State in Transition and Corruption. A Comparative Analysis

The late 1980’s have witnessed numerous changes in the political, economical and social structure of Eastern Europe. The fall of the Berlin Wall represented the beginning of national movements that targeted the collapse of all totalitarian political regimes in this part of the continent. The transformations that followed involved all areas of activity of the social life. In such a context of institutional remodeling, of redefining social values, the phenomenon of corruption was not only present, but had a great enough influence over the transition process. The influence of corruption manifested itself in most cases in an ambiguous legal framework, in a sum of normative acts (often contradictory ones), in a great legal instability, in a lack of reaction of the responsible institutions, etc. In the economy the effects of this phenomenon materialized in the drop of foreign investments, in the drop of the GDP per capita, in bad public investments, and so on. The comparative analysis of the present study targets mostly the way in which the administrative reform policies, the legal measures passed by the Parliament were put into action, the institutional reform, and all the measures that can determine the success or failure of an efficient anticorruption policy. Also, the process of accession is of great influence in the fight against corruption. Through the analysis of all elements taken into account and previously stated, the present study aims at distinguishing efficient methods in the fight against corruption, methods that are specific to a state in transition, but also to create a model of practices for the states in transition. The effectiveness of these measures is highlighted, among others, through the public perception of corruption, the level of economic development (GDP/capita, level of foreign investments, and so on).