Siberian Federal University

Issue

Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2025 18 (8)

Authors

Drobyshevsky, Sergey A.

Contact information

Drobyshevsky, Sergey A.: Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation;

Keywords

corruption; corruption manifestations; society; state; law; sovereign power; anti-corruption work; persuasion; coercion

Abstract

The ideas that are useful for understanding corruption and conducting anti- corruption work are proposed. First, corruption is the abuse of official powers for the benefit of the one who abuses them, as well as people close to him, and not the use of public opportunities for private interests. The second definition is incorrect, as it does not highlight the specifics of corruption so clearly that, using it, it would be possible to accurately separate corruption manifestations in society from everything else. Secondly, corruption did not arise with the emergence of the state after the disintegration of primitive society, but earlier. Corruption, as the above facts demonstrate, is already present in the primitive social organism of the hunter- gatherers of the Cheyenne of North America. Thirdly, corruption can be inherent within a society not only to the bodies that govern it entirely (in the state – to state bodies). Corruption is also possible in other governing structures within the society (in the state – in non-governmental organizations). This is the case due to the same manifestation of its essence both in the governing bodies of the whole society and in other governing structures within the society. Fourth, corruption is necessarily harmful to society. When confronted with a certain phenomenon that is legally recognized as corrupt but does not harm society, the law should be changed to eliminate such a situation. Fifth, one of the reasons that the majority of society members need to be persuaded rather than coerced in the anti-corruption fight is this. Convincing this majority is difficult, but it is not dangerous for the sovereign government. But there is such a danger, including even the overthrow of the existing political system, when attempts are made to force the specified majority by the sovereign power

Pages

1524–1531

EDN

ITSRBY

Paper at repository of SibFU

https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/156693

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).