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Prakseologia
|
2014
|
issue 155
295-324
EN
Corruption has become a major global problem. Proponents of the “good corruption” thesis believe that in certain conditions corruption can be conducive to economic and political development. To them, corruption is “grease” that lubricates the rigid wheels of the bureaucratic machine, and is a legitimate mechanizm of political inclusion of the excluded masses. Yet, empirical analysis of the positive functions of corruption in the Soviet Union, the United States of America and certain Asian countries revealed that corruption is first and foremost a symptom of political and economic system dysfunction. One can speak of the positive functions of corruption only in the context of the system’s serious malfunction concerning the fulfillment of the society’s expectations coupled with the lack of prospects for this system’s reform.
EN
The article concerns the process of corruption’s institutionalization in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Corruption is perceived as a permanent and variable pattern of social-and-political actors’ behavior which was generated by centralized structure of governmental system. The author attempts to prove that costs and benefits derived from corruption were not identical during every period of the Soviet Union’s development. This calculation was for the most part the result of political regime’s dynamics and changing degree of its totalitarianism. Legalized corruption, patron–client networks and ordinary bribery – which the author defines as a patterns of corruption typical for the Soviet Union – were structurally connected phenomena. On one hand they were inextricably intertwined with the political system; on the other they were a manifestation of the system’s inefficiency and a lack of its identification with foundational principles. While analyzing corruption in a system such as the Soviet Union, many various doubts appear as far as defining different actions as unequivocally corrupt is concerned. Some of them were not meant to serve as an instrument of personal enrichment but were the only available way to gain access to scarce goods or to face challenges posed by the irrational system of the economy’s management. It can be assumed that these actions were the manifestations of rational adaptation to unpredictable social-and-economic environment and that to some degree they performed functionally useful role. Corruption in the Soviet Union gained a status of informal institution the regulatory potential of which was largely serving as a substitute for regulatory functions which generally should be performed by the legal system.
EN
The article is an analysis of various unintended consequences of the contemporary fight against corruption. The author employs a social constructionist approach to argue that recent anti-corruption developments show that the ‘fight against corruption’ will never stop regardless of how effective it may be. Moreover, the anti-corruption crusade can be characterized as a self-legitimizing process because it creates new areas for anti-corruption actions by constructing new forms of corruption, thereby justifying the continuation of anti-corruption efforts. As a point of departure, the author analyses corruption as a socially constructed phenomenon in order to remind us that because of its inherent features, corruption is an irremovable part of the public sphere, thus making anti-corruption actions never-ending. Then certain paradoxes and developments in contemporary anti-corruption efforts are presented to further explain the never-ending and self-legitimizing nature of fighting corruption. The penultimate part highlights various new definitions of corruption proposed by social scientists and the questions raised by these conceptual undertakings. In the concluding section, the problems resulting from anti-corruption dynamics are presented.
XX
Artykuł jest analizą niektórych niezamierzonych rezultatów współczesnej „walki z korupcją”. Autor wykorzystuje podejście społecznego konstruktywizmu, aby pokazać dlaczego współczesne tendencje antykorupcyjne, niezależnie od efektywność walki z korupcją, pozwalają uznać, że ta walka nigdy się nie skończy. Ponadto, krucjata przeciwko korupcji została scharakteryzowana jako autolegitymizujący się proces, ponieważ poprzez konstruowanie nowych form korupcji prowadzi do kreowania nowych obszarów działań antykorupcyjnych, w ten sposób uzasadniając konieczność jej kontynuowania. Punktem wyjścia jest analiza korupcji jako zjawiska konstruowanego społecznie mająca na celu wskazanie, że ze względu na konstytutywne właściwości korupcji jest ona nieusuwalną częścią przestrzeni publicznej, dlatego też działania antykorupcyjne nigdy się nie kończą. Następnie, aby dogłębniej wyjaśnić niekończącą się oraz autolegitymizującą specyfikę walki z korupcją, opisane są paradoksy i wybrane przykłady z obszaru współczesnych działań antykorupcyjnych. Ostatnia część artykułu koncentruje się na nowych definicjach korupcji proponowanych przez przedstawicieli nauk społecznych i prowadzi do postawienia pytań, do jakich skłaniają te konceptualne propozycje. W ramach konkluzji przedstawiono problemy wynikające z opisanej dynamiki antykorupcyjnej, z którymi należy się zmierzyć.
EN
The phenomenon of corruption in consolidated democracies has been ignored for a long time by academics. Nevertheless in the last decade of the XX century new factors have emerged leading to the institutionalization of an issue of corruption in the advanced democracies. This change can be observed also in the case of Finland, which is perceived as one of the least corrupt country in the world according to the Corruption Perception Index published by the Transparency International. However, also in Finland a specific forms of corruption can be found. The article aims at description of the ‘old brothers networks‘ as a corrupt practices peculiar to Finland. The author seeks to present an institutionalization of the ‘old brothers network’ issue and the problems related to an occurrence of this phenomenon in Finnish public sphere. Primarily, it is argued that Finland has witnessed a redefinition of informal, consensus-based practices, which commonly had been accepted as a part of the political system, into the practices defined as corrupt. The subtle nature of these practices is a reason behind difficulties with classifying them as a clear-cut forms of abuse of power for private gain.
PL
Zjawisko korupcji w stabilnych, zamożnych państwach demokratycznych określanych mianem demokracji skonsolidowanych było przez długi czas ignorowane przez badaczy. Jednak w ostatnim dziesięcioleciu XX wieku pojawiły się czynniki, które doprowadziły do instytucjonalizacji kwestii korupcji w dojrzałych demokracjach. Tę zmianę obserwujemy również w Finlandii, która według Indeksu Percepcji Korupcji publikowanym przez Transparency International jest postrzegana jako jedno z najmniej skorumpowanych państw świata. Jednak również w tym kraju możemy odnaleźć specyficzne formy korupcji. Celem artykułu jest charakterystyka tzw. sieci starych braci jako praktyk korupcyjnych charakterystycznych dla Finlandii. Autor stara się pokazać proces instytucjonalizacji kwestii sieci starych braci oraz problemy towarzyszące istnieniu tego zjawiska w fińskiej przestrzeni publicznej. Przede wszystkim wskazuje, że w Finlandii możemy obserwować przedefiniowanie nieformalnych, konsensualnych praktyk, które przez długi czas były akceptowanymi komponentami systemu politycznego, na praktyki o statusie korupcyjnym. Subtelność tych praktyk powoduje, że często trudno zaklasyfikować je jako jednoznaczne formy nadużywania władzy dla prywatnych korzyści.
EN
The purpose of this article is to analyse both the allocation of the financial support from the 2nd instalment of the CGFLI in the Opolskie Voivodeship and the debate in this region over accusations of the clientelistic allocation of this fund. According to the first hypothesis, the local governments affiliated with the German minority are not treated as politically neutral; therefore, they might be vulnerable to discrimination in allocation of the fund. The second hypothesis claims that the peculiarity of the local political patterns in the voivodeship, which is characterised by the low level of partisanship, gives the ruling party’s regional politicians the opportunity to undermine the thesis on clientelistic distribution of the CGFLI. The research has shown that the local governments affiliated with the German minority have a lower chance of getting financial support when compared to the non-partisan ones. Additionally, the study has distinguished five modes of counter-arguing against the thesis on clientelism, employed by the ruling party politicians of the region.
PL
Celem artykułu jest analiza rozdziału środków z II transzy Rządowego Funduszu Inwestycji Lokalnej (RFIL) w województwie opolskim oraz debaty w tym regionie wokół zarzutów o klientelistycznym rozdziale funduszu. Według pierwszej z hipotez samorządy rządzone przez mniejszość niemiecką nie są traktowane jako politycznie neutralne i wobec tego mogą być narażone na dyskryminację w alokacji funduszu. Według drugiej specyfika lokalnego układu sił politycznych w województwie, charakteryzująca się niskim poziomem upartyjnienia, daje politykom regionu związanym z rządem możliwość podważania tezy o klientelistycznym rozdziale RFIL. Badania pokazały, że samorządy mniejszości niemieckiej mają mniejsze szanse na uzyskanie wsparcia, w porównaniu z samorządami bezpartyjnymi. Wyodrębniono również pięć sposobów kontrargumentowania wobec tezy klientelistycznej stosowanych przez polityków regionu związanych z partią rządzącą.
EN
Cultural paradigm in political science is understood as an issue of the importance of norms and values shared by the members of a given society in political life. Corruption, which is a phenomenon occurring within political space, can be also determined by cultural influences. Given two examples of completely different political and axiological – normative systems such as democratic United States and undemocratic Soviet Union, we are able to observe how cultural determinants shape the probability of power being misused for private gain. Among both power elite representatives and ordinary members of the society beliefs concerning legal order and politics may have significant, but often difficult to grasp, impact on the susceptibility and opportunity of corruption. As written in this paper, cultural order can be indirectly conducive to corruption by legitimizing solutions within political system which encourage and enable public officials to engage in corrupt practices. Values and norms internalized by participants of political system may also determine corruption directly by increasing their willingness to become corrupt and corrupt others.
EN
This article refers to the differences in patterns of corruption which are caused by distinctive features of democratic and undemocratic political system. These regularities can be investigated through exploring the profound differences in the structure of power in the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The first part of the article is an attempt to describe how political system factors generate a relatively predictable course of the political career in each chosen state. A political biography structuralized in this process is intertwined with a pattern of corruption determined by constraints, opportunities and priorities which emerge during a typical career of Soviet and American politician. A reconstruction of the organizational setting within which a typical politician acts allows to focus on the characteristic corruption practices which are a direct consequence of how power is gained, maintained and legitimized. The second part deals with the given patterns of corruption. Monopolistic and centralized power structure typical of the Soviet Union had generated so called ,,legalized corruption” in the shape of institutionalized system of privileges held by the power elite. The informal network of patron – client relationships is another product of the Soviet political system peculiarities. Whereas the case of the United States of America shows how democratic competition leads to a variety of corruption practices around election procedures. The role of the interest groups which are, in the harmony with the spirit of the American political culture, institutions of democratic participation can lead to a corruptive exchange between donors and politicians.
EN
CULTURAL PARADIGM IN political science is understood as an issue of the importance of norms and values shared by the members of a given society in political life. Corruption, which is a phenomenon occurring within political space, can be also determined by cultural influences. Given two examples of completely different political and axiological – normative systems such as democratic United States and undemocratic Soviet Union, we are able to observe how cultural determinants shape the probability of power being misused for private gain. Among both power elite representatives and ordinary members of the society beliefs concerning legal order and politics may have significant, but often difficult to grasp, impact on the susceptibility and opportunity of corruption. As written in this paper, cultural order can be indirectly conducive to corruption by legitimizing solutions within political system which encourage and enable public officials to engage in corrupt practices. Values and norms internalized by participants of political system may also determine corruption directly by increasing their willingness to become corrupt and corrupt others.
PL
Artykuł jest próbą odpowiedzi na pytanie o rolę kategorii pogranicza w polskiej politologii. Opiera się na informacjach uzyskanych w ankiecie skierowanej do 223 polskich politologów, w której zapytano ich o wagę oraz eksplanacyjny potencjał kategorii pogranicza w analizie politologicznej. Niski poziom responsywności uniemożliwia dokonanie generalizacji na całe środowisko politologiczne, dlatego tekst niniejszy jest jedynie syntezą opinii politologów, którzy odpowiedzieli na naszą ankietę. Kategoria pogranicza przedstawiona jest jako ważna i przydatna w analizie politologicznej, przede wszystkim ze względu na jej integralny związek ze współcześnie zachodzącymi zmianami, takimi jak globalizacja, deterytorializacja i regionalizacja. Pogranicze jest szczególnie istotną kategorią w politologicznej refleksji nad zmianą statusu państw narodowych oraz zmieniającą się funkcją granic państwowych. W tekście wyodrębniono również podstawowe konteksty badawcze, w jakich politolodzy wykorzystują pojęcie pogranicza. W końcowej części artykułu autorzy formułują postulaty teoretyczno-metodologiczne dotyczące stosowania kategorii pogranicza w analizie politologicznej.
EN
This article is an attempt to address a question of significance of the borderland as a research category in the Polish political science. The authors use information collected in the survey conducted among 223 polish political scientists, who were asked about the importance and explanatory potential of the borderland concept in the political analysis. Since the response rate was low it is impossible to make any generalizations concerning the whole academia of the Polish political science, thus the text is merely a synthesis of the opinions of those who have responded. According to this data, the category of borderland is an important and useful tool in the political analysis, due to its close connection with the changes of the contemporary world like globalization, deteritorialization and regionalization. The borderland category is especially significant in the reflection on the changing status of nation-states and functions of state borders. The article also outlines the basic research themes within which the concept of borderland is employed by the political scientists. The authors conclude with a few methodological and theoretical postulates on applying the category of borderland in political science.
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