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Corruption in Russia

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Vlad Shtyrts
Mr. Caruso
H Mod Literature
1 May 2014
Analysis of corruption in Russia
“They steal,” said Nikolai Karamzin, Russian poet, historian, and philosopher, to sum up Russia. His statement is quite accurate, because that is exactly what has been happening in Russia for the past half a millennia. Corruption is one of the main causes of all the problems in Russia. It has spread from the central government into the economy, education, health care, and national defense. Corruption directly impacts the lives of Russian citizens and the relationship with foreign nations. Russia is known to have a long history of corruption, every year it is becoming an increasing problem because it brings an overall instability to the country and affects all of its citizens. The money intended for the social systems is being routed into the pockets of rapacious politicians and criminals.
What is corruption? According to the Oxford dictionary corruption is “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery,” this is exactly what it means, but in Russia it is much more complex. There are many categories, types, and tier of corruption in Russia, each dealing with different aspects of the practice. Two main types exist, the grand and petty corruption. Grand corruption deals with the government branches, and has a greater monetary value. This type involves corruption in politics, lawmaking, and government contracts. Petty corruption is are the insignificant bribes within the smaller sectors and routine bribes between the officials and the citizens (Byrne par. 7, 8). All people in Russia encounter one or the other types of corruption at some point of their life, and this fact has an enormous impact on the society.
Russia is considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It is also one of the strongest countries with the most corruption.

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