The evolving perceptions of corruption in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic

Along with other postcommunist Central and East European countries, the Czech Republic continues to exhibit alarming levels of corruption. The present article draws on unique stakeholder interviews and document analysis to explore the evolving perceptions of corruption by Czech actors who had intimate knowledge of how this practice was occurring in the period between the last years of the communist regime until today. The key finding is that corruption in the Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic evolved from an individual coping strategy at the time of communism to a systemic phenomenon, which is widely institutionalized today, especially in the public procurement procedures.