How Corruption Became All-Pervasive in Bulgarian Politics - Essay Example

How corruption became all-pervasive in Bulgarian politics Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the newly emerging polities and s from the Eastern European block countries were struggling with the economic and political situation. The Eastern European countries which were placed behind the iron curtain during the Cold War had to contend with the overbeating and subordinate legacy of the Soviet model state. This combined with the desire for fast transformation of the whole state and legislation into a democratic one brought contingencies among which was the high level of corruption and soaring crimes which sometimes were committed by well-known politicians and political leaders. In the early 1990s the hardest obstacle to overcome was for economists and political figures to have the strength to change the manner in which the Soviet Union satellite countries were operating for 45 years. A decade after the transition attempts the dominant characteristics of the Eastern European countries are their powerfulness to cope with the overwhelming communist attitude and utter disruption. The role of the state in handling, providing and maintaining the social services and infrastructure began to be questioned. Ganev (2001) tries to give explanation on why the central state in post-Soviet Eastern European countries has weakened focusing on Bulgaria as a case study. Ganev (2001) characterizes the structure of the Soviet Union satellites, drawing conclusions about the dominant forms of elite agency favoured in socialist party system. State socialism collapses namely because of the high class differentiation and egalitarianism. Ganev (2001) demonstrates that the institutional legacy presented during the 45 years of socialism in Bulgaria malfunctioned both the economy and the political life. That is why even after 10 years of reformation and transitions the state is still accustomed to the old power structures and matrixes that provide mostly constraints rather than opportunities. For criminals and ordinary gangsters to maximize their profits and to take advantage of the conditions, they turned into elite class that ruled the state with golden gloves. The robust state apparatus that was supposed to be brought to life, was in fact under the incentives of post-socialist values which pushed politicians into subversive maneuvers within the infrastructure of state governance (Ganev, 2001). In his book Ganev (2001) argues that the causes for the state’s failure are much complicated than the policy preferences for “free marketers” who attempt on a regular base to dismantle the state. Examining the internal political processes, Ganev (2001) systematically analyses the manifold dimensions, implications and their significance in the institutional and social arrangements and processes in Bulgaria after 1989. In their researches Grodeland, Koshechkina and Miller (1998) found out an interesting tendency particularly with Bulgarians. They called corruption not with its real name but prefer to perceive it as “a token of gratitude”. The Bulgarian respondents participated in the interviews conducted by Grodeland, Koshechkina and Miller (1998) comment their attitude in the following way: “Most clerks are depressed by the constant shortage of money and they tend to .... No, that’s not bribing, it is rather an expression of my gratitude and duly expected one (p.6).” Grodeland, Koshechkina and Miller (1998) explain that when people feel trapped by the economic situation corruption tends to be sociologically understood as a norm, an appraisal for the work done. In the case of Bulgarians their beliefs do not classify bribe as deviation, rather they are proud of accepting and giving them as a sign of mutual understanding of the difficulties all economic sectors face. Bulgarians offer bribes voluntarily as gifts and adhere to this tradition as maintaining the equilibrium between the consumer and the provider of the service – regardless whether this is a medical institution or a construction company. An important note to remark is that in Bulgaria the members of the state and the economic elites with their connections and knowledge of the underground world were involved in the collapse of the Bulgarian state after 1989 (Ganev, 2001). Ganev (2001) observes that Bulgaria did not wither by the liberal and democratic reformations and ideas. Although, these structures required market-oriented behaviour and freedom from government intrusions, the ideas failed because of the unintended grip of the Communist Party which ruled the state for 45 years. The invisible threads of the Communist Party destroyed the attempts for liberal and democratic state. Ganev (2001) continues that the stripping of resources from the state caused insurmountable damage to the state of Bulgaria, enriching the private sector and leaving penniless the state institutions. This situation created predatory businessmen actors who redistributed the resources according to their own schemes. Therefore, this lead to an unexpectedly huge gap between the newly formed organizations and the crippling old ones (Ganev, 2001). Dimitrov (2001) investigates the main aspects of the transition of Bulgaria. Furthermore, the examines the democratic political processes, the historical background and economic transformations that made Bulgaria the state that is now. Dimitrov (2001) is very careful in his conclusions, avoiding drastic statements, because of the fear “of producing a mélange of badly integrated observations (preface).” In studying the historical events of the country Dimitrov (2001) dwells on the problem whether Bulgaria was at all prepared first for the communism after the grand failure of the monarchy and then for the democracy after the regime has collapsed in 1989. Dimitrov (2001) attempts to give explanations to the readers of Bulgaria’s long traditions in struggling with international political forces, fighting for its independence and positioning itself on the European political map. There is no doubt that the corruption that now pervades in all structures in Bulgaria has historical, political and economic background. After more than 40 years of communism regime where the state has little social legitimacy it is difficult to jump into open democratic operations with no underground stones (Alexander Surdej and Kaja Gadowska, 2005). Dimitrov (2001) notes that Bulgaria has a deeply rooted collective memory for authoritarian regimes and the prevailing state-driven economic conditions seemed to perfectly match the social structure at that time. Social equality and dependence on the great power further pushed people to regard corruption as equal distribution of resources – those who have climbed the social ladder deserve better treatment and are subject to “gratitude tokens”. After the crash of the Soviet Union Bulgaria lost its market there and the produced goods were unable to be exported. Although Bulgarians are known for possessing strong nationalist spirit, after the first democratic elections in 1990 it looked like their nationalism is confused between the harsh economic situation and the endeavours for modernization (U.S.-Bulgarian Relations, 2008). There are various emerging patterns and driving forces that guided the political competition in Bulgaria after 1989 (Dimitrov, 2001). Those patterns are looking for the right directives to follow. Right patter that is still not found. The elite-dominated nature of the democratic transition stayed on the political horizon long after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the decade of democratic fractures. Dimitrov (2001) shows Bulgarian governments’ inability to handle external factors and to strengthen the economy. The reformers lack the capacity to formulate and implement coherent restructure programs and to manage the tensions created between the economic sectors’ stability and the struggling structural transformation. In his book Dimitrov (2001) analyses why policy-makers in Bulgaria find it difficult to implement the reforms. A possible answer to this is that the system is soaked up with “gratitude tokens” which are not perceived as bribes. Thus, when someone is convinced that corruption is just expressing thankfulness and that it means how grateful we are for receiving the treatment or the service we pay for, it is impossible to expect change to come from outside. If a change is to be made into a successful policy, then it should be brought from inside. Policy makers have to concentrate their efforts in convincing Bulgarians that corruption destroys the course of conventional democratic processes. The most ordinary suggestion is to organize public debates about corruption and to broadcast wise advertisements banning corruption as a way to meet ends. Some other significant comments that Dimitrov (2001) proposes is Bulgaria’s progress towards European integration. He poses that in order to Bulgaria to stabilize its political and economic positions it should establish new relationship with its former hegemon – Russia. The ill-functioning institutions are ruining all accomplishments into overcoming the position Bulgaria has fallen into after 1989. Corruption has a tremendous impact on the ability of Bulgaria to act adequately and those impacts are primarily indirect (Ganev, 2001). Corruption decreases the income received into the budget. Consequently, this activity creates favourable conditions for redirecting resources, which raises the deficit of the state (Ganev, 2001). In this way resources are both misappropriated and wasted. Another indirect consequence of the corruption is that due to the state budget deficit, the taxes are increased which puts a burden on the taxpayers and on the private sector (Ganev, 2001). The vicious circle is formed, because investors accumulate additional stimuli to avoid taxes through corrupted activities. The anti-corruption measures do not seem to be workable too. “The European Union has suspended almost €500m (£400m) in aid to Bulgaria after the publishing of two damning reports into Sofias failure to tackle corruption (Weaver, 2008).” After becoming a member of the European Union in 2007 Bulgaria had number of directives still not achieved. Corruption is one of them. “The commission also said Bulgaria had failed to convict fraudsters — one of the conditions on which it was admitted into the EU in 2007 (Weaver, 2008).” The delay of anti-corruption reforms affects now Bulgaria, since the state is losing its opportunity in the face of EU funds to correct and implement in reality its anti-corruption policies. Weaver (2008) comments that many politicians promised that legislative reforms are taking place, however, the number of convicted frauds is impressively small. Corruption reflects negatively into economic reforms, too. This causes market instability and expansion of corruption to all level of the state organs affecting institutions and vital mechanisms which otherwise should effectively fight against it. What is more, corruptions established uncontrolled monopoly structures in certain economic sectors, damaging the transparency and increasing fragility of state structures. References: Alexander Surdej and Kaja Gadowska. “Political Corruption in Poland”. Forschungsstelle Osteuropa an der Universität Bremen: vol. 65, 2005 Dimitrov, Vesselin, (2001), Bulgaria: The Uneven Transition (post-communist States And Nations), Routledge Ganev, Venelin,(2001), Preying on of the state: the transformation of Bulgaria after 1989, Cornell University Press Grodeland, A.B., Koshechkina, T.Y. and Miller, W.L. (1998) `In-depth interviews on the everyday use of bribes in postcommunist Europe `Corruption in comparative context ECPR News Spring 9(2), pp.7-9. “U.S.-Bulgarian Relations” (2008), U.S. Department of State Background Notes: Bulgaria, October 1998- Released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, HR-Net [Online], accessed on 21st December, 2009, from, http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Background/Bulgaria.98-10.html Weaver, Matthew, (2008), EU suspends Bulgaria’s funding, Guardian, [Online] accessed on 6 January, 2009, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/23/eu Read More