CORRUPTION – A PATHOLOGY OF POWER AND OF DEVELOPMENT. ROMANIA’S CASE

Abstract

This paper attempts to provide an overview on the corruption phenomenon as a distinct pathology of power and of development in a “transition country” as is the case of Romania. In the first part of this paper, the author outlines an interpretative model of Romania’s development process, based on the concept of “anomie” that has been frequently used in order to evaluate the situation of the former communist societies in the transition process. From this point of view, the anomie means the insufficiency of regulation (on an economic, political, legal and even moral level) and the insufficient social integration (in the way of a lack of adherence to a set of shared values which could facilitate the convergence of actions). These deficiencies bring about an amplification of the social costs of transition and perverse effects of the development process. In Romania, the transition process brought about, besides a range of important social-economic and political changes, an unprecedented amplification of corruption phenomenon as a true pathology of power and of development. In the second part of this paper, the autor assesses the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the corruption in Romania and highlights his prevalence in the public administration, justice, and at political level