The high level of corruption in central and eastern Europe - Essay Example

?The High Level of Corruption in Central and Eastern Europe Introduction It is a fact that corruption is prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Central and Eastern Europe is actually a phrase used to describe the former communist European countries after the downfall of the Iron Curtain.1 According to Andrei and Teodorescu (2005), corruption as a social and legal problem has existed in the region since 1989. This implies that corruption as an illegal activity is as old as the region itself. As time goes by, corruption in its composite states has evolved into various forms.2 As a consequence, there have been many citizens in Central and Eastern Europe who became “rich overnight while a large part of” its “population fell into deep poverty.”3 In fact, in 2001, it has been found out that almost thirty percent of the people in Romania are living in poverty. Notably, in that same year, the country had the highest level of corruption in contrast with the other Central and Eastern European states.4 In relation, this essay will try to explain the high level of corruption in Central and Eastern Europe. The discussion will tackle the reasons of the social problem. It will also include the methods that to be adopted in dealing with corruption. The Problem of Corruption Corruption is indeed a social and legal problem. It is a social problem since the society as a whole is the one primarily affected of its effects. In almost all sectors, traces of corruption are eminent. It is also a legal problem since it is punishable under the laws of the community. The nations of the world have created their own laws against corruption. Nevertheless, corruption is still a pressing problem. Only few corrupt individuals are successfully convicted and punished. Thus, there is a need to devise strategies that would effectively curb the acts of corruption especially in the developing world. In connection, majority of the countries making up the Central and Eastern part of Europe are actually considered developing states.5 Benjamin Olken (2007) describes corruption like a tax. It adds to the expenses of conducting businesses and providing public services.6 In countries where corruption is eminent, public services are often poor and inadequate. Corruption lessens the budget needed to effectively and efficiently serve the people in a community. On the side of the business sector, putting up and maintaining a business would be harder than ever due to corruption. As cited by Nathaniel Heller, corruption presents a great barrier to the development and progress of any nation.7 This statement is quite logical. Anyone can in fact understand the rationale behind such contention. In a country, if corruption is present, the budget for the delivery of basic services would be low, unproportioned, and insufficient. For instance, there would only be low budget for education and health. If this is the case, one could expect that teachers will have low salary and educational resources for students would be scarce. In another aspect, medical centers will not have enough supply of medicines and equipments to cure the minor diseases of the people. The ultimate problem about corruption is that it makes the rich people become richer while the poor becomes poorer. It is a fact that only rich persons can thrive in a system which is full of corruption. The poor citizens on the other hand bear the costs of corruption. There is a negative impact in this sense.8 Corruption per se destroys the very foundation of a society. It undermines the faith in government and unwinds a lot of links between citizens and governmental institutions.9 Stated otherwise, corruption is the reason why there are people who do not believe in the establishment of governments. They believe that a government does not bring them any good except poverty and injustices. This should not be the case. Corruption in CEE In Central and Eastern Europe, there have been numerous cases of official corruption ranging from top level positions to local levels and across governmental agencies. Official corruption deals with the alleged and actual corrupt activities of public officials. The following are some of the public officials in CEE who have been associated to acts of corruption: Poland’s Aleksander Kwasniewski, Albania’s Fatos Nano, Estonia’s Tiit Vahi and Jaroslav Lizner, the Czech privatisation head.10 A number of public officials who have been alleged to be corrupt are actually prime ministers, presidents, police officers and military officers. Unlike other crimes, in a corruption case, there is no specific victim but there is a specific actor. This means that the public as a whole can actually be the victim of corruption. This is the reason why corruption is regarded as a public crime. If one commits an act of corruption, he or she is considered to be violating the right of everyone to a clean government. In such case, it is enough that a representative of the population could provide evidences to prove the actor’s corrupt acts before a court. This goes to say that anyone can actually report corrupt officials of the government. However, the success of convicting corrupt public employees depends on the activeness of the people to report such incidence. In a recent poll, it has been found out that in Bulgaria, majority of its people asserted that it is just a waste of time to report corruption cases.11 This implies that Bulgarian citizens are passive in terms of convicting corrupt government employees. One possible reason could be the poor justice system of the country. It could happen that people have been dissatisfied of the performance of the Bulgarian courts. The people could be dismayed of the fact that only few corrupt officials are convicted. Worst, the Bulgarian citizens could have considered the belief that corruption is already part of their government and that it has become a tradition. This is not a good public perception. It does not only destroy the ultimate purpose of governments but also degrades the value of culture and traditions. Bribery as a form of corruption is also prevalent in CEE. In bribery, there are two actors, the bribe-taker and the bribe-giver.12 The bribe-taker is the corrupt public employee while the bribe-giver is any person, private or public individual. To execute such illegal act, the bribe can either be money or luxurious goods. On the part of the bribe-giver, even if he or she is not able to consummate the illegal act, he or she can already be judge as guilty of the crime of bribery. However, on the side of the bribe-taker, consummation of the act of acceptance is necessary to make him or her responsible. The Reasons of Corruption There are actually various reasons offered to explain the high level of corruption in Central and Eastern Europe. One of the reasons as contended by Holmes (1999) “is the legacy of communism.”13 To note, in a communist state, the society as a whole owns the ways of production and distribution. This means that there is no private property and wage labour in communist countries.14 All the citizens are the owner of all the estates in the country. The citizens work for the benefit of all. Analytically, since there is common ownership, anyone can have free access to the goods and services of the public. Corruption can easily come into the picture since there is no regulation of some type. Some will have more access to the articles of consumption than the others. This instance makes communism an ideology that is compatible to corruption. In another aspect, there are citizens who believe that the mild sanctions against corrupt public employees in Central and Eastern Europe are also the reasons why corruption cases are increasing. Stated in another sense, the decline of coercion is the reason of the post-communist corruption.15 The imposition of mild punishments is actually done in response to the totalitarian coercive methods adopted during the communist period.16 In this sense, the people in CEE believe that only coercive methods can prevent and stop post-communist corruption. Coercive methods can actually be applied in investigating an alleged corrupt public employee. Nevertheless, a distinction should be made between a strict method and a coercive method. A strict method is absolute. It enforces what it needs to enforce but it does not coerce. A coercive method on the other hand entails the application of force just to have the custody of an alleged corrupt public official. By being coercive, it violates the free will of an individual. This is not justifiable in cases wherein there is no substantial evidence to prove an allegation. As such, there should be proper classification. Another reason for post-communist corruption is the simultaneous and multiple transitions that the post-communist countries had undergone since the downfall of the communist power.17 In comparison with the other transitional states, the post-communist countries had experienced fundamental legal, political, economic, social and ideological change. Many of the Central and Eastern European states “had to redefine their” identities and boundaries as well as to “realign themselves in international military and trading blocs.”18 The change had caused severe legislative lag in the post-communist states.19 Basically, the states could not implement all the necessary changes in just a single phase. The series of trials had caused them to sacrifice the formulation of solutions to the emerging problems of their society. This goes to say that they were not able to pass significant laws which could solve those problems. The legislative lag means that as the post-communist countries were busy implementing various changes, some of their laws have turned irrelevant and vague.20 Stated otherwise, many of their laws have become inapplicable to recent issues. It is contended by Holmes (1999) that this scenario is ripe for both organized crime and corruption.21 The recession in the West has been cited as one of the possible reasons of the post-communist corruption. The evolution of post-communism actually coincided with the economic depression that the West had experienced. The post-communist states were considered an additional burden on foreign capital.22 This means that the individual post-communist countries had difficulty in getting enough investment. The Western states could not possibly invest in all the countries making up the Central and Eastern European region because of the economic recession. Dealing with Corruption The most obvious way to deal with corruption is to apply “the weight of the law.”23 Nothing is more effective than the use of legal rules. It could convict and imprisoned a public servant guilty of corruption. To emphasize, conviction should be fast and firm. A reported case of corruption should be handled immediately by the competent court. Stated otherwise, it should be a top priority of the courts. This should be done to encourage the citizens to report corruption cases. The people in Central and Eastern European region should be able to witness that their judiciary is doing its best to convict all the corrupt public officials. Convicting a senior public employee could be effective in demonstrating to the people that their justice system is working to stop corruption. Moreover, there is a need to pass stringent laws against corruption. This is in response to the alarming increase of corruption allegations in the post-communist states. Notably, in Poland, the most severe punishment for a public official convicted of corruption is only two years of imprisonment.24 This sentence is very light and will not bother a public official in considering acts of corruption like bribery. In this light, it is suggested that the punishment for corrupt public employees should range from five to fifteen years of incarceration. Another method is to strengthen the governmental agencies responsible for fighting corruption and related criminal activities or to make new ones.25 This can be possible by either increasing the number of people working in those bodies or increasing their budget. In increasing the number of employees, there would be more human resource to combat corruption. Take for instance, in 1996, the interior ministry of the Russia was augmented by over ten thousand employees so that the force could be more efficient in dealing with the black economy and organized crime. Another example would be the creation of a special force in Poland to combat corruption and economic crime.26 Conclusion It is indeed a fact that the Central and Eastern part of Europe has a high level of corruption. There is corruption in almost all of its sectors. The region’s communist experience has greatly contributed to the emergence of the public crime. Notably, the coercive nature of communist rule has influenced the creation of corruption laws in the European region. Also, the corresponding effects of governmental change have made corruption in the post-communist countries hard to completely eradicate. References Andrei, T., & Teodorescu, D. (2005). The link between corruption, development, and military expenditures: Making the case for accession to NATO. International Journal of Economic Development, 7(1), 1-24. Retrieved from http://www.spaef.com/file.php?id=964 Central and Eastern Europe Multimedia Information. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.joeinvestoronline.com/library/Central-and-Eastern-Europe.php Developing Countries List. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ams.org/membership/individual/types/mem-develop Holmes, L. (1999). Corruption, weak states and economic rationalism in central and Eastern Europe [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.9iacc.org/papers/day1/ws2/dnld/d1ws2_lholmes.pdf Laski, H. (1968). Communism. Holland: Routledge. Olken, B. (2007). The problem of corruption [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/~bolken/press/070bostonreview_kdp.pdf Report: Corruption Remains Global Problem. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-01-30-voa59-66598847.html Read More