Crime, corruption, and politics: transnational factors

Abstract

Examines the internationalization of crime and corruption in post-communist states and its serious implications for both established democracies and democratizing countries. The main hypothesis is that the post-communist regimes have experienced legitimacy problems because of popular perceptions that the new putatively democratizing systems are often too tolerant of the new criminality, and in some cases directly involved with benefiting from it. The first section of the chapter provides a brief overview of the crime situation in the region, highlighting changes in the incidence of crime. The second and third parts of the chapter are concerned with the rise of crime in terms of the interplay of domestic and international/transnational factors. In the fourth section, the implications of the rise of crime for the whole democratization and transition project are assessed. The fifth section provides an overview of international responses to crime in Central Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union states. The conclusions to the chapter locate the criminalization issue in the broader context of the problems besetting post-communist transition and democratic consolidation.