9 Political corruption in Central and Eastern Europe
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James L. Newell
Abstract
Political scientists have conventionally distinguished between advanced liberal democracies; communist and post-communist states, and so-called third-world countries. Though used less frequently than was once the case, the groups or ones like them are distinguished because drawing general conclusions about the nature of political life requires being able to categorise in order to compare countries; and because, broadly speaking, the groups mark broad distinctions tending to correlate with a range of variables including political corruption. Placing, then, the liberal democracies of Western Europe in one category and the former communist countries of Europe, plus Russia, in another reveals that corruption is a larger problem in the latter part of the world than it is in the former. Against this background, the chapter looks at the historical context of corruption during the communist era. It then provides an overview of the extent of corruption in the post-communist era and of the variations in its extent between the states concerned –before explaining the distinctive reasons for the development of these levels of corruption, assessing their impact and looking at what is being done and needs to be done to reduce levels of corruption.
Abstract
Political scientists have conventionally distinguished between advanced liberal democracies; communist and post-communist states, and so-called third-world countries. Though used less frequently than was once the case, the groups or ones like them are distinguished because drawing general conclusions about the nature of political life requires being able to categorise in order to compare countries; and because, broadly speaking, the groups mark broad distinctions tending to correlate with a range of variables including political corruption. Placing, then, the liberal democracies of Western Europe in one category and the former communist countries of Europe, plus Russia, in another reveals that corruption is a larger problem in the latter part of the world than it is in the former. Against this background, the chapter looks at the historical context of corruption during the communist era. It then provides an overview of the extent of corruption in the post-communist era and of the variations in its extent between the states concerned –before explaining the distinctive reasons for the development of these levels of corruption, assessing their impact and looking at what is being done and needs to be done to reduce levels of corruption.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vi
- List of tables vii
- Preface viii
- List of abbreviations xi
- 1 Definitions of political corruption, and why study corruption 1
- 2 The growth, spread and measurement of corruption 21
- 3 The causes and explanations of political corruption 43
- 4 The mechanisms and dynamics of corruption 64
- 5 Political corruption and organised crime 82
- 6 Political corruption and scandal 103
- 7 Anti-corruption 124
- 8 Corruption in liberal democracies 143
- 9 Political corruption in Central and Eastern Europe 169
- 10 Political corruption in the developing and newly industrialised states 194
- Index 218
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vi
- List of tables vii
- Preface viii
- List of abbreviations xi
- 1 Definitions of political corruption, and why study corruption 1
- 2 The growth, spread and measurement of corruption 21
- 3 The causes and explanations of political corruption 43
- 4 The mechanisms and dynamics of corruption 64
- 5 Political corruption and organised crime 82
- 6 Political corruption and scandal 103
- 7 Anti-corruption 124
- 8 Corruption in liberal democracies 143
- 9 Political corruption in Central and Eastern Europe 169
- 10 Political corruption in the developing and newly industrialised states 194
- Index 218
