Exploring Local Integrity Management in the Valencian Community: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

This article focuses on a pilot study of integri­ty management systems in the Spanish regional state of Valencia. The Valencian Community was a relevant case because it was one of the foci of corruption in Spain during the first two decades of the 2000s. The results were obtained from 65 val­id responses to a survey of municipal political and administrative officials. The results were processed using MAXQDA2024 software. An analysis of the main views expressed and the policies adopted led to the grouping of cases into four clusters (obtained using the Jaccard similarity index). Municipalities were ranked based on the development of policies and visions regarding integrity. The main findings are that there is an increasing appreciation of in­tegrity management policies, and that legislation is the predominant shaping element. Some of the in­formants highlight these policies in changing organi­zational culture and increasing professionalism. The size of municipalities and whether applications were made for European funding were found to be highly influential factors in the development of public in­tegrity policies. This study confirms the relationship between policy development and the implementa­tion of legislative measures. This could also help to study integrity policies in local governments in future studies.