Theoretical literature has two competing theories about the effects of corruption on society: the first group sees corruption as something that - Greases the Wheels of- the administrative and economic systems of countries and the second group calls it something that -Sands the Wheels- of those systems. This study examines the direct and indirect effects of corruption perceptions among Moroccan citizens on non-electoral participation using the fifth wave data of the Arab barometer, assuming the first group s ideas. The fifth wave of this data was obtained in 2018-2019 and surveyed 2400 Moroccan citizens. Testing the hypothesis through the SEM indicates that, first, corruption perception directly affects the citizens negative evaluation of the government performance and increases the political distrust among citizens indirectly and significantly. Secondly, the results indicate that although perceptions of corruption by citizens do not directly have a significant effect on non-electoral participation, because all the mediating variables are significant, it can be argued that perceptions of corruption can have a positive impact on the expansion of non-electoral participation among citizens indirectly. It can happen through the variables of poor government performance and political distrust.

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