ABSTRACT
The measurement of corruption has been plagued by vague definitions, vague questions, vague answers and credulous interpretation. Images or perceptions of corruption are interesting in themselves and also because they may have consequences for compliance, for civil order and for foreign investment. The perceptions underlying the corruption perception index (CPI) and bribe payers index (BPI) might be based on actual experience. Michael Johnston asserts that 'no issue is more enduring in the corruption debate, and none has so frequently pre-empted promising discussions, as that of definitions'. This chapter focuses on giving and taking of bribes in dealings between ordinary citizens and junior officials in post-Communist Europe, in what are called 'bureaucratic encounters' with 'street-level officials'. Rasma Karklins presents an interesting 16-element 'typology' of the 'misuse of public power for private gain' in post-Communist Europe. A variety of methods have been used to study bureaucratic encounters and/or corruption under Communist and post-Communist regimes.
