Populism, scandal management and state-facilitated "covid-corruption" in the United Kingdom

• Authors: Mary Corcoran

Title variants

PL

Populizm, zarządzanie skandalem i facylitowana przez państwo „korupcja covidowa” w Wielkiej Brytanii

Abstracts

PL

W wielu krajach pandemia Covid-19 okazała się być okresem wyjątkowo pomyślnym dla niektórych osób, które działając w wyrachowany sposób, osiągały znaczne zyski realizując zamówienia publiczne. W Wielkiej Brytanii proceder ten przyjął formę zmowy między wyższymi rangą politykami a ich wspólnikami biznesowymi przy zakupie sprzętu medycznego. Zawieszenie przepisów o zamówieniach publicznych doprowadziło jednocześnie do nieprawidłowych, a nawet oszukańczych praktyk przy zawieraniu umów. W analizach zjawiska korupcji często podkreśla się połączenie występowania nadużyć systemowych dokonywanych przez urzędników i złego zarządzania jako czynników podważających zaufanie publiczne. Tak też było w przypadku korupcji w Wielkiej Brytanii dotyczącej zamówień publicznych na dostawy. Niniejszy artykuł koncentruje się jednak na związkach populizmu z trendami mającymi na celu zniwelowanie krytycznej opozycji sprzeciwiającej się elitom i spekulacjom w kontekście kryzysu. Działając pod pretekstem zarządzania kryzysowego w czasie pandemii, rząd Wielkiej Brytanii przewodniczył ułatwianym przez państwo sprzeniewierzeniom w dotychczas niewystępującej skali. W dużej mierze rząd odrzucał przy tym polityczną odpowiedzialność za działania i zaniechania lub sankcje wobec osób odpowiedzialnych za nie.

EN

The pandemic presented a uniquely unrestricted bonanza in many countries for opportunistic profitmaking at the public expense. In the United Kingdom, this took the form of collusion between senior political figures and business associates in purchasing medical supplies which, allied to the suspension of procurement governance, led to irregular, even fraudulent, contracting practices. Analyses of corruption often stress the combination of system abuses by officials and ill-functioning governance as factors in undermining public trust. Whilst these held true in the case of procurement corruption in the UK, this article focuses on the relationships between populism and de democratising trends aimed at disarming critical opposition to elite misappropriation and profiteering in the context of a crisis. Operating under the cover of emergency pandemic planning, the UK government presides over historical levels of state facilitated misappropriation while largely deflecting political accountability or sanction from those responsible.

Keywords

EN

corruption networks; medical supplies; activism; civil society; public contracting; populism

PL

sieć korupcyjna; zaopatrzenie medyczne; elity; zamówienie publiczne; populizm

• Publisher: Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN / Institute of Legal Studies PAN
• Journal: Archiwum Kryminologii
• Year: 2021
• Issue: XLIII/2
• Pages: 39-61

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Mary Corcoran

• Keele University

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Identifiers

DOI

10.7420/AK2021.33

Biblioteka Nauki

2030546