Wasta: Corruption and Social Capital, Two Unequal Brothers
- Simon Kiwek
- 9. Feb.
- 11 Min. Lesezeit
Jordan’s invisible network of favors still shapes the country today. Can Jordan overcome this centuries-old culture of clientelism?
Corruption and lack of integrity, as everywhere in the world, are eroding social cohesion in Jordan as well. The quality of public services is declining, undermining trust in government, administration, and the state as a whole. Access to the right people deepens inequality—while for those excluded, poverty becomes entrenched.
Yet informal networks can also play a stabilizing role. They foster relationships and loyalty far beyond direct acquaintances. In times of crisis, they strengthen solidarity, ease the flow of information, and thus enhance the resilience of businesses.
In the Arab world, this system of personal connections and mutual favors is known as Wasta. Although Jordan’s anti-corruption efforts have earned international praise, Wasta remains deeply embedded in daily life. To move beyond this culture, the country needs the strength of society as a whole.
Wasta: Arabia’s System of Clientelist Networks
Wasta has evolved over generations as an informal system of give-and-take. People use their relationships to achieve goals, meet needs, or simply claim their legitimate rights.
The public sector is especially vulnerable: long waiting times, weak accountability, and a lack of transparency create space for favoritism. Those with strong connections enjoy faster access to services or better job opportunities. In companies, Wasta secures promotions and protection.
Wasta is, in essence, a traditional form of nepotism. Individuals gain advantages at the expense of others, breeding distrust. It carries strong associations with corruption—and yet remains widespread, from ministries to universities and the healthcare sector. Opportunities for abuse are plentiful: the public sector employs roughly 40 percent of Jordanians.
Interference in recruitment and selection processes is still common, even though 81 percent of Jordanians reject this culture. Many view it as the greatest threat to their country’s integrity—and one of the main causes of its economic challenges.
Corruption or Culture?
People often derive their standards and behaviors from overarching values. They act according to what they perceive as socially acceptable within their context. Thus, the assessment of corruption and nepotism is deeply tied to culture, as societies define the rules of coexistence differently.
People build and invest in relationships to access things they value: information, social recognition, connections with like-minded individuals, or professional opportunities. One favor leads to the expectation of another—often by invoking power newly acquired through the position one helped another obtain. Over time, this weaves many societies into a complex web of informal claims and obligations—what the social sciences call social capital.
Especially in the collectivist Arab world, where personal relationships and individual duties toward the community are central, people naturally invest in social networks. Wasta is thus rooted in cultural norms and family ties, deeply interwoven with Arab culture.
Businesses and bureaucracies, too, are profoundly shaped by the prevailing culture and social fabric of their home countries.
Jordan: Arabia’s Model Pupil
Like social capital and its benefits, corruption is difficult to quantify. Both are rooted in interpersonal relationships, which makes statistical measurement inherently abstract. Still, two common indicators help translate corruption into tangible data:
Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index
Statistics on actual instances of bribery and exchanged favors
With a score of 46 points in 2023, Jordan ranked well behind most industrialized nations but significantly ahead of many populous Arab neighbors. Yet the perceived corruption in the country differs markedly from everyday experience: in 2021, only four percent of Jordanians reported having paid a bribe—compared to six percent of EU citizens. In other words, 96 percent of Jordanians paid no bribes that year, versus 90 percent in the EU.
Jordanians thus perceive corruption as more widespread than it truly is. The country has a long tradition of combating corruption, often praised by international institutions. Ironically, visible anti-corruption campaigns can heighten public awareness of corruption—sometimes even more than actual cases of bribery.
When citizens come to view their administration as particularly corrupt, a culture of mistrust emerges. Why should individuals adhere to ethical standards if they believe that everyone else relies on personal connections to get ahead? If corruption is perceived as omnipresent, it can in turn encourage the very behavior it condemns.
Communication that focuses too narrowly on corruption can thus become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unethical behavior is contagious when people believe it is already widespread.
Corruption and Social Capital: Two Unequal Brothers
The negative effects of close relationships on fairness and equal opportunity are well documented. Yet systematic evidence for the positive side of such networks remains scarce—despite their immense prevalence across the world.
In building shared social capital, people develop common values and mental models—shared ideas about how a community should function and how its members ought to interact. Out of this emerges an informal social contract that encourages individuals to help one another spontaneously and personally—without government intervention or external incentives.
The social capital behind Wasta rests entirely on personal investment in relationships. It supports trust, shared norms, and solidarity among participants. Social capital can even extend beyond direct acquaintances—spreading through mutual friends or family ties. Trust and reputation travel across these networks, cultivating cohesion, cooperation, and exchange that benefit the wider community.
A purely economic interpretation falls short: social capital allows informal networks to thrive. Within them, people continually demonstrate loyalty and trustworthiness to avoid losing face or damaging their reputation. Members benefit from contacts and mutual support, while simultaneously producing and reproducing social goods that strengthen everyone involved.
Trust in the Integrity of a Network
Such networks, however, raise questions about fairness and justice. When rights and obligations remain unspoken, rules unclear, and the timing of reciprocity uncertain, insecurity grows—and outsiders are often excluded. So where does social capital end, and corruption begin?
When benefits within a network depend not on merit, qualification, or fairness but on patronage, trust within society suffers. Yet trust is the engine of a functioning community. It embodies the belief that another person will act in line with one’s expectations of positive behavior. The perception of corruption shatters that belief. For this reason, corruption is often softened with euphemisms that rationalize and legitimize questionable practices.
Almost everyone agrees that corruption is harmful—so why do so many still engage in informal networks? The answer lies, unsurprisingly, in tangible benefits: informal cooperation helps careers advance. People gain access to resources, information, tenders, contracts, and opportunities. Personal relationships at work strengthen mutual trust, generating recognition, emotional support, identity, and psychological well-being—not to mention long-term economic security.
Trust as the Glue of Corporate Success
Trust forms the foundation of successful collaboration among employees within companies. It facilitates knowledge sharing and fosters cooperation based on mutual benefit. Greater trust and cohesion also enhance employee loyalty—directly benefiting the organization.
Employees contribute their skills and talents voluntarily, share personal expertise, and maintain professional relationships instead of working for their own advantage or even against the company’s interests. They feel intrinsically motivated to place the goals of the larger community above their own. This in turn reduces management’s need for costly control and oversight.
Companies thus profit directly from the bonds among employees. Their social capital enables solidarity, coordination, and cooperation built on trust. Even in Western firms, employee retention is now considered a central task of human resource policy, crucial for long-term success.
In Jordan, Wasta also shapes recruitment, promotions, and the appointment of key positions. It influences organizational culture and the unwritten contract between employers and employees—loyalty operates on reciprocity. Employees feel bound to their organization when the organization stands by them. In Jordan, Wasta as a foundation of social capital is even more deeply rooted than traditional notions of loyalty.
How “Corruption” Enables Survival in a Harsh Environment
Social capital exerts a subtle but powerful effect on employee engagement and, consequently, on organizational efficiency and output. Organizations with strong social capital enjoy better access to strategic resources and information. Loyal employees develop their potential more quickly and share knowledge efficiently, bypassing lengthy formal or bureaucratic procedures.
This boosts efficiency and reduces transaction costs. Established teams leverage synergies, drive innovation, mitigate risks, and adapt swiftly to new conditions.
In the Arab world, life is marked by constant change: resource prices fluctuate, living costs rise, and conflict and unrest strain the region. While large corporations with rigid structures often lag behind, smaller firms with robust networks can respond far more quickly to crises.
Wasta Holds Jordan Back from Realizing Its Potential
This flexibility may stabilize an economy during turbulent times but also prevents a country from realizing its full economic potential. In 2019, only 25 percent of Jordanians reported using Wasta, significantly fewer than in other Arab nations, yet the private sector remains vulnerable to favoritism and corruption.
Investors with strong Wasta connections can expedite procedures, gain exclusive access to information and public services, or even influence legislation in their favor. Energy and creativity are then channeled into maintaining relationships rather than developing competitive products and services.
The Jordanian government has acknowledged this dilemma and emphasizes transparency and accountability in its National Integrity and Anti-Corruption Strategy. The state invokes principles such as the rule of law, justice, equal opportunity, integrity, and meritocracy. The central question remains: how can these principles be translated into daily practice so that they become more than political slogans?
The State Must Lead for Businesses to Follow
A climate of integrity does not arise on its own; it requires constant effort to establish and uphold social norms. When members of a network act unethically and face no consequences, such behavior spreads. If rule violations are continually tolerated, a society gradually drifts away from its own values.
These dynamics affect not only political institutions but also civil society and the private sector—a dangerous slide into dishonesty and mistrust, a pattern familiar to many Arab countries where loyalties are often ambiguous.
Every level of society therefore bears responsibility for building trust. Citizens, organizations, and businesses should all take part in shaping rules and ensuring their enforcement. Visible role models are essential, especially within state institutions: good behavior must be recognizable so that others can measure themselves against it, while misconduct must be consistently sanctioned.
Semi-public institutions such as universities, think tanks, security agencies, and state-owned enterprises also play an active role in promoting transparency and accountability. They exercise social oversight and operate in sectors that directly affect citizens’ quality of life. To serve as a moral compass, these institutions themselves must embody a culture of integrity. Yet many Jordanian organizations still lack clear guidelines to fulfill that role.
Jordan: An Oasis of Arab Integrity?
Jordan has modernized its personnel management, yet the implementation of existing laws remains incomplete. Many positions are still filled without clear job criteria—often bypassing formal procedures. This practice leads to overstaffing in the public sector: posts are created for friends and relatives, or individuals occupy roles for which they lack sufficient qualifications. The pattern is particularly pronounced at the local level and in lower-ranking positions.
Jordan therefore needs to anchor its culture of integrity and openness deeply across society—even in its most remote villages. At every level, organizations must foster an internal culture that allows open discussion. Appointments and promotions should be based on merit and competence, not favoritism. This requires clear principles guiding public officials in fulfilling their duties and putting public interest above personal gain. Trust is central—but after decades of conflict, mistrust remains deeply rooted across much of the region. Precisely for this reason, Jordan stands out positively as it persists on its reform path.
Private Enterprise Must Join In
It is not only the state that affects integrity. The private sector can also undermine it—through tax evasion, bribery in public procurement, or illicit political financing. Such practices erode government legitimacy and public trust in fair competition. They also deter trade and foreign investment.
Yet businesses of all sizes can help cultivate integrity. Small and medium-sized enterprises need realistic but clear ethical standards. Business associations can assist by defining and disseminating shared values. In this way, a principled private sector can become a driver of transformation.
A business environment built on integrity fosters predictability and lowers costs. Jordanian firms can leverage higher ethical standards to distinguish themselves particularly within the Arab world. But this requires broad social momentum—and ultimately, companies themselves benefit from environments where integrity pays off.
Participation and Shared Integrity
The respect Jordanian society has already earned must be cultivated, for trust and integrity reinforce one another. Jordan’s progress rests on three pillars: political, economic, and social reform. King Abdullah II emphasized that every citizen must share in the path toward integrity:
“...Citizens are essential partners in driving and benefiting from positive change. We must all stand together against those who seek to preserve the status quo out of vested interests or fear of leaving their comfort zone and making the necessary sacrifices for the good of all”
Education alone cannot create a shared understanding of integrity. Jordan has developed a unique approach in the Arab world, inviting broad societal consultation to define collective values, principles, and norms—deliberately avoiding overly negative terms like “corruption.”
Social Networks: Between Lifeline and Liability
Close personal relationships can serve as stabilizing anchors in turbulent times. But without shared norms and clear values, they quickly slide into nepotism that poisons trust across society. Each individual carries responsibility for respecting ethical and social standards in daily interactions.
An upright public sector increases citizens’ willingness to pay taxes and report misconduct. Likewise, a responsible private sector helps unleash full economic potential. Jordan is widely viewed as a beacon of integrity in the Arab world, yet many institutions still struggle to fully include women and address the aspirations of youth. High youth unemployment—especially among the well-educated—limits prosperity and creates fertile ground for organized crime or even extremism, undermining Jordan’s stability.
Still, the kingdom’s continuous reforms have laid the foundation for transformation: a shift away from reactive anti-corruption measures toward a proactive, society-wide culture of integrity. The goal is to identify and remove systemic weaknesses that enable corruption in the first place.
This approach strengthens citizens’ attachment to the state and increases trust in institutions. Trust lies at the heart of an effective relationship between government and people. Numerous stakeholders have reaffirmed their confidence in the Jordanian government to the OECD.
Given how deeply Wasta is woven into Jordanian society, this process of renewal must remain a collective task. Because people align their behavior with their social context, the key to an enduring culture of integrity lies at every level—from village to business to national institutions. Jordanians have recognized these efforts: 55 percent rate their government’s handling of corruption positively—compared to only 28 percent elsewhere in the Arab world.
Jordan’s Long Tradition of Integrity
Since the 1980s, Jordan has pursued a steady course of reform. The royal family recognized early on that corruption undermines public sector modernization, economic development, and, ultimately, national prosperity. From this realization emerged a reform tradition now spanning more than three decades.
In 2005, Jordan became the first Arab country to ratify the UN Convention against Corruption. The following year, it established an Anti-Corruption Commission. National anti-corruption strategies were adopted in 2008 and 2013, followed by a public service code of conduct in 2013 and enhanced legal protection for whistleblowers in 2014. In 2022, the government even sent more than two million SMS messages to raise public awareness about the harmful impact of nepotism and corruption.
Read more
al-Twal, A., Alawamleh, M., & Jarrar, D. (2024). An Investigation of the Role of Wasta Social Capital in Enhancing Employee Loyalty and Innovation in Organizations. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vol.: 13, No. 12, 1-13.
OECD. (2024). OECD Integrity Review of Jordan. Paris: OECD.
Transparency International. (2025). Corruption Perception Index. Von https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024 abgerufen
