Law abiding citizen

A year has passed since the start of the pandemic in Kazakhstan. To reduce the spread of coronavirus, quarantine measures have been taken in many countries, which significantly limited the everyday life of the population. But despite their similarities, citizens observed them in different ways.

In Kazakhstan, news platforms are full of headlines about the identification of the next violating institution, which indicates the lawfulness of citizens[1]. We will try to make a connection with possible reasons.

According to the HSE, one of the factors may be cultural aspects [2]. WVS results show that Kazakhstanis are really more tolerant to small offenses and slopes to opportunistic behavior [3]. For example, among 77 surveyed countries, our occupies 7 place on justifying a short-free travel on the bus. In the similar indicator, the justification of tax evasion is Kazakhstanis also occupy a high 10 place.

Figure 1. The level of justification of unfinished passengers in the bus (1-10-maximum level of justification)

Unlike the Northern neighbors (former countries of the USSR) in Kazakhstan, a higher public pressure for mass events. According to Hofsted, Kazakhstanis are more collectivist society. On the same WVS in our country a higher level of traditionalism and strong social ties with relatives and neighbors - "Zhurt"[4].

In addition, it is not only a "duty", but also "outstand". For people in the regions of TOI, there may be one of the few ways to entertain and socialization (the results of a sociological survey).

The second factor is the level of confidence in the state. It can be assumed that law-ability comes from working formal institutions and understanding the logic for the laws and their execution. In Kazakhstan, there may be problems with this - 94th place in the Corruption Perception Index (Transparency International, Corruption Perception Index 2020)[5]. According to the study under the auspices of the F. Ebert Foundation, among the state. Kazakhstanis bodies are the least trust with whom they interact directly - police, ships and akimat.

Mass law-abiding is harder to achieve when the news is also full of headlines about quarantine violations by government and law enforcement officials. A standard question arises: "Is it okay for them, but we can't?"

The third factor is the level of income and the related priorities of the population. Lockdown left part of the population without a livelihood, which presented them with a choice: the risk of infection or lack / decrease in income. A study by the F. Ebert Foundation also showed that the "hygienic" factor - wages - still significantly predetermines the importance of work. Similar polls confirm that work is in the first place in terms of importance for citizens.

Kazakhstanis are not the most law-abiding citizens, there are objective reasons for this. Quarantine measures have subtle long-term consequences, pushing even those who previously avoided them to commit minor offenses. The danger lies in gradual addiction - when compared with everyday habits, 2-3 months are enough to develop sustainable behavior.