Political Corruption: The Danger of Manifestations and the Need for Counteraction

Abstract

All countries face corruption, in particular political corruption. The complexity of fighting political corruption derives from the fact that it represents the most effective form of struggle to achieve and retain, for power. Firstly, Citizens legitimise it as political struggle, and it is deeply latent since top authorities are often involved in corrupt relations, which makes political corruption less obvious to the general public. At the same time, political corruption undermines democratic foundations and constitutes a threat to state institutions. It is highly unlikely that political corruption as well as corruption in a broader sense might be defeated, but reducing it to a certain minimum is an important task for states. To this end, nation states need to develop counter-corruption mechanisms based on an analysis of its essence and features. This paper identifies the attributes of political corruption and the guiding principles for fighting it. Based on the analysis performed, the authors break down political corruption into four types: illegal political financing, electoral financing, favouritism, and corruption in the civil service. Each of these types have their own features requiring specific tools to fight corruption both domestically and globally. The researchers made a comparative analysis of peculiarities in the political corruption fight in the Russian Federation and in Cyprus. That may help to take an account on their best practice to elaborate suggestions to improve the legal regulations and to avoid the legal gaps that may lead to political corruption.