Difference between revisions of "Pozornost', d'akovné, všimné (Slovakia)"

Some of these morally ambiguous practices are increasingly contested. For example, when an online discussion was initiated in 2015 on the web-portal modrykonik.sk by young mothers who had paid všimné, pozornosť or dakovné when giving birth, this was picked up on and reported on the agenda-setting portal SME. This was not just an acknowledgement of the importance of the issue, but also a contestation of the legal status of this social norm, and an investigation was launched by the Special Prosecutor’s Office (Burčík 2015<ref>Burčík, M. 2015. 'Mamičky priznávajú úplatky, podplácajú za pôrod' ('Mothers confess to giving bribes, they bribe to give birth'), SME.sk, 11 February, http://www.sme.sk/c/7641907/mamicky-priznavaju-uplatky-podplacaju-za-porod.html</ref>; Gécziová 2015<ref>Gécziová, K. 2015. 'Ďakovné dávajú mamičky lekárom zvyčajne po pôrode' ('They usually give ďakovné to doctors after giving birth'), SME.sk, 24 February, http://kosice.korzar.sme.sk/c/7662753/dakovne-davaju-mamicky-lekarom-zvycajne-po-porode.html</ref>). The moral ambivalence of the issue was clearly reflected both in media reports and in online discussions, where journalists and bloggers drew attention to the ambiguity of the words ďakovné, pozornosť and všimné by putting them in quotation marks.  

Some of these morally ambiguous practices are increasingly contested. For example, when an online discussion was initiated in 2015 on the web-portal modrykonik.sk by young mothers who had paid všimné, pozornosť or dakovné when giving birth, this was picked up on and reported on the agenda-setting portal SME. This was not just an acknowledgement of the importance of the issue, but also a contestation of the legal status of this social norm, and an investigation was launched by the Special Prosecutor’s Office (Burčík 2015<ref>Burčík, M. 2015. 'Mamičky priznávajú úplatky, podplácajú za pôrod' ('Mothers confess to giving bribes, they bribe to give birth'), SME.sk, 11 February, http://www.sme.sk/c/7641907/mamicky-priznavaju-uplatky-podplacaju-za-porod.html</ref>; Gécziová 2015<ref>Gécziová, K. 2015. 'Ďakovné dávajú mamičky lekárom zvyčajne po pôrode' ('They usually give ďakovné to doctors after giving birth'), SME.sk, 24 February, http://kosice.korzar.sme.sk/c/7662753/dakovne-davaju-mamicky-lekarom-zvycajne-po-porode.html</ref>). The moral ambivalence of the issue was clearly reflected both in media reports and in online discussions, where journalists and bloggers drew attention to the ambiguity of the words ďakovné, pozornosť and všimné by putting them in quotation marks.  

Because of their elusive nature, the practices of personalisation implied by the use of ďakovné, pozornosť and všimné remain under-researched. On the one hand, they may imply only an enhanced quality of services that are in themselves legitimate. On the other hand, the personalisation of state services is generally viewed by the state as corruption. As long as one of the parties is willing to cooperate with the police, this type of minor crime is easy to prosecute; it also makes for popular newspaper reporting. But, while hundreds of minor or relatively minor corruption cases come before the Slovak courts every year, far fewer cases of large-scale corruption do so (Transparency International 2014b)<ref>Transparency International Slovensko (TIS). 2014b. Vývoj korupcie na Slovensku. Tabuľka 1. (Development of Corruption in Slovakia. Table 1). http://www.transparency.sk/sk/analyza-hodnotenie/ </ref>. Petty corruption also provides moral cover for more serious crimes by top politicians or influential businesspeople.  

Because of their elusive nature, the practices of personalisation implied by the use of ďakovné, pozornosť and všimné remain under-researched. On the one hand, they may imply only an enhanced quality of services that are in themselves legitimate. On the other hand, the personalisation of state services is generally viewed by the state as corruption. As long as one of the parties is willing to cooperate with the police, this type of minor crime is easy to prosecute; it also makes for popular newspaper reporting. But, while hundreds of minor or relatively minor corruption cases come before the Slovak courts every year, far fewer cases of large-scale corruption do so (Transparency International 2014b)<ref>Transparency International Slovensko (TIS). 2014b. Vývoj korupcie na Slovensku. Tabuľka 1. (Development of Corruption in Slovakia. Table 1). http://www.transparency.sk/sk/analyza-hodnotenie/ </ref>. Petty corruption also provides moral cover for more serious crimes by top politicians or influential businesspeople.