About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

7 E. Eur. Const. Rev. 56 (1998)
Dancing with Anticorruption

handle is hein.journals/eeurcr7 and id is 256 raw text is: Is government complicity in corruption a form of economic protectionismP Dancing with Anticorruption Ivan Krastev even centuries ago Dante placed those guilty of treachery in the deepest and darkest circles of Hell. Historians point to political reasons for his dislike of corruption. Bribery was deemed responsible for the failures of the Italian republics and for the success of Dante's political enemies. Nowadays, reports of bribery and other abuses of public office can be found not only in new editions of Dante's Inferno but also on the front pages of news- papers and magazines. Stories of the pervasiveness of corruption in Russia, Mexico, and Nigeria-just to name a few-make for exciting reading. Italian clean hands and postcommunist dirty linen have become two of the most redolent catchphrases of the post-Cold War world. But why has corruption become such an impor- tant topic for public debate? Behind this question lies another: How sincere are today's postcommunist governments in their declared war on corruption? In a paper written for the IMF, Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures, Vito Tanzi argues that it is difficult to measure whether corruption is more widespread today than earlier, and if so, to what extent; but it is also obvious to everyone, Tanzi adds, that corruption has become a key issue for both understanding and reforming the current state of affairs (IMF Working Paper, May 1998). Corruption is widely held respon- sible for the failure of market reforms in countries like Russia and Bulgaria as well as for the collapse of the Asian miracle. The credibility of governments and political leaders has begun to hinge on the intensity of their commitments to fighting corruption. The end of the Cold War, the spread of democracy, the new power of the free media, the increasing globalization of trade, and the rise of free-market economies are commonly listed among the factors that explain the emergence of a new consensus on anticorruption. In Washington, the consensus of the development community could be summarized as: more reform means less corruption. Not only has anticorruption become fashionable, but the terms of the debate have radically changed. At the beginning of the century, corruption was analyzed mainly in cultural and political terms; in communist circles, it was viewed as a bourgeois legacy. Today, corruption is debated mainly in economic terms. Some fifty years ago, corruption was considered a reflection of the moral fallibility of human nature, while today the focus is on opportunities and incentives: anticorrup- tion policies aim to restrict the demand and supply of acts of corruption. Some thirty years ago, economists and political scientists-Samuel Huntington among them-argued that corruption could play a positive role in the process of modernization. Today, no one assigns corruption a constructive role. Two important sides of the issue are neglected in the present-day obsession with corruption, especially in the transition economies. First, postcommunist governments are necessarily of two minds about corruption. And, second, an anticorruption campaign is a very useful platform for attacking reformist poh- cies and reform-minded governments. The protectionist character of present-day corruption is one of the principal reasons for the selective approach of the reformist governments in grappling with it. At 56 EAST EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most