Regional Formation and Development Studies

The author demonstrates how the current refugee situation reflects the crisis of values within the European Union. Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in the United States have revealed that some western citizens are eager to restore traditional values and extreme order as an opposition to the current idea of democracy within the EU member states which leads to libertarian tendencies, and potentially to chaos. The conflict of traditionalist and libertarian tendencies among the European Union citizens most likely will increase, and this can lead to the further European Union disintegration. The case of Latvia and related analyses have shown that some Central and Eastern Europe countries will are not willing to accept refugees. Therefore, this study uses the grounded theory approach, based on historical facts and opinions of classical authors, while explaining that healthy and wealthy society should be based on an extended or at least on a nuclear family. In this paper, a case study of Latvian citizens’ attitudes towards refugees is used to support psychological hypotheses which are mainly of the theoretical nature. In the author’s opinion, it is important to understand that real traditionalism means democracy which is based on order and hierarchy. In contrast, libertarianism leads to the democracy where the family model is not supported and the whole system of values is corrupted. The author demonstrates on historical events that such attitude can lead to destruction of the whole society, and explains why virtues and family oriented systems have been established and promoted by classical philosophers and by religions.

The article presents a survey on Klaipėda district residents’ attitude towards corruption. It is necessary to evaluate the level of corruption in a particular local area because understanding the incentives for corruption and self-dealing is a precondition for making progress. Citizens’ perceptions are important for local governments where citizens have more direct impact on political representation and service provision in their communities. The research revealed that Klaipėda district residents’ attitude towards corruption is negative and the population is aware of the harm caused by corruption. The respondents rarely face the forms of corruption practices. Most respondents think that excessive bureaucracy and the complexity of the legal framework, which is constantly changing, contribute to prevalence of corruption. Most respondents have given bribes to medical personnel. The respondents assume that the most effective anti-corruption means is the inevitability of punishment, as well as giving publicity to corruption acts. When faced with corruption, residents would turn to law enforcement bodies and use anonymous helpline.

The article aims to define how the main principles of the Swedish welfare state, i.e., the “multi-stakeholder principle” and the principle of trustfulness and collaboration, affect activity of the anti-corruption civil society. For the study, the following empirical methods have been used: the analysis of documents and in-depth-interviews with experts. The author demonstrates that the anti-corruption activity of civil society in Sweden can be considered as part of wider social movements for human rights, democracy and integrity, especially at international level. There are a lot of associations and unions in Sweden that, among other joint activities, promote anti-corruption practices and rules in state organisations and commercial enterprises. The state and government need to be oriented to social challenges and keep pace with civic movements. A partnership with different stakeholders is the main type of the Swedish ACS’s activities that help to reach their goals in preventing corruption behaviour, e.g., “Anti-corruption policy networks”, and it is the result of two types of collaboration: anti-corruption participation and anti-corruption services. The research has shown that the civil society’s ability to create networks with the state, business and other agents is the main condition for the so-called horizontal accountability and sustainability and for preventing corruption in Swedish society that, in its turn, has been established over a long period of time building the culture of integrity and civic institutions.

The paper presents the corruption issue by highlighting the actual situation of corruption in the Slovak society. This problem has a historical background when after 1993 the Slovak Republic was separated from the Czech Republic. The author offers theoretical attitudes which are necessary to apply in practice for to improve situation in Slovakia. Theoretical information was gained from relevant sources. The author tries to apply official results from Transparency International and other institutes. The media has great effect on public opinion and therefore investigative journalism should be developed which could uncover media property and corruption in the whole society. Journalism should be independent of politicians. It should be objective, full of truthful information with verifiable sources. In the last part of the paper some solutions are suggested which should be applied in practise as they can help to address corruption solutions. In other words, necessary measures may support the healthy environment with social welfare and spur development of the society.