Romania’s accelerated digitalization in pandemic times: The (dis)trust-(anti)corruption nexus

Soaita, A. M. (2021) Romania’s accelerated digitalization in pandemic times: The (dis)trust-(anti)corruption nexus. Regions eZine, 10,

Abstract

The Covid-19 public health emergency has amplified corruption globally not least across the pharmaceutical industry, within governments’ ‘VIP lanes’ for Covid-19 suppliers, and further down to individuals’ access to vaccination, tests and healthcare (Mucchielli 2020; Teremetskyi et al. 2021). To corruption, Romania is neither an exception nor a newcomer. However, while levels of corruption might have increased in the short term in Romania, Adriana Mihaela Soaita argues that the accelerated institutional digitalization prompted by the pandemic will restrain corruption in the longer term. Her argument draws on a longitudinal-qualitative case study, which finds e-governance to be a socially trusted anticorruption mechanism, besides being a welcomed institutional reform.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Soaita, Dr Adriana Mihaela
• Authors: Soaita, A. M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Journal Name: Regions eZine
• Publisher: Regional Studies Association
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Author
• First Published: First published in Regions Issue 10
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence