Managing Integrity or Reporting Compliance? Analysing Integrity Plans as Organisational Instruments in Romanian Public Administration

Abstract

Public integrity has become a central concern in contemporary governance, with increasing emphasis placed on the ability of public institutions to move beyond formal compliance and foster values-based ethical environments. Within national anti-corruption strategies, integrity plans operate as institutional instruments through which integrity requirements are translated into organisational practice. This paper examines the extent to which integrity plans developed by Romanian public institutions operationalise public integrity through compliance-based or values-based approaches, building on the distinction advanced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development between rule-based and values-based integrity strategies. Within this framework, the study positions integrity plans as intermediary instruments that connect strategic anti-corruption frameworks with institutional practices. The research adopts a document analysis of a purposive sample of five entities, comprising central public institutions, a regulatory authority, a local government entity and a state-owned enterprise. The sample is selected according to institutional type, exposure to corruption risks and the public availability of the analysed integrity plans. The study is exploratory in scope and examines the formal design of integrity measures within the plans. The analysis follows four stages: identifying integrity plans within the 2021-2025 strategic cycle, extracting integrity measures, coding these measures according to their operational orientation, compliance-based or values-based, and examining the associated indicators and verification mechanisms. The paper treats integrity plans as formal documents in which institutions articulate how integrity is to be operationalised at organisational level. By analysing the balance between compliance-oriented and values-oriented measures, the study contributes to a clearer understanding of how integrity is formally designed within Romanian public administration. The contribution of the paper lies in conceptualising integrity plans as a distinct analytical entry point for understanding the relationship between formal governance frameworks and organisational practices. In doing so, it highlights the extent to which the formal design of integrity instruments remains anchored in compliance or moves towards more substantive, values-driven models, with implications for public sector governance and integrity policy design.