Democracy and Super-Mafia

Abstract

Liberal Versus Illiberal Democracy

Some of the new political regimes from the former communist countries that call themselves democracies, question the effectiveness of various forms of state organization. Their political leaders declare traditional values as opposed to liberal democratic values, in which a liberal state must give way to an illiberal state. Alternative approaches of illiberal democracy include: order, family, religion, the cult of the motherland, mythologization of the past, control of the media, the special role of the army and special services, and even claims to restore the death penalty. They use populism for propaganda purposes in combination with the “strong hand” method of the head of state, they seek to bring the judicial system under control (that is, under their control), as one of the branches of government, take direct control of the state media, prosecute representatives of the political opposition and prominent public figures who are disloyal to them. Political leaders who openly advocate illiberal democracy, argue that Western values based on human rights, respect for minorities, the rule of law, and free trade are now obsolete, and European Christian democracy has been led astray by liberalism. In fact, they bring their countries under an authoritarian model of government similar to the one that exists in Russia under President Vladimir Putin. The term "illiberal democracy" is a form of verbiage which covers various forms of authoritarianism and, despite the statements of their political leaders, have nothing to do with the fundamental principles of democracy and individual freedom.

Super-Mafia

The best antidote against organized crime is the development of democracy which is not tolerant of them. Super-Mafia means that state power is seized not only by politicians, but also representatives of special services and the Mafia-style organized crime groups. They act in concert, and their actions are so intertwined and secretive that it is quite difficult even for experts to separate politics from criminal activity. In fact, representatives of the mafia are turning into big business people and politicians, and politicians and representatives of special services implement Mafia functions. The main goal of that type of Mafia is a combination of both illegal enrichment and political power. This phenomenon hardly fits into the framework of the traditional model of the institute of thieves in law (or Russian Mafia Bosses) set forth in the famous book by Mark Galeotti, The Vory: Russia‟s Super Mafia, which provides a brilliant analysis of Russian professional organized crime. The state of affairs in the Russian Federation with its repeated political killings, unprecedented thefts of state resources, the suppression of political opponents, the creation of bloody medieval regimes in the North Caucasus, is significantly different from the traditional understanding of organized crime. The Russian state is captured by a group of people combining in their actions the functions of special services, oligarchs, leaders of organized crime and politicians which can be called Super Mafia - term which is more suitable for the modern political regime of Russia than for the Russian professional organized crime.