Korupsi dan Budaya: Mengapa sebagian orang korup dan

sebagian lagi tidak?

Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro

Korupsi Politik sebagai Isu Global

S-1 HI UGM, 13 Maret 2012

Pemahaman dasar

Korupsi “undermines the cultural system in which it occurs. Because cultures can operate in very different ways, very different kinds of behavior can corrupt.” (J. Hooker ‘Corruption from a cross-cultural perspective’, Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 16 No. 3, 2009, p. 251).

Di banyak masyarakat, memberikan perlakuankhusus kepada keluarga atau teman dekatadalah normal (perhatikan soal ‘responsible cronyism’). Dalam masyarakat lainnya, hal yang sama bisa dianggap sebagai korupsi.

Hipotesis: corruption can be seen as culturally endorsed.

Tiga penggunaan konsep culture: “a process of intellectual spiritual and aesthetic development, related to the idea of civilization ... particular ways of life ... [and] artistic and intellectual endeavour: theatre, dance, music, and film.” (R. Williams, Keywords, Oxford University Press, New York,1985 – sebagaimanadikutip dalam Larmour, p. 227)

Tiga kesalahan umum saat menggunakan konsepculture dalam menjelaskan korupsi: ia adalah sebuah“uncaused cause”, atau “an explanation of the last resort”, dan suatu “veto on comparison.” (M. Thompson, M.Verweij & R. Ellis, ‘Why and how culture matters’, 2006 sebagaimana dikutip dalam Larmour, p. 228)

P. Larmour, ‘Corruption and the concept of ‘Culture’: Evidence from the Pacific Islands’, Crime, Law & Social Change, 49, 2008, pp. 225-239.

Memahami masalah korupsi dan budaya

Masalah: Universalisme v. Partikularisme

Kebudayaan Barat didasarkan pada aturan, sementara kebudayaan Timur biasanyadibentuk oleh pola hubungan antaranggotamasyarakat. (Hooker, 252).

Apa yang dianggap sebagai korupsi dalamkebudayaan Barat bisa diterima di kebudayaanTimur dan sebaliknya ‘relativisme kultural’.

Secara umum, memberikan dan menerima suapadalah korupsi, baik di kebudayaan Barat maupun Timur. (Hooker, 254)

Isu 1: Power distance Power distance merujuk kepada “the extent

to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.” paternalisme, nepotisme.

Hipotesis: ‘The higher the power distance in a country, the higher the level of corruption in that country.’

B. W. Husted, ‘Wealth, Culture, and Corruption’, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2, 1999, pp. 343-344.

Isu 2: Individualisme

Dimensi individualisme-kolektivisme dapatdidefinisikan sebagai “the extent to which decisions about a person’s life are determined by the individual or by the in-group – a person’s circle of family, friends, or peers.”

E. Banfield (The Moral Basis of a Backward Society, 1958): hubungan antara “amoral familism” dankorupsi.

Hipotesis: ‘The less individualistic (more collectivistic) a society, the higher the level of corruption in that country.’

Husted, p. 344

Isu 3: Masculinity

Dalam konteks ini, masculinity dapatdiartikan sebagai sebuah perspektifyang merujuk “to a focus on ‘material success’ as opposed to a concern with the ‘quality of life’”.

Hipotesis: ‘The greater the masculinity of a culture, the higher the level of corruption in that country.’

Husted, pp. 344-345

Isu 4: Uncertainty Avoidance

Menurut G. Hofstede (Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind, 1997, p. 113), uncertainty avoidance didefinisikan sebagai“the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertainty or unknown situations.”

Korupsi dapat dilihat sebagai cara/sarana yang tersedia untuk mengurangi ketidakpastian.

Hipotesis: ‘The greater the level of uncertainty avoidance in a nation, the higher the level of corruption in that country.’

Husted, p. 345

Isu 5: Jender dan korupsi Di Mexico City and Lima, perempuan

menggantikan lelaki sebagai polisi lalu intaskarena “women are less likely to be corrupt.”

Riset oleh A. Swamy, S. Knack, Y. Lee & O. Azfar(Gender and Corruption, 1999) menemukanbahwa negara-negara yang memiliki persentaseperempuan anggota parlemen yang tinggicenderung mengalami kasus korupsi yang lebihsedikit.

Untuk didiskusikan: “a greater presence of women in public life will reduce corruption.”

O. Azfar, Y. Lee & A. Swamy, ‘The Causes and Consequences of Corruption’,Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 573, January 2001, pp. 52-53.

Beberapa bacaan terekomendasi

N. Khatri, E. Tsang & T.M. Begley, ‘Cronyism: A Cross-Cultural Analysis’, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1, January 2006, pp. 61-75.

J.R. Heilbrunn, ‘Oil and Water? Elite Politicians and Corruption in France’, Comparative Politics, Vol. 37, No. 3, April 2005, pp. 277-296.

S.D. Morris, ‘Corruption and Mexican Political Culture’, Journal of the Southwest, Vol. 45, No. 4, Winter 2003, pp. 671-708.

M. Stuart-Fox, ‘The Political Culture of Corruption in the Lao PDR’, Asian Studies Culture, Vol. 30, March 2006, pp. 59-75.

R. Gandossy & J. Sonnenfeld, ‘I see nothing, I hear nothing’: Culture, corruption and apathy’, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Vol. 2, No. 3, September 2005, pp. 228-243.

B.M. Dalton, ‘Corruption in cultural context: Contradictions with the Korean tradition’, Crime, Law & Social Change, Vol. 43, 2005, pp. 237-262.

K.A. Getz & R.J. Volkema, ‘Culture, perceived corruption, and economics’, Business and Society, Vol. 40, No. 1, March 2001, pp. 7-30.