Klaipėdos universitetas

One of the most important aspects influencing the quality of life is education. The paper includes the research results from an analysis of how the level of education affects quality of life, and the development of different initiatives and values. An analysis of scientific literature is performed, with a more detailed analysis of data from Latvia, taking into account the level of household income and satisfaction with life. Research methods applied: analysis of scientific findings, analysis of time-series on several indicators of development related to different education indicators, and income indicators depending on educational level, with a calculation of income confidence interval with a probability of 0.95 for households with different educational levels. Data used in the research: data from databases of the Official Statistics Portal of the Republic of Latvia, Household Finance and Consumption Survey. The research results indicate that households in Latvia with a higher education have a significantly higher income than households with primary or no education.

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.