Kleptocracy
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A kleptocracy (sometimes cleptocracy, occasionally kleptarchy) (root: klepto+kratein = rule by thieves) is a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) at the expense of the population. A kleptocratic government often goes beyond mere cronyism and nepotism, or awarding the prime contracts and civil service posts to relatives or personal friends rather than the most competent applicants. They also create projects and programs at a policy level which serve the primary purpose of funneling money out of the treasury and into the pockets of the executive with little if any regard for the logic, viability or necessity of those projects.

Characteristics

Kleptocracies are often dictatorships or some other form of autocratic and nepotist government, or lapsed democracies that have transformed into oligarchies.^{citation needed}

Kleptocratic governance means that the economy is subordinated to the interests of the ruling kleptocrats. Distributive states that derive their wealth from the extraction of natural resources (e.g., diamonds and oil, in a few prominent cases) can be particularly prone to kleptocracy. Redistributive governments that derive their wealth through taxation of their population have a natural limitation on how far they can extend kleptocratic policies. Their government can be destabilized through extending their grab to their own supporters or driving income producers away from the country or making them withdraw their labor or capital.^{citation needed} A number of kleptocracies have enriched themselves via foreign aid, often spent on showy buildings and armaments.^{citation needed}

The creation of a kleptocracy powered by dictatorship typically results in many years of general hardship and suffering for the vast majority of citizens, as civil society and the rule of law disintegrate.^{citation needed} In addition, kleptocrats routinely ignore economic and social problems in their quest to amass ever more wealth and power.^{citation needed}

According to one source, an old case of a kleptocratic governed state was Kievan Rus' where the alliance between Varangians and Slavic èlites set up this type of government which resisted all attacks till 1240 when the Tatars conquered Kiev.^[1]

The classic case of kleptocracy--in this sense--often given, is the regime of Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which he renamed Zaire) from 1965 to 1997. The use of the term kleptocracy may have gained popularity largely as a description of Mobutu's regime.^{citation needed} During his tyrannic reign, Mobutu is thought to have stashed more than $5 billion US dollars in Swiss banks. Many economic pundits believe that he was the first black billionaire.^{citation needed} Another classic case is Nigeria, particularly under the rule of General Sani Abacha who was de facto president of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He is reputed^{citation needed} to have stolen some $3-4 billion US dollars.

The term 'kleptocracy' also has been used to disparage political processes that permit corporations to influence political policy: Ralph Nader called the United States a kleptocracy in this sense of the word during the 2000 presidential campaign.^{citation needed} Others^{citation needed} however refer to this type of corporate influence over a state merely as a plutocracy, though "Corporatocracy" may be more fitting.

The protection society has against kleptocracy is largely dependent on the effectiveness of the rule of law and balance of power to prevent political leaders abusing their powers, the free flow of information (necessary to properly identify kleptocrats) and ability of the population to remove corrupt leaders from office. Many such protections are included in legal documents such as a constitution or a bill of rights and are also found in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17. Many countries have these protections, on paper;^{original research?} in many cases, the rules have not been enforced. The imposition of a government on property rights may not be limited to taxation, licenses, and eminent domain and may extend to outright nationalization of privately held property if left unchecked by the rule of law.^{citation needed}

In 2006, the Bush Administration enunciated a policy specifically to internationalize an effort to resist kleptocracies.^[2]

Effects

The effects of a kleptocratic regime or government on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the faring of the state's economy, political affairs and civil rights. Kleptocracy in a government often results in a severe deficit of foreign investment prospect, and drastic weakenings in the market and exportation/importation affairs. As the kleptocracy often embezzles its money from its citizens through tax payment or other money laundering schemes, a kleptocractically structured political system can be degrading to the quality of life of the general populace. In addition, the stolen funds that kleptocrats take to their own gain is often removed from funds that were to go towards public improvements, such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks and the like, bringing about yet further adverse effects on the quality of life of the citizens living under a kleptocracy.^[3] The pseudo-oligarchy that results from a kleptocrat elite can also be undermining to the democracy, or any other political format the state is ostensibly under.^[4]

Transparency International ranking

In early 2004, the anti-corruption Germany-based NGO Transparency International released a list of what it believes to be the ten most self-enriching leaders in recent years.^[5]

In order of amount allegedly stolen (in USD), they are:

1. Former Indonesian President Suharto ($15 billion – $35 billion)
2. Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos ($5 billion – $10 billion)
3. Former Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko ($5 billion)
4. Former Nigerian President Sani Abacha ($2 billion – $5 billion)
5. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević ($1 billion)
6. Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier ($300 million – $800 million)
7. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori ($600 million)
8. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko ($114 million – $200 million)
9. Former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán ($100 million)
10. Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada ($78 million – $80 million)

See also

• Dictatorship
• Failed state
• Lumpenbourgeoisie
• Netocracy
• Oligarchy
• Political corruption
• Raubwirtschaft
• Narcokleptocracy

References