.

It is curious that those leading oppressive and corrupt regimes fail to realize that they carry the seeds of their own destruction, if not for themselves then for their offspring. These regimes are properly castigated for their impact on individuals, but their disrespect for the Rule of Law permeates the whole culture of such a country. When government does not obey rules, the people come to believe that rules do not matter. And if rules do not matter, then people are free to behave as they wish. The result is chaos and an existence in which the powerful are free to prey on the vulnerable. All of which leads to an erosion in fundamental elements of human conditions such as employment, education, and housing.

Some years ago I was discussing this with a friend of a friend in a former Soviet country and I made the comment that organized crime was just as powerful as the government. The other person looked at me as if I were not quite sane and said, “Organized crime IS the government.”

One can easily see the effects of this phenomenon throughout the former Warsaw Pact countries. Corruption is rampant, which has a highly negative effect on the economy of these countries through impacts on quality of government procurement and the depletion of funds for basic services. Transparency International has documented both the effects of corruption and responses to it in 18 separate categories, such as procurement, defense, and poverty.

What is not always appreciated is how corruption bred from oppression (a failure of the Rule of Law) affects everyday expectations of the ordinary citizen. There are serious effects of lack of respect for rules. It is one thing to expect graft in the form of fees for government permits, it is another when people begin to expect graft from each other or when they no longer believe that regulations designed for safety and orderly behavior are to be observed.

Under these conditions, labor standards are often nonexistent. Factory conditions of horrific nature; forced labor, sex trafficking all may be tolerated, even when the governing regime itself is nominally “democratic” or at least not aggressively abusive. At various levels, the individual vendor or artisan is not in a position to confront demands for protection money; a small entrepreneur can be taken out of business at a moment’s notice; gypsy cab drivers take advantage of customers; and there is no recourse for any of the myriad abuses of vulnerable persons when the society has no respect for the rule of law. At corporate levels, lack of environmental controls may lead to severe consequences for the populace.

In some situations, the lack of respect for rules leads to armed groups competing for control of resources. Drug gangs in Central America and warlords in various countries share the ability to function with impunity when there is no respect for the rule of law.

In other situations, when the rules no longer seem to matter, people may take to the streets to make their own place of power. There were many factors that went into the Arab Spring of 2011 and Maidan Square in 2014, but the collapse of totalitarian regimes leaving a vacuum of rules certainly led to popular uprisings.

We sometime talk about “failed states,” but a firm foundation in the Rule of Law and a widespread belief that rules matter would forestall a great deal of the violence taking place in the world today. Labor conditions in struggling countries could be greatly improved by a serious functioning regulatory system of law. Labor conditions go hand in hand with basic human needs such as education, health care, and safe housing. None of these is possible in a state without firm respect for orderly governance.

Oppression is not just about fairness to individuals. Where oppression has eroded respect for rules, then there is little reason to expect a fully functional social fabric. Even when oppression formally ends, without a strong effort to build respect for the rule of law, ultimately the post-oppression society will collapse entirely with dire consequences for that society’s economy. Thus, it is important for oppressive regimes, as well as their oligarchical or criminal successors, to realize that the future of their entire society hinges on building respect for the Rule of Law.

Photo: Mike Blyth (cc).

The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.

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From Oppression to Corruption to Failure

August 29, 2014

It is curious that those leading oppressive and corrupt regimes fail to realize that they carry the seeds of their own destruction, if not for themselves then for their offspring. These regimes are properly castigated for their impact on individuals, but their disrespect for the Rule of Law permeates the whole culture of such a country. When government does not obey rules, the people come to believe that rules do not matter. And if rules do not matter, then people are free to behave as they wish. The result is chaos and an existence in which the powerful are free to prey on the vulnerable. All of which leads to an erosion in fundamental elements of human conditions such as employment, education, and housing.

Some years ago I was discussing this with a friend of a friend in a former Soviet country and I made the comment that organized crime was just as powerful as the government. The other person looked at me as if I were not quite sane and said, “Organized crime IS the government.”

One can easily see the effects of this phenomenon throughout the former Warsaw Pact countries. Corruption is rampant, which has a highly negative effect on the economy of these countries through impacts on quality of government procurement and the depletion of funds for basic services. Transparency International has documented both the effects of corruption and responses to it in 18 separate categories, such as procurement, defense, and poverty.

What is not always appreciated is how corruption bred from oppression (a failure of the Rule of Law) affects everyday expectations of the ordinary citizen. There are serious effects of lack of respect for rules. It is one thing to expect graft in the form of fees for government permits, it is another when people begin to expect graft from each other or when they no longer believe that regulations designed for safety and orderly behavior are to be observed.

Under these conditions, labor standards are often nonexistent. Factory conditions of horrific nature; forced labor, sex trafficking all may be tolerated, even when the governing regime itself is nominally “democratic” or at least not aggressively abusive. At various levels, the individual vendor or artisan is not in a position to confront demands for protection money; a small entrepreneur can be taken out of business at a moment’s notice; gypsy cab drivers take advantage of customers; and there is no recourse for any of the myriad abuses of vulnerable persons when the society has no respect for the rule of law. At corporate levels, lack of environmental controls may lead to severe consequences for the populace.

In some situations, the lack of respect for rules leads to armed groups competing for control of resources. Drug gangs in Central America and warlords in various countries share the ability to function with impunity when there is no respect for the rule of law.

In other situations, when the rules no longer seem to matter, people may take to the streets to make their own place of power. There were many factors that went into the Arab Spring of 2011 and Maidan Square in 2014, but the collapse of totalitarian regimes leaving a vacuum of rules certainly led to popular uprisings.

We sometime talk about “failed states,” but a firm foundation in the Rule of Law and a widespread belief that rules matter would forestall a great deal of the violence taking place in the world today. Labor conditions in struggling countries could be greatly improved by a serious functioning regulatory system of law. Labor conditions go hand in hand with basic human needs such as education, health care, and safe housing. None of these is possible in a state without firm respect for orderly governance.

Oppression is not just about fairness to individuals. Where oppression has eroded respect for rules, then there is little reason to expect a fully functional social fabric. Even when oppression formally ends, without a strong effort to build respect for the rule of law, ultimately the post-oppression society will collapse entirely with dire consequences for that society’s economy. Thus, it is important for oppressive regimes, as well as their oligarchical or criminal successors, to realize that the future of their entire society hinges on building respect for the Rule of Law.

Photo: Mike Blyth (cc).

The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.