ABSTRACT
For the social sciences, the word 'corruption' is little more than an entry point to the study informal practices, which are against the law from a legal point of view. Daily corruption is at the core of many of the informal behaviours of civil servants. For instance, the numerous phenomena of factional solidarity, patronage, bonds of affiliation, and partisan preference that one meets daily at all levels of African administrative services could be grouped into the category of clientelism. In spite of slogans and stereotypes praising community solidarity, African administrations are the kingdom of the 'each one for oneself-ism'. Any position in the public services is first and foremost valued in terms of the access to privileges that it permits. The weight of informal practices and practical norms in the bureaucratic mode of governance and the professional cultures of civil servants in Africa should not be underestimated, and they have the capacity to by-pass and undermine New Public Management techniques.
