Corruption destroys people's faith in democracy

In the post-communist societies a well-connected few have

created very little

RFE/RL Weekday Magazine, 6 September 2000

By Askold KRUSHELNYCKY

Prague, 6 September 2000 (RFE/RL) - Some of those who have

made money corruptly in the former communist countries try

to justify their actions by comparing their practices to

what was called the U.S. "robber-baron" capitalism of the

19th century.

But Stanley Kober, a foreign-policy analyst at the U.S.'s

Cato Institute, says there are strong differences that

undermine any such comparison. Many of those who amassed

great wealth and built powerful business corporations in

19th century America frequently did use unfair, dishonest

and brutal means. But they also built railroads that opened

up the country, founded new communities, created

businesses, built factories, dug valuable mines, and

provided a dynamic environment which encouraged new ideas

and inventions.

"Robber barons were actually creating things. I mean, the

problem there, as people point out, is that they were sort

of like monopolies. But here [in Russia] what do you see is

being created? Also, you don't see a lot of investment

going in. You see a lot of capital flight."

In Russia and other post-communist societies, a

well-connected few have created very little. They use their

privileged positions to take control of former state

property, or to loot their countries of natural resources

or anything else that can be sold abroad.

What's more, the old-style, U.S. cavalier capitalist

reinvested most of his profits in his country.

Post-communist rich businessmen prefer to keep their money

in foreign accounts and do little to stimulate the

development of their countries' economies.

Corruption is a major inhibitor of democratic development

when it is prevalent at the highest levels of government.

Bribery is used to neutralize parliamentarians and other

leading politicians who are elected to represent ordinary

people and to act on their behalf. Intimidation, violence,

and murder suppress many of those who want to act in an

honorable way and raise their voices against corruption.

Such phenomena, common in many post-communist societies,

not only rupture the democratic process. They actually

destroy people's faith in democracy because they equate

democracy and capitalism with the sort of ruthlessness and

massive dishonesty that are the hallmarks of their corrupt

leaders and businessmen.

Don Jensen, a former U.S. diplomat in Moscow who is now

RFE/RL's associate broadcast director, says corruption has

bred cynicism among ordinary people in the former Soviet

bloc.

"There is a growing cynicism by the average person in one

of these countries watching the corruption take place.

There's growing cynicism about so-called democratic change.

Across the board, we've seen in the past 10 years a

universal decline in so-called democratic processes and

institutions."

Jensen says that in many post-communist countries voters

turn away from liberal and democratic politicians because

they associate democracy with the corruption and

impoverishment which has befallen them since the collapse

of communism.

In many of the post-communist states, branches of

government, powerful business interests and organized crime

groups - which often resort to murder - are often tightly

intertwined. Sometimes, they are even indistinguishable

from one another.

"There was always organized crime in these countries but

the problem of course is what's crime and what's the state

- and the distinction is very blurred."

In these societies, criminals can become so strong that it

is difficult to say who is the junior partner in the

relationship between them and those heading a political

power structure riddled by corruption. The forces at the

state's disposal (the courts, police and intelligence

system) work repressively to protect the interests of a

corrupt state and stifle individuals who oppose it. They

themselves become corrupt beneficiaries of the system.

Those who try to be honest are fired from their jobs, or

worse.

Because there is a widespread popular perception that those

with money or in positions of power do not heed the law and

can bribe their way out of trouble, confidence in the rule

of law has eroded and been replaced by contempt for the

justice system.

Viktor Gitin, a former member of the State Duma from the

reformist Yabloko Party, says that an independent, honest

court system is badly needed in Russia.

"It's because our court system doesn't work that many

crimes and legal chaos are possible. In this situation, no

one carries any responsibility [for their acts], and when

people know that they won't have to assume that

responsibility, bureaucrats, deputies, or ordinary citizens

stop thinking that breaking the law can have undesirable

results."

Corruption also hinders political and economic

transparency, necessary in a democracy. Key decisions are

taken secretly by a few people for their own benefit. The

majority is excluded from the political mechanisms that

govern their lives and they are subject to legislation they

play little part in formulating - the opposite of

democracy.

Corruption also holds back economic reforms and the

development of a true market economy from which the

majority can benefit because the status quo is the one

convenient to those reaping the profits of corruption.

Jensen says:

"Corruption distorts the market, it corrodes the rule of

law, it undermines the confidence in normal people in the

ability of their leaders to deliver on promises of social

welfare that leaders always talk about."

Although some Western companies have undoubtedly taken part

in corrupt activities in the post-communist countries, most

have been dismayed by the adverse business environment

fostered by corruption. Many Western firms and investors

have withdrawn or reduced their activities because they are

fed up with becoming the targets of corrupt officials

demanding bribes, of being cheated by corrupt businessmen,

of being at the mercy of a corrupt legal system. They feel

the competition is unfair when they are competing against

rivals who pay bribes and receive favored treatment.

International lending institutions such as the

International Monetary Fund have also become reluctant to

throw good money after bad following revelations of how

Russia and Ukraine deceived or misused funds totaling

billions of dollars.

In sum, corruption corrodes a society. When nepotism

replaces merit, when cunning and cheating replace trust and

honesty, when force and murder triumph over the law and a

sense of decency - then the threads binding together a

civil society are weakened and eventually destroyed.