This is the second of three articles written by the authors. The articles are focused on the issues of trust, corruption and violence. To assist us, we have tapped the University of Vanderbilt’s Latin America Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). This survey of public opinion has been conducted in Guyana since 2006 and is perhaps the only such comprehensive dataset available. We consider that it is sufficiently objective to be used widely and without any serious challenge to its credibility. The dataset is available free of charge at The AmericasBarometer by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), www.LapopSurveys.org.

IN our series we strive to offer zero ‘answers’, while presenting the data in accessible and dispassionate prose. We certainly cannot claim to have conclusively resolved any of the challenges Guyana faces, but we hope to contribute towards the forging of a wider, more comprehensive and trusting consensus on some key issues. Indeed, we know that to create policy, rigorous assessment of existing data and contextualising within a regional and global environment would be required.
In this article analysis mostly excludes 2006 as at that time the survey was limited to assessing how serious corruption was seen as a problem and how common it was in aggregate.
As with many developing countries, corruption is a complex, topical and much discussed issue in Guyana. Overall, the Guyana data indicate that corruption, as measured by solicitation of bribes, has decreased from 2012 to 2014 across all sectors evaluated with the most significant change experienced within the court system, where the percentage dropped from a high of 27.7% in 2012 to 17.3% in 2014 (Figure 1).
That said, the court system consistently showing the highest level of corruption throughout the period and across sectors surveyed, with the lowest level of corruption in 2008 (8.9%) which was still the highest rate across sectors for that year. The data shows that corruption related to inducements to obtain health and education services are consistently low, with 1.6% reported in 2014, and the highest recorded for health services in 2010 of 5.4%.
At the other end of the scale, reported instances of bribery related to the municipal government, courts and police were consistently high. In all but one instance, more than 13% of respondents who had business with these authorities, indicated that they had been asked to pay a bribe.
Overall, rural areas appear more exposed to corruption than urban areas (Figure 2). For the court systems, as much as 94.1% of the corruption reported came from rural areas. This prevalence in rural areas is true across all sectors, with the greatest balance being within the health services.
Corruption as a Systemic Part of Society
Over 90% of respondents in the LAPOP survey have said that corruption is either ‘common’ or ‘very common’ (Figure 3). Corruption was ranked among the top three most serious “problems” by the population surveyed over the period 2010 to 2014, moving from a fourth ranking in 2008 (6.7%) to a high of 19.5% in 2012 and 15.9% in 2014. About 16% of respondents indicate that corruption is the most serious issue facing Guyana in 2014, compared to 7% in 2006.
Over the survey period, over 25% of respondents have indicated that bribery is justifiable, peaking at 35.5% in 2008 and dropping to a rate of 25.8% in 2014. This seems to be the norm across the English-speaking Caribbean. Despite the level of reported corruption being lower for Jamaica, with an average of 4% compared to Guyana’s average of 8%, 32% of Jamaicans surveyed indicated that bribery is justifiable. Indeed, the profile of corruption in Guyana, especially in municipal government, the courts, and policing is very similar across Belize and Trinidad.
Perception of corruption versus actual corruption, and the extent to which corruption is accepted as a societal norm are significant issues to be further evaluated. A large disparity between perception and reality cannot be a healthy basis for a well-ordered society. Equally, accepting this feature, failing to build systems that reduce this tension, or trading rebuttals from either side to reduce the disparity, cannot be helpful in growing a healthier and more sustainable society.
When we started this process, we recognised that the ‘Corruption’ issue is inherently controversial. The evidence is that corruption, perceived or actual, is of major concern and impact on the lives of our people. Among the questions raised by the LAPOP data are:
• Does corruption pose a major threat to the future of Guyana, and what levels are realistically acceptable in a young developing society?
• Are there ethnic, geographic or other patterns to corruption that disproportionately affect different groups in society, and how does this variation affect growth of a harmonious and peaceful society?
• How can we measure the extent of other damaging forms of corruption, such as private sector corruption and political corruption?
• What would be an effective theory of change for responsible institutions to embrace in combatting corruption?
We thank the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and its major supporters (the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Development Program, the Inter-American Development Bank, and Vanderbilt University) for making the data available.
We have worked also with an analyst from Corruption Watch in South Africa, unconnected to our part of the world, to analyse the data.
For those who wish to share their thoughts on these pieces, we may be reached via e-mail at 3Guyanese@gmail.com.