How to defeat corruption in Russia? Essay "how to overcome corruption." Career ladder for an official

From the editor: Well-known Orthodox entrepreneur and philanthropist Sergei Vladimirovich Pisarev asked the National Press Club to disseminate his article as widely as possible on the diagnosis and methods of treating the main social and state ulcer of modern Russia. It is with great pleasure that we fulfill the request, because the article deserves attention not only for its topic, but also for its level of execution. We suggest that this article be republished as widely as possible to all Orthodox-patriotic resources on the Runet and print media.

Today Russia has many unresolved global problems, and there may be even more. Or some will leave for a while, and new ones will appear. And so on until there are no more of us at all. Why?

Let's imagine a family where the father is an alcoholic. He either beats his children or loves them. Something is being dragged into the house, but more from the house. When the choice is between a bottle or a family, the bottle always wins. And most importantly, such an alcoholic can only be cured if he himself wants it.

The state’s “collective father” is officials - those who make decisions not only for themselves, but for all of us. Our “father” - the state apparatus - is seriously ill and, just like an alcoholic-drug addict, “addicted”. This disease is well known - CORRUPTION. And the main problem is not that “this is not good,” or even that not all the money reaches its destination. The main problem is that the state governance mechanism is deformed. If there is CORRUPTION, then in principle it is possible to bring entire state-forming sectors of the economy into decline. You can “install” a non-professional, but your minister, governor or “general”. You can imprison a non-criminal competitor, and acquit the criminal. Buy a doctor's diploma, the title of Hero, the position of director, a place in a kindergarten, a deputy, the loyalty of a traffic cop, a prosecutor...

Soon they will stop even ritually talking about the fight against CORRUPTION, since “this is not a fight and this is not a result.” CORRUPTION, like the REVOLUTION in its time, has won. This means that any decisions (including the right ones) that any leaders want to implement may either not take place, or, ultimately, take such a form that it would be better for them not to exist, not to mention the fact that increasingly, for the sake of personal interests, decisions that are frankly incorrect and harmful to society as a whole are being implemented or promoted. A recent example: the signing of an agreement on military-technical cooperation with Israel, according to which we not only transfer hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact, for the development of the military-industrial complex (MIC) of the country, which just yesterday, together with the Georgian commandos, participated in the murder of our soldiers in South Ossetia, but we are also deprived of the opportunity to supply many billions of dollars worth of our military-industrial complex products to the countries of the Middle East - Russia’s traditional partners.

A family where the father is “dependent” ultimately has no future. Is there a way out?

To solve problems, it is usually proposed to use two incentives, which can conventionally be called “external”: encouragement or punishment. In our case, incentives are apparently futile, because the size of the kickback or bribe will always be preferable.

Punishment is also a problem. As V.V. Putin said: “You should hang for corruption, but this is not our way.” Indeed, if we follow this path, we risk being left without most of the state apparatus. And who will make such decisions “if anything”? The same representatives of the state apparatus who will simply change the price tag. It turns out that using only “external factors” (reward-punishment) is simply a waste of time.

But there are also “internal factors”: conscience, patriotism, religiosity... At one time it was even noticeable how officers from the special services were massively appointed to different positions, who, no matter what they say, but until the “final victory of market relations” in The majority of the Russian Federation had a conscience and were patriots. But, as one metropolitan official told me - former general Having got into the “system”, within a year I felt what is called “looking in the mirror”, how the boundaries of what conscience and patriotism had not previously allowed to be expanded had expanded. I wonder how much these boundaries can expand in five years? And in ten? Apparently ad infinitum, because the latest failure of our ten intelligence officers in the USA is also CORRUPTION. By the way, replacing the term “thief” or “traitor” with “corrupt official” also contributes to “expanding boundaries.” What remains? Dead end?

No. There is a solution, but it is as simple as it is controversial.

In Russia, it turns out, there is a huge structure comparable in size to some government ministries: with its pros and cons, goals and objectives, income and expenses, management system, but where is CORRUPTION, how global PROBLEMS, no and cannot be. This is the Russian Orthodox Church.

Having written these lines, one can hear a friendly chorus of God-fighters, liberal politicians and journalists: “priests build churches to launder their money,” “we steal, but are they all saints?” and so on. Thanks to the incessant anti-religious propaganda, many citizens of the Russian Federation, who do not know the real internal church life, think so. Who can argue, there are plenty of problems within the Church. Parishioners and priests meet in such a way that God forbid! But negative characters in the church environment are the exception, while among officials the exception is those who do not break the law. Why does this happen? The answer is simple: churchgoer(not to be confused with those who have just been baptized and attend church for PR or once a year at Easter), a person who seriously believes in God has a “permanent internal limit” on committing sin. Of course, what is called “who is not without sin?”, but, firstly, they are different (for some, only a bad thought is already a reason for repentance), and secondly, for a believer, sin (in in this case we are talking about corruption, i.e. theft) is, first of all, personal internal problem, which has to be fought regardless of the presence or absence of “external factors” (reward-punishment). Therefore, naturally, among priests and church-going citizens, the number of those who have broken the law has always been and will be thousands of times smaller. Examples where people radically changed their lives in better side after turning to God - millions.

Of course, these arguments can be fully applied not only to the Russian Orthodox Church, but also to representatives of other traditional faiths in Russia: Muslims, Buddhists, Jews.

Of the problems that the state is fighting (or should fight) today, CORRUPTION has come out on top. The damage from its consequences is already commensurate with the damage that our country suffered after Hitler’s invasion. A little more and CORRUPTION will undermine the foundation of the entire state, and it will collapse. A recent example is Iraq, where in order to destroy and seize the country it was enough to bribe several people in the leadership of the army top. (I wonder, could there be individuals in our Ministry of Defense who, for money, are capable of committing actions not in the interests of Russia and its citizens?).

The basic principle of today's appointments is loyalty to senior management. This principle has obvious advantages, but there are also disadvantages. Question: what more? Enough time has passed for those who are guided by this principle to be able to answer it for themselves. For society as a whole, the answer is obvious.

We propose to begin the formation of a personnel reserve from Orthodox church-going professionals, patriots of their country, of whom there are enough in Russia - you just need to want to find them. In real proportion, this reserve should also include representatives of other traditional faiths in Russia. The gradual promotion of such people to leadership positions will change Russia, create a class in the country real elite and will allow us to revive the key principle of interaction between the state and the individual for the Russian people: JUSTICE.

Of course, no one proposes to simplify everything to the limit: “a church-going professional working without salary and social guarantees", or a proposal - to remove any punishment for bribery. Of course not. The question is priorities and understanding the need for urgent action. From here, at a minimum, you need the following:

1. Recognize CORRUPTION as the main problem of the Russian Federation today.

2. Realize that the main danger of CORRUPTION is not so much the moral and economic aspect as the possible collapse of governance, the reality of the formation of decisions harmful to society, incl. betrayal at any level.

3. Recognize that " external factors"(reward-punishment) in its current form only stimulate the spread of CORRUPTION and must be radically revised, taking into account the realities of the present time. (For example: an official convicted of corruption is PERMANENTLY deprived of the right to work in the civil service. He is obliged to compensate for the damage caused, and his personal property is subject to confiscation; all relatives come under scrutiny, and if they cannot indicate sources of income, then their property is subject to confiscation. In this case, prison punishment is not necessary.)

4. When selecting management personnel, human qualities (spirituality, honesty, decency, etc.) should be in 1st place, professionalism in 2nd place, and loyalty in 3rd place (any rearrangement of the places of the “components” sooner or later will still lead to the same problem). It is necessary that the official be a patriot for whom Russia will always be his homeland. It is unacceptable when we meet civil servants whose homes and wives are abroad, and whose children study in foreign paid institutions (as one liberal governor said: “My children ended up in Switzerland because the living conditions there are spartan.” Apparently, Thanks to the friendly work of such “servants of the people”, life in Russia is disgustingly easy and comfortable, and many poor souls have to move to London, Switzerland or the Cote d’Azur in search of difficulties).

5. ANTI-CORRUPTION propaganda in the media (a corrupt official is a criminal who steals the present from us and the future from our children, etc.).

Let, for lack of opportunity, carry out today " National idea" With capital letters, the elimination of CORRUPTION will unite all layers of society: both “left” and “right”, and “agree” and “disagree”. The Russian people have the desire for this. The will of its leadership is needed. But we need to start from the very top, and the first step has already been taken: the President, the Chairman of the Government, and a number of other senior government officials in general fully meet the above requirements. The only trouble is that they are still in the overwhelming minority.

Sergey Vladimirovich Pisarev , President of the Russian Entrepreneur Foundation, Co-coordinator of the State Patriotic Club-Ural Party " United Russia»

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Comments 3

Comments

3. Old Russian: The reason for corruption is the rottenness of the system
2010-09-17 at 22:34

To defeat corruption we must defeat the current
regime, which is its source. Its organ-
we-tentacles - media and TV + "provision" for no one
will allow you to lose your “additional” earnings -
cov. Igor is absolutely right. The system is rotten from above
down to the bottom and until we dismantle it, nothing worthwhile
not formed. Yes, Orthodox Christians will not steal,
but that’s precisely why they won’t be allowed one step closer to...

2. Igor:
2010-09-17 at 12:07

The fish rots from the head. Even if we imagine that the entire apparatus of officials is changing, but one government remains, all these “churched officials” will turn into the same swamp in a year. To change the Presidential tandem, a revolution is needed that is cleaner than the October Revolution in 17, because then all the world’s evil overturned Russia, and now Russia needs to overturn all the world’s evil.
What the author proposes can be implemented (and definitely must be implemented) so far only at the level of small territorial entities. However, using legal methods (elections, propaganda, etc.), I assure you, this is impossible even at the level of rural administration. Until there is a real one behind the Russian Idea physical strength(let this be another “ban underground” in the terminology of the authorities) there can be no talk of any promotion of this Idea. For the media apparatus, which is in the hands of the authorities, is millions of times greater in its impact than all the propaganda resources of the Russian opposition and is supported by the punitive bodies of the security forces, the constitution and other laws. Against Russia there's a war going on, and in war, as you know, all means are good. Until the Russian ideological opposition matures to the point of realizing the use of force (but not a stupid rebellion, but a well-calibrated guerrilla warfare similar to Hamas), it will serve the goals of our occupiers more than its own people.
The situation cannot be corrected by changing the cogs in the system. The entire system needs to be broken, both physically and spiritually. Anyone who doubts that a real, “hot” war is going on against Russia, let him count the number of deaths over the last 20 years that could have been avoided if we had not promoted alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, sadomy, extreme sports, debauchery, and the cult of profit. And " American dream"and other abominations from desolation. There are tens of millions of these victims. And how many prisoners - who voluntarily left Russia under the temptation of the "sweet life" and working for our occupiers! And what are the economic losses from the economic decline! And how much do we have left of the army - 1\ Part 10! This list of losses goes on and on. They have already exceeded the losses in the Great. Patriotic War and the one who does not see the war has already died in it. If Menu had not been hit on the head with an ax, he would still be a Judaizer in the Church of Christ. Every war has its soldiers, officers and generals. The soldiers of the ideological, spiritual war are all seduced, actually recruited, intellectually captive people who support this government. Officers are recruiters, intoxicators (such as Svanidze, Pozner, Dorenko, Solovyov and other children of Judas). Generals are the behind-the-scenes rulers of the world, Masonic and proto-Masonic tycoons. But they don't go into battle. In any battle they begin with the destruction of officers - this is the law.
Have the Russians forgotten how to fight? No. They either died spiritually in this war as individuals, or became the obedient civilian population of the occupied territory. But there are still those who are ready to fight. There are not many of them, so all the strength of today's Russian Thought should be directed at their intelligent unification, unity and measured actions. Yes, this falls under various articles of the punitive occupation laws, but we were not born Russians on Russian soil “for the sake of fear of the Jews.”
God help you!

1. Anonymous: Re: How to defeat corruption in Russia?
2010-09-17 at 10:42

"The main problem is that the government governance mechanism is deformed."

The main problem is that the “spiritual mechanism” of the people in general and each individual person in particular is deformed. As this deformation decreases, the deformation of the state governance mechanism will begin to disappear.

If with God we do not heal the spirit,
My head is buzzing with lice and flies...

Only blame yourself for the grief
And don’t return evil for evil.

“The question is about priorities...” - Truly!

“Russian people, try starting your questioning of all your deputies with this question: “How long have you been, sir, comrade?” last time in the temple of God at Confession and Holy Communion?" And if the gentleman or fellow deputy forgot the way to the temple of God, or even did not know at all, it would be better for you not to put such a thing over yourself.
Yes, and outside the Church there are worthy and honest people. Agree. Yes, and in the Church there are children who cannot manage a family of three - why should such a person meddle in state affairs? I’ll say more: people can be terribly morally dirty and... church man. This is being told to you by a man who has listened to more than ONE THOUSAND confessions, and is therefore responsible for his words. Still, I advise you to elect church people to responsible positions. I assure you: these confessions taught me a little about understanding the human soul..."

“My dears, I repeat once again: what kind of rulers we deserve - these are the ones we have. And in the future, what kind of rulers we beg from God - he will give them to us. The Lord will give such an obstinate and quarrelsome people rulers. Where do our rulers come from? Yes, they are like us in everything, flesh from the bones of their people. mine if we want good rulers: wise, God-fearing, conscientious - we must first become such ourselves: God-fearing, conscientious. CURRENT LESS, PRAY MORE. When you have to “suffer unjustly”, bear it with patience and meekness, not “backbiting each other,” but “committing it to the Righteous Judge,” as the Apostle teaches.
[...]
Forgive me, Russian people, but I’ll say it bluntly: you scold these “occupiers” as much as you can, but if you put you in their place, many of you will become exactly the same “occupiers”, or even worse . Power is both sacred and terrible. The test of power is one of the most difficult for a person...If there is no God above people, i.e. there is no fear of God in their souls - believe me, money and power can turn even the most conscientious and kind-hearted of such people into cruel and unscrupulous ones. Therefore, for such people, into whose hands a lot of money and great power, requires extreme intense prayer- so that the Lord will help them pass this final test too..."

Heavy inheritance

By the time it gained independence (1965), Singapore was in a deplorable state - poverty for the majority of the population, embezzlement and bribery were an integral part of the life of the state. The country was sorely lacking natural resources– we even had to import fresh water and construction sand.

Although the British colonial authorities left a legacy of an effective management system, it was powerless against the level of corruption that overwhelmed Singapore. The fight against abuses in government was greatly complicated by the fact that many officials were involved in a corruption scheme.

The development of corruption was facilitated by the modest earnings of civil servants in comparison with employees of the commercial sector. Moreover, a significant part of the population had an extremely low level of education and legal culture. In such a situation, bribes were the only way to increase their income.

Political will

The man who managed to change the situation in the country was Lee Kuan Yew. With his People's Action party in June 1959, he won the elections and took the post of prime minister. "A group of bourgeois who received English education, leaders” - as she called herself new batch– immediately began to restore order in the social, legal and economic spheres.
The determination with which Lee Kuan Yew began his reforms is best characterized by his statement: “If you want to defeat corruption, be prepared to jail your friends and relatives.” From now on, the law ruled the country. Everyone was equal before him - be it a mid-level official or a member of parliament.

According to the new government, in order to cope with malfeasance, it was necessary to completely eliminate the established scheme: power - money - corruption. For these purposes, the Ministry of Finance developed a special anti-corruption program, which included a number of measures. Here are some of them:

– ensuring transparency of control of lower-level officials by higher-level ones;
– maintaining a rotation of officials to avoid the formation of corruption ties;
– carrying out unannounced inspections
– improving procedures for interaction with citizens and organizations in order to eliminate bureaucratic delays;
Lee Kuan Yew's party also cared about the formation of an independent and objective media that would impartially cover all corruption scandals.

First of all - prosperity

One of the most important measures to effectively combat corruption was increasing salaries for officials. “They deserve it for their decent and honest work,” said Lee Kuan Yew. According to the politician, if civil servants are not paid extra, it is unlikely that they will be able to avoid a “brain drain” to the commercial sector.

It is stable and secure power that is the key to successful governance of the country.
The increase in the wealth of officials quickly made itself felt - on public service moved the best specialists. And with the onset of rapid economic recovery wage officials began to grow in proportion to the income of the private sector.

The fact is that Lee Kuan Yew modified the traditional scheme of income for senior officials. Now, salary revisions for ministers, judges and senior civil servants have become automatically linked to the amount of income taxes paid by the private sector. The formula for salaries of officials, which still works, looks like this: the salary level of a civil servant was determined as 2/3 of the income of a private sector employee of comparable rank, noted by him in his tax return.

"Bureau of Investigation of Contagious Greed"

From the British colonial government, Singaporeans received the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CBI), which was popularly called the “Contagious Greed Investigation Bureau”. The Director of the Bureau was directly responsible for his activities to the Prime Minister of the country. The main functions of the DBK are to consider complaints about abuse of official position, cases of negligence, negligence and bribery committed by public servants.

The Bureau was endowed with authoritarian powers. It had the right, without a court order, to detain and search those suspected of corruption, and to check their bank and share accounts. The bureau could also conduct a case against the suspect's relatives, call in any witnesses for questioning, and also investigate offenses that arose during the course of studying the case.
The DBK had the right to hold absolutely any citizen accountable, regardless of his status, rank and religion. There were no exceptions for senior civil servants, which, for example, exists in Russia. But especially close attention was paid to the employees of those government agencies who, due to their duties, occupy potentially corrupt positions.
An official who was convicted of corruption was deprived of his job, pension and all benefits.

Eat interesting numbers, given by employees Harvard University. They calculated that reducing the country's corruption from the level of Mexico to the level of Singapore would provide the state with an economic effect comparable to an increase in taxes by 20%. For example, in Russia this amount will cover budgetary allocations to science, education and healthcare combined.

Everyone obeys the law

In 1989, the DBK considered that the minimum fine for corrupt activities was insufficient and increased it from 10 thousand to 100 thousand Singapore dollars. In addition, giving false testimony or attempting to mislead the investigation became punishable imprisonment and a fine of 10 thousand Singapore dollars.
From all seeing eye Even the Prime Minister himself could not hide from this punitive body. The DBK has repeatedly conducted investigations against Lee Kuan Yew and his family members, although they had no results. But during the activities of the DBK, several federal ministers were sent to jail, public figures, heads of trade unions and top managers of state-owned companies.

Here is one of the sensational stories when a large government official- Head of the Ministry of Security environment Wee Tun Boon. In 1975, he and his family took a trip to Indonesia. But the trip was not paid for from the official’s own pocket, but by the contractor who built his housing, whose interests Wee Tun Boon represented before government officials.

Moreover, the Minister also received from the contractor a mansion worth S$500 thousand and two loans that he took out in the name of his father for a total of S$300 thousand for speculation on stock market. After the accusation and trial Wee Tun Boon was sentenced to four years and six months in prison. The verdict was appealed. The court upheld the charges, although the prison term was reduced by 18 months.

It is necessary to fight corruption, but obviously not in the same way as they are fighting it now. There are more than enough examples in History - Singapore, China, Hong Kong. In these countries there was corruption worse than in Russia, but they were able to defeat it in a very short time. Having defeated corruption, these countries began to develop at an unprecedented pace, surprising economists from all countries.
Further from the author: Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) highlights only occasional moments, while the system as a whole needs to be changed.

Execution for corruption in China

The political system in Russia, copied from the Western model, does not work the way it works in the West. This is especially noticeable locally, in small towns. With the help of PR technologies, crooks come to power for money and plan to use their official position solely for personal interests and material enrichment. The people are viewed as a gray, faceless mass - the main resource for enrichment. Political system it definitely needs to be changed, limiting the rights of officials, introducing criteria for the effectiveness of their work. It is necessary to carry out mass purges of officials, including using a lie detector. Many officials do not consider Russia at all as their future place of residence - their children and wives live abroad, and the officials themselves are ready to leave at any moment. List of measures:
1. Abolish parliamentary immunity.
Using a lie detector to interrogate officials
2. Hire officials after taking a lie detector test.
3. Hire officials after interrogation under hypnosis.
4. Test officials on a monthly lie detector test.
5. Interrogate officials monthly using hypnosis.
It is difficult to fool a lie detector, but lying under hypnosis is impossible.
The question arises why these measures are practically not used in the investigation of corruption crimes.
6. Eliminate the statute of limitations for corruption crimes
that is, you can go to jail even for a bribe received 20 years ago.
7. Declare capital punishment for corruption crimes.
The highest penalty is life imprisonment (better the death penalty, as in China).

Officials restricted from traveling? Why not. This is how employees of the Prosecutor's Office and employees of defense enterprises live, for example.

8. Make officials and their family members unable to travel abroad for at least 10-15 years after the end of their term. (i.e. they cannot obtain a foreign passport during work and 5-15 years after dismissal, and if they had a passport, they are required to hand it over to the Federal Migration Service)
The fact that the children of officials study and live abroad demotivates the official to create quality education in Russia, the fact that his family members live abroad demotivates the official to create a high standard of living in Russia. The fact that the official and his family members are being treated abroad demotivates the official to create high-quality medicine in Russia. Why try and develop education, medicine, and improve the standard of living in Russia if an official has built a reserve airfield there, in fact, he lives abroad with one foot in front of him, but here in Russia he lives out of suitcases, and is ready to leave at any moment when they “come for him” , taking advantage of parliamentary immunity.

Where does the money come from?

9. Develop measures by which a person who knows about the commission of a corrupt act and hides this fact from law enforcement agencies becomes an accomplice to the crime and receives 7-10 years.
For example, the wife or mistress of an official, who knows that his husband’s official salary is, say, 150 thousand, and at the same time the official gives her a diamond necklace or a yacht, or they fly to vacation on a luxury island, or he buys a house, should not be happy but clarify where the money comes from? And without receiving an intelligible answer, go to the police and write a statement because... sooner or later she will be imprisoned, the official will be subject to capital punishment, and their children will end up in an orphanage.
Or: A deputy, colleague, subordinate, who knows about an impending or committed corrupt act, is obliged to report this to the law enforcement agencies, in this case, he is a witness in this case, receives a bonus in the amount of 10-50% of the bribe received and can apply for the position of a corrupt official. If the subordinate does not report, then he is declared an accomplice, and they both receive a prison sentence.

What are the performance criteria for officials?

10. Develop criteria for the effectiveness of officials, and fire them for ineffective work.
The dismissal of officials should become simple and commonplace. After dismissal, an official does not have the right to hold government or leadership positions for 5-10 years.

Career ladder for an official

11. Develop a career ladder for major officials: presidents, governors and mayors, i.e. An effective municipal/state manager of a lower rank, and not a person from the street, can become a major official, i.e.:
If a person effectively managed a school, hospital, technical school, institute, etc. then he can apply for the post of deputy in a certain area/district.
After he has effectively managed a given district/section, he can apply for a higher post.
Then the mayor, then the governor, and only then the president.
Naturally, he can be thrown out for corruption at any stage.
To become a doctor, you study for 6-7 years and are responsible for the lives of hundreds of people.
To become a firefighter, you study for 3-4 years and then are responsible for the lives of dozens of people.
Moreover, both a firefighter and a doctor can easily be fired for not showing up for work, for ineffective work, for causing harm to health or the death of a person.
And to become a deputy, influencing the life, health, well-being of thousands and sometimes millions of people, you don’t need to study anywhere, and you don’t need to know anything, your attitude he can be anyone to voters, he doesn’t have to go to work, he can pass laws aimed at the health of voters or worsen their living conditions, and he cannot be fired for this.

Confiscation of illegally acquired property.

12. Confiscation of all property, incl. those objects that do not officially belong to the official, but which the official regularly used. In this case, the legal owner of the property must prove that the property officially and actually belongs to him and he has the resources to do so. more official income. Also, the official owner must prove, using a lie detector and/or hypnosis, that he has no connection with the official, i.e. it does not represent his financial, business, political or other interests.
That is, you need to understand that if an official stays at a hotel 5 times in a row, this is one thing, but if he regularly lives in a country estate with an area of ​​1000 sq.m. which belongs to his mother, whose pension is 12 thousand rubles. This is completely different.
In conclusion, I would like to add that the official should be as originally intended - a person working in the interests of society, in the interests of the people. Now it's the other way around.

German and American professors discuss how to defeat corruption in Russia

The international conference “Cultural and Economic Changes in Comparative Perspective”, which was organized by the Laboratory of Comparative Studies, ended in St. Petersburg. social research National Research University Higher School of Economics. Scientists from different countries who took part in it spoke about how to fight corruption and why some countries succeed in modernization and others do not..

Eric USLANER, professor government controlled and politics at the University of Maryland (USA), has been doing research for many years.

– Which countries are most successful in fighting corruption??

– There are two places that can be called models of the fight against corruption: Singapore and Hong Kong. They began their anti-corruption campaign in the 1960s. Both territories faced at that time external threat represented by China. Their leaders were faced with the problem of retaining power in their hands, and for this it was necessary to enlist the support of the population. And therefore they were concerned not about the implementation of corruption schemes, but about the development government programs helping ordinary people.

Without going into too much detail, I believe that the solution to corruption begins with universal basic education. When people have the opportunity to improve their skills, their chances of finding better job, which makes them more independent from corrupt authorities.

– It is believed that democratic countries fight corruption more successfully. This is true?

– It is a very common opinion that social order determines the level of corruption. But it is not always the case. Very many democratic regimes extremely corrupt. Alone European countries more successful than others. Greece, for example, is very corrupt, as is Italy, which is considered to have the most high level corruption.

The Scandinavian countries are the least corrupt - and they also have the highest level of equality. It is known that in countries with a high level of social equality, people treat each other better and respect other people's rights. And many democratic countries, with high levels of inequality, also have high levels of corruption. The mere establishment of democracy does not guarantee equal distribution of wealth in society, that is, the social structure has nothing to do with it.

– What kind of equality are you talking about?

– By equality I mean, first of all, equal distribution of income and wealth among the population. The role of the state in ensuring this equality is enormous. In the Scandinavian countries, everything is done for this: there, for example, the system of universal education is very developed. People there receive essential services simply because they live in this country. You don't have to be a citizen; migrants have the same rights. This creates a feeling of inclusion in society and increases the level of trust. Equality and trust go hand in hand: in a society where their level is high, the level of corruption automatically decreases, since people do not feel the need to divide into groups. Instead, they take care of each other themselves. I'm talking not only about economic, but also about social equality, in which people feel like they are part of the same group, and not different ones.

– Which corruption is more dangerous – everyday corruption or corruption at the top?

- They are inseparable. If the top of society is not corrupt, then Everyday life there will be no room for corruption. And vice versa: if the regime in your country is very corrupt, then this affects the average resident of this country, since he ultimately has to pay for the most necessary services: for security, for school, and so on. This means that people are left less money for everything else. Thus, the state receives less and less money from the population to provide security, education, health care, and roads. And it's a vicious circle. Politicians are only concerned with putting more money in your own pocket. Obviously, any money stolen is money that did not go towards running public services. And it just seems that they are not stealing from your own pockets - in fact, this is exactly what happens .

– Where does corruption begin: at the macro or micro level?

– As a rule, at the macro level. But having arisen there, it very quickly comes to life. ordinary people, who, although they do not accept corruption, play by its rules, since they do not see options to fight the system. And here the state plays a decisive role.

– Do culture and mentality have an impact?

– There are no cultures that are corrupt by definition. Although many Asian cultures, oriented towards self-reliance and protecting the interests of the group, offer us the best examples of the fight against corruption. But corruption is not something that is inherited. First of all, everything depends on the economy.

– You said that universal education is very important for the fight against corruption. In Russia, for example, there is a very high percentage of people with higher education. What's wrong with us?

– I am not well enough familiar with the situation in Russia in all aspects. But as for education, although it helps improve living conditions, if you also need good connections to succeed, then education fades into the background. When we ask the question, “What do you think is more important to success: hard work or connections?” – in the West people usually answer: “You have to work hard.” But in Russia you still have . This is where the problem lies.

Christian WELZEL, Head of Research Department political culture University of Leufana (Germany), deals with the problems of modernization and uneven development of countries.

– It's obvious that different countries develop unevenly. What is the main reason here - mentality, resources, leaders?

– The main reason is that countries enter the modernization process while in different conditions. Geographical or religious. The geostrategic position largely determines the future of the country - whether it has, say, great empires in the neighborhood or not. There is a whole complex of factors that direct countries along different trajectories.

The problem is that almost all countries adhere to the path that historically fell to them (in English language there is such a thing as path-dependent), and for them it is very difficult to leave a given trajectory. But it still happens. Best examples – Asian countries. Some of them were as poor as the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. For example, in the 1960s South Korea was at the same income level as Ghana. And now this rich state, one of the four "East Asian tigers".

– If we exclude the geographical factor and look at countries in similar conditions, what is the reason for the differences between them?

– If the geography is the same, then the first place comes to the presence or absence of the right to choose, the nature of existing institutions and the ideology in which they are included. It is interesting to track how the societies of lagging countries and leading countries are developing. "Asian Tigers" - good example how, in an effort to catch up with modernization, you can reopen your own country and organize effective reforms.

There are such examples in history too. For example, when German Prussia was defeated by Napoleon's troops in 1812, people realized: their society - not only in the military sense, but also in the internal political sense - was organized incorrectly, and therefore it was dying. And they turned to more successful examples and tried to repeat their path.

But this model only works under two conditions. First: you must have political strategy, some own recipe. But this is not enough. You need people with power. And, by the way, the regime in the country does not have to be democratic. The main thing is leaders who can unite people to fulfill the national mission, and not just seize power for the sake of self-enrichment. It seems to me that this problem is especially acute in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where leaders traditionally use power to generate additional income for themselves and their circles.

– In Russia, many believe that all its troubles are due to sitting on the “oil needle”. Do you agree with this?

– The problem with Russia is that its economy is based on the export of oil and gas. This is the so-called “resource curse”. IN modern world it turned out that possession big amount natural resources - gas, oil, minerals - are not at all a gift from above. Quite the contrary, resource dependence puts the state on a trajectory that leads in the wrong direction. As long as the state receives excess income from an oil or gas monopoly, it does not need to think about universal income tax, which means there is no urgent need to interact with the population. Reliance on income not related to the population always leads to state institutions are becoming less and less representative.

Further: when your income is based on the export of natural resources, you stop investing in human capital. This means that there is no incentive in society to develop the knowledge economy, which gives the strongest impetus to development: you can invent intellectual products and sell them at high price on the international market.

– How do you assess the situation in Russia after the introduction of sanctions?

– I would call this situation counterproductive for both sides – for Russia and for the West. In Russia, nationalist sentiments are now becoming stronger. At the same time, there are a number of liberal-minded people, and the West would like to help them become more influential. The West lacks an understanding of the Russian mentality; they know nothing about the Russian vision of the situation. Therefore, the position that Russia now occupies is incomprehensible to us. And in conditions of complete misunderstanding it is impossible to negotiate.