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. 2022 Jun 15:e2825.
doi: 10.1002/pa.2825. Online ahead of print.

SARSCOV-19 amidst corruption: Does the civil society matter? - An empirical study

Vincent Ekow Arkorful  1 , Benjamin Kweku Lugu  2 , Susana Mamley Charway  3 , Vincent Ansah Arkorful  4
Affiliations

SARSCOV-19 amidst corruption: Does the civil society matter? - An empirical study

Vincent Ekow Arkorful et al. J Public Aff. .

Abstract

The pandemic outbreak has dealt consequences on global engagements and structures. With the ongoing search for pandemic-mitigating measures and the excesses (notably corruption) erupted in its wake, concerns have been raised about the decline in public trust, transparency and satisfaction - particularly in Ghana. This situation has spurred multilevel governance discussions regarding pandemic management. Ensuingly characterising policy makers' propositions in this regard is the civil society's salience as a control valve to governance deficits like corruption. Therefore, transcending the anecdotal claims on civil society's efficacy, this study takes a state-society perspective to probe its relevance in fostering trust, transparency and satisfaction, relative to corruption-stricken pandemic governance. The current study engages the general systems theory as a conceptual lens. The structural equation modelling technique was used in analysing data (n = 519) gathered through the questionnaire survey approach. Though results of data analysis affirmed the negative effects of corruption on trust, transparency and satisfaction, the civil society received affirmation as an enhancer of trust, transparency and satisfaction. In view of these study findings, implications and future research suggestions are delimited.

Keywords: COVID‐19; Ghana; citizens' trust; civil society; corruption; transparency and satisfaction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The researchers declare no conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Conceptual framework
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Moderation effect of civil society participation (CSP) on the relationship between transparency and satisfaction (SAT)
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Moderation effect of civil society participation (CSP) on the relationship between trust and satisfaction (SAT)
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Structural equation modelling results of path analysis. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001
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