Corruption as a Crisis of National Character: Perspectives of Public Ethics and Pancasila Values
Keywords:
Corruption, Public Ethics, Pancasila, Bureaucratic Integrity, National CharacterAbstract
Corruption in Indonesia has evolved beyond a legal or administrative problem into a crisis of national character that fundamentally undermines the state's moral foundations. Despite decades of structural reform, Indonesia's standing in global integrity indices continues to deteriorate, signaling the inadequacy of compliance-based approaches when pursued in isolation from deeper ethical transformation. This conceptual article argues that sustainable anti-corruption efforts require serious engagement with public ethics and the normative value system embedded in Pancasila. Drawing on public ethics theory, democratic public service scholarship, and philosophical readings of Pancasila as a living normative order, this paper examines how corruption emerges not only from weak institutions but from the erosion of public virtue, civic identity, and moral integrity within the civil service. It further contends that the five principles of Pancasila, particularly the fourth and fifth sila, constitute a substantially under-utilized normative resource for rebuilding bureaucratic character. The article concludes by advancing five conceptual propositions for character-based anti-corruption reform grounded in Pancasila values, with implications for both public administration policy and civic education.
References
Denhardt, J. V., & Denhardt, R. B. (2015). The new public service: Serving, not steering (4th ed.). Routledge.
Dwiyanto, A. (2021). Manajemen pelayanan publik: Peduli, inklusif, dan kolaboratif (3rd ed.). Gadjah Mada University Press.
Graycar, A. (2022). Corrupt procurement: Rethinking the roles of principals and agents. Policy Design and Practice, 5(3), 276–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2022.2113461
Huberts, L. W. J. C. (2018). Integrity: What it is and why it is important. Public Integrity, 20(Sup. 1), S18–S32. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2018.1477404
Indonesia Corruption Watch. (2025). Tren penindakan kasus korupsi tahun 2024. Indonesia Corruption Watch. https://antikorupsi.org/id/penindakan-korupsi-2024-merosot-tajam-rekor-terburuk-dalam-5-tahun-terakhir
Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. (2025a). KPK tahan dua tersangka korupsi pengaturan proyek dan gratifikasi di Pemerintah Kota Semarang. KPK. https://www.kpk.go.id/id/ruang-informasi/berita/kpk-tahan-dua-tersangka-korupsi-pengaturan-proyek-dan-gratifikasi-di-pemerintah-kota-semarang
Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. (2025b). KPK tetapkan 2 tersangka korupsi pengelolaan dana bantuan sosial Bank Indonesia dan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan. KPK. https://www.kpk.go.id/id/ruang-informasi/berita/kpk-tetapkan-2-tersangka-korupsi-pengelolaan-dana-bantuan-sosial-bank-indonesia-dan-otoritas-jasa-keuangan
Latif, Y. (2020). Wawasan Pancasila: Bintang penuntun untuk pembudayaan. Mizan Pustaka.
Noer, H. H. (2025). Patologi kelembagaan demokrasi elektoral: Korupsi politik di Indonesia pasca-reformasi. AEGIS: Journal of International Relations, 9(1). https://e-journal.president.ac.id/index.php/AEGIS/article/view/6285
Persson, A., Rothstein, B., & Teorell, J. (2019). Getting the basic nature of systemic corruption right: A reply to Marquette and Peiffer. Governance, 32(4), 799–810. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12403
Prasojo, E. (2023). Isu-isu kontemporer kebijakan dan governansi publik di Indonesia. Prenada Media.
Riwanto, A., & Suryaningsih, S. (2024). Strategi pencegahan korupsi pemerintah daerah guna mewujudkan tata kelola pemerintahan daerah yang baik. Refleksi Hukum: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, 9(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.24246/jrh.2024.v9.i1.p1-20
Rose-Ackerman, S., & Palifka, B. J. (2016). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139962933
Scott, W. R. (2017). Institutional theory: Onward and upward. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. B. Lawrence, & R. E. Meyer (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 853–871). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446280669.n34
Supit, B. F., & Mantiri, J. (2026). Organizational silence and barriers to early corruption detection: A qualitative study of local governments in North Sulawesi. Integritas: Jurnal Antikorupsi, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.32697/integritas.v12i1.1692
Tambunan, D. (2022). Indonesia under threat: The danger of corruption to political legitimacy. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 8(1), 112–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221124965
Transparency International. (2025). Corruption Perceptions Index 2024. Transparency International. https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024
Transparency International. (2026). Corruption Perceptions Index 2025. Transparency International. https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2025
Vaughan, D. (1996). The Challenger launch decision: Risky technology, culture, and deviance at NASA. University of Chicago Press.
Yusoff, M. S., Othman, I. W., & Kamal, H. I. M. (2023). Corruption as a cultural phenomenon? Analyzing corruption issues in economics, politics, education and the public sector. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(12), 1025–1052. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v13-i12/19931
