Spaniards perceive politicians as the most corrupt population group, according to a survey

Spaniards believe that there is more corruption among politicians than among businessmen, civil servants or other citizens, according to the first Survey on Corruption and Ethics in Spain.

The consultation, presented this Monday by the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF, attached to the Valencian Courts) and the Chair of Good Governance and Public Integrity of the University of Murcia, also reveals that a majority considers that "the behavior has to be illegal to be considered corrupt."

In any case, corruption and fraud appear in the last positions of the problems that concern those surveyed, but the study reveals, according to its authors, "a citizen dissatisfaction" with politicians and institutions in the sense that " They don't meet their obligations."

The person in charge of the Chair of Good Governance and Public Integrity and Professor of Political Science and Administration, Fernando Jiménez, has presented the results of the study, prepared from more than 1,500 telephone interviews carried out between September and October of this year;

400 of them in the Valencian Community, since the survey includes a Valencian reading and another from the whole of the national territory.

The rise in prices is the first problem (21.4% of the responses).

It is followed by politics (20.3%).

Corruption is, however, at the bottom (2.3%).

In the case of the Valencian Community, inflation ranks first, although in a lower percentage (18.8%), while corruption falls to last place, with 1.5%.

Asked about who is most corrupt, those surveyed point out that 60% of politicians are, followed by businessmen (47%), civil servants (39%) and citizens (36%).

The Armed Forces, the police and the European Union are the institutions that citizens trust the most, both in the national territory as a whole and in the Valencian Community.

The Government, Congress and political parties are, on the contrary, those that generate less trust.

The survey also includes what the public understands by corruption: the majority considers that "the behavior has to be illegal to be considered corrupt" (this answer obtains a 5.5 in a range where 0 is totally disagree and 10 totally disagree). in agreement).

Another part of the population (the responses are around 4) believes that "if the irregular action is carried out for a just cause, it is not corruption" or that "if the result of an action is beneficial for the population in In general, it is not corruption."

Another question asks what is most important for economic success in Spain: the majority (47%) think that "having good contacts and cultivating them";

In second place (42.8%), "having good ideas and making an effort to apply them" is mentioned.

The difference, according to the report, "is brutal with northern Europe", where merit and effort to achieve an improvement predominate, stresses Jiménez.

43% of those surveyed believe that corruption has increased in the last year, compared to 13% who think that it has decreased and 43.34% who consider that it has remained the same.

When asked if an official has ever asked them for gifts or money to carry out their work, 94% of those surveyed answered "never", a similar figure both in Spain as a whole and in the Valencian Community.

Soften the punishment for crime

The person in charge of the Chair of Good Governance and Public Integrity, Fernando Jiménez, does not think the proposal that ERC, on the one hand, and the PSOE, on the other, have put on the table to reform the crime of embezzlement, does not seem adequate, because " The concept of corruption that citizens have is not simply a concept of personal gain, but that political institutions do not function with sufficient impartiality”.

“I don't care where the money goes, you are defrauding public money, using public money, which has a determined legal use, to another irregular one.

I don't care if it doesn't go into your pocket, that is corruption for the vast majority of citizens”, he stated.

The director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, has also warned that the reform of the crime of embezzlement to reduce penalties if there is no profit motive may mean a "setback" in the fight against corruption, "facilitate escape routes ”.

He does see positive the incorporation of the crime of illicit enrichment.