Abstract
The paper addresses the question of what sort of influence organized crime may have on democratic performance in the Czech Republic and which dimensions of its political system (if any) are endangered most. We define organized crime narrowly in terms of corruption networks, questioning in effect the predominant understanding of these two concepts as distinct or even exclusive phenomena. The paper thus construes corruption and organized crime as concepts referring to transgressive acts (i.e. behaviour that involves a violation of moral or social boundaries that do not have to be legally codified), rather than in terms of legal norms. The influence of corruption networks is demonstrated on the case of the "Nagygate" scandal, which is analysed by utilising the framework of possible harms, as developed by Michael Maltz. We argue that the debate on organized crime in the Czech Republic is, in fact, inherently tied to the study of corruption, since corruption constitutes an integral part of organized criminal activities. Our findings show that transgressive behaviour has mostly negative impacts that include the loss of trust, widespread beliefs that injustice goes unpunished, a weakening of the political system, and the overall degeneration of the democratic regime. Moreover, the Nagygate scandal provides evidence that democratic institutions are not solely the victim of organized crime but also a possible source of transgressive activities.
Highlights
The paper addresses the question of what sort of influence organized crime may have on democratic performance in the Czech Republic and which dimensions of its political system are endangered most
Democracy as an institutional setting and a set of norms and ideals has been the subject of research for decades, even centuries
The activities of organized crime stand on the frontline as a burning problem that has the capacity to paralyze society and the entire political system entirely
Summary
Základní problém jakéhokoliv výzkumu organizovaného zločinu se týká stanovení objektu analýzy – jinými slovy toho, co bude ve výzkumu za organizovaný zločin považováno. Z hlediska vztahu k ohrožení demokracie je totiž rozdíl, zdali fenomén označovaný za organizovaný zločin konkuruje označujícímu subjektu Organizovaný zločin je v tomto pojetí obecně považován za fenomén, který stojí mimo „slušnou společnost“ (reprezentovanou v našem případě demokratickými institucemi) jako virus ohrožující společenské hodnoty. Nedostatkem tohoto přístupu je skutečnost, že většina aktivit, které jinak spadají pod označení „organizovaný zločin“, jsou páchány diskrétně a záleží často pouze na systému trestní politiky, zdali přisoudí určitému jednání daný přídomek (Hobbs a Antonopoulos 2014).
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