Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 20th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Civil Service Author(s) Tatyana Chernyak The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Novosibirsk Russian Federation Title Fight against corruption in Russia: Incentiives and obstacles File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Tatyana Chernyak Abstract Fight against Corruption in Russia: Incentives and Obstacles Chernyak Tatyana, deputy pro-rector of study, Associated professor, Department of personnel management In continuation of the topic of her monographic research the author of the article gives estimation to specific situation that has developed in Russia for the last 20 years and shows interconnection of power accountability and corruption based on data analysis regarding the state of various spheres of social life and institutes, evaluation of opinion polls’ data. In the course of this subject exploration there will be considered the issues on specific character of an institutional organization, leading to corruption, chances to fight against corruption in conditions of underdeveloped democratic institutions and system of ‘separation of powers’, possible causes of lack of social protests and real changes in Russia in the situation of total corruptness of the state. As the issue of authorities’ accountability is a key one in conditions of democracy since in “the system of management where authorities are accountable to citizens, responsible for their actions in public sphere and citizens actualize their interests through competition and interrelation of their elected representatives” (early 90-ies, Philip Shmitter and Terry Lynn Karl), it is democracy that presupposes presence of some formal institutions within which authorities are accountable to citizens. The article analyzes the issue of possible authorities’ accountability if it is vertically measured as only in “institutionalized democracy accountability is actualized vertically and horizontally” (Guilermo O’Donnel); vertical accountability is realized in the system of electoral competition and horizontal one in the format of independent autonomous institutes. The problem of corruption according a number of researchers (O’Donnel) is connected with functioning or non-functioning of these institutes. World Bank research in this sphere proves that in the countries with high level of corruption democratic institutes as main institutes of accountability are either unavailable or have significant drawback. According to A.G. Barabashev, corruption is a phenomenon, i.e. not a separate thing, but just a consequence of more important phenomenon, namely inefficiency of institutes. In other words, corruption is a manifestation of dysfunction, a signal of poor work of institutes as a complex of consistent norms, which tend to be reproduced irrespective of personal composition and are guaranteed by law. The institutes’ goal is to decrease the uncertainty in people’s relations as the institute is a trinity of interrelated formal norms, informal prescripts and conditions of their functioning. In case interrelation fails, their continuity disappears and formal institutes are replaced by informal ones, which are connected with specific society, culture, historic conditions, their detailed analysis is given in the article. The article based on data analysis of multiple research works and data of multi-year own research in civil service structures also in a broader context studies specific features of institutional organization in Russia causing corruption. The author estimates chances to fight against corruption in the vertical power structure as well as gives alternative solutions to problem of persistence and triumph of corruption despite constant declarations of authorities concerning necessity of its elimination, etc.
