Democracy and Organized Crime Activities: Evidence from 59 Countries

Abstract

Organized crime has become one of the main security concerns in democratic and democratizing societies in the post-Cold War world. Criminal syndicates and the democratization process co-exist in a paradoxical tension characterized by symbiosis and incompatibility. A comparative analysis of 59 countries was conducted to investigate the association between different levels of democracy and organized crime activities as perceived by business executives. Findings revealed that higher perceptions of victimization by organized crime were reported in moderately democratic countries than in both authoritarian societies and advanced democracies. It is theorized that the easiest and quickest achievements of the democratization process (ie expansion of political rights and free elections) also precisely represent primary growth opportunities for criminal syndicates. But with the progress of further democratization, organized crime becomes effectively controlled, as more complex liberal institutions (ie a professional and independent judiciary and investigative journalism) gradually take form. Security implications for democratic societies are discussed.