consider they
can better influence decisions on a local scale. Therefore, the moral and perspicuous
institutions are a must for the citizens participation at the democratic process.
The perception of Arads citizens that things are going on the right path in Romania
is associated with their satisfaction level concerning their lifestyle, in the sense that, the
higher the satisfaction level of the citizens is, the more they think that things have a good
evolution in Romania. The relation between the citizens satisfaction level in relation to
the way the states institutions run and their perception regarding the way things go in
Romania is, also, a direct proportional one.
The perception of Arads citizens that things are going in the right direction in
Romania is associated with the level of influence over the decisions on a local scale, in
the sense that, the lower the influence level of the citizens over the decisions on a local
scale is, their perception regarding the way things go in Romania is negative.
There are differences in regard the optimism towards the future according to the
gender of the questioned people, in the sense that Arads male population seems to be
more optimistic than the female population. Also, there are statistically significant
differences regarding the optimism towards the future according to the level of education
of the questioned people, the people with average studies being the most optimistic.
The violation of the democratic principles deprives the citizens of the participation
to the democratic process and, moreover, distort the image they have about that process
in question. Arads citizens are mostly oriented towards the output aspects of the system,
their orientation towards the input aspects of the system, as active participants, being
almost close to zero. The citizens of Arad do not feel part of the administrative political
process, not assuming responsibility for the decisions that are taken on the scale of the
local community, they could be described as having a dependent type of civic culture.
Not feeling responsible for the decisions on a local scale and not assuming them, the
29
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
30/31
citizens of Arad tend to connote negatively the activity of the states institutions.
Although in the cases of many institutions they have been solicited certain gifts to
benefit of a fair treatment, there is also the general tendency to benevolently offer these
small presents. The perception of the states institutions morality influences the
citizens satisfaction level regarding their lifestyle and the way in which the states
institutions run but also the level of involvement in the democratic process. As the
perception of the states institutions morality grows, so will the satisfaction towards the
lifestyle and the way in which the institutions of the state run. Also, as the perception of
the states institutions morality grows, so will the involvement of the citizens in the
democratic process. Very important, the perception of Arads citizens that things are
going in a good way in Romania is associated with their level of influence over the
decisions on a local scale. The less citizens think they can influence decisions on a local
scale, the more they will consider that things are going in a wrong direction in Romania,
and vice-versa, the more they think they can influence decisions on a local scale, the
more they consider that things are going in the right direction.
REFERNECS:
1. ALMOND, GABRIEL A. i VERBA, SIDNEY, Cultura Civic, (Civic Culture), romanian
version, Ed. DuStyle, Bucureti,1996;
2. DAHL, ROBERT , Democraia i criticii si, (Democracy and its Critics), romanian
version trans. by Petru Iamandi, Institutul European, Iai;
3. DEKKER, PAUL,Political Cynicism; a Hard Feeling or an Easy Way to Maintain
Distance, paper presented at the political pshychology section of the European
Consortium for Political Research Conference, 8-11 Sept. 2005, Budapest;
4. MacINTYRE, ALASDAIR, Tratat de moral. Dupa virtute, (After Virtue), romanian
version, trans. by Catrinel Pleu, Humanitas, Bucureti, 1998;
5. MADSEN, PETER and SHAFRITZ, JAY M..(ed.), Essentials of Government Ethics,
Meridian Book, 1992;
30
-
8/12/2019 Matei Oana
31/31
6. MORAR,VASILE,Etica n afaceri i politic, (Ethics in Businesses and Politics) Ed.
Universitii din Bucureti, Bucureti, 2006;
7. SARTORI, GIOVANNI, Teoria democraiei reinterpretat, (A Theory of Democracy
Revisited), romanian version, trans. by Doru Pop, Polirom, Iai, 1999;
8. PETERS, GUY B., The Politics of Bureaucracy, Longman, New York, 1989;
9. POPPER, KARL, Societatea deschisi dumanii si, (The Open Society and its
Enemies), romanian version, trans by. Drgan I. Stoianovici, Humanitas, Bucharest,
2005;
10. SLOTERDIJK, PETER Critique of Cynical Reason, trans. by Michael Eldred,
University of Minnesota Press, 2001;
11. http://recensamant.referinte.transidex.ro; , 14 iulie 2009.
http://recensamant.referinte.transidex.ro/http://recensamant.referinte.transidex.ro/