11. Law and order: Corruption issues in Russia.

Corruption can be defined as the misuse of public office for private gain.

Corruption can involve misuse of policy instruments, like the enforcement of laws and rules regarding public safety, tariffs and credit, the observance of contracts and the replacement of loans - or simple procedures. It can occur in both the public and private sector.

The degree and type of corruption varies in different countries. According to the latest research the least corrupt countries are New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland and the most corrupt are Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and Somalia

Corruption in Russia is a significant problem that impacts the lives of Russia's citizens. For a long time, the corruption of officials in Russia was legal: up to 18th century, government officials had lived through "кормления" ("feedings" - i.e. resources provided by those interested in their area of business).

Since 1715, accepting a bribe in any form became a crime, as officials began to receive fixed salaries. However, the number of officials under Peter the Great had increased so much that salaries came to be paid irregularly, and bribes, especially for officials of lower rank, again became their main source of income. Soon after the death of Peter, the system of "feeding" was restored and fixed salaries only returned with Catherine II. The salaries of civil servants were paid in paper money, which in the beginning of the 19th century began to depreciate greatly in comparison with metallic money. Insecurity within the bureaucracy again led to increased corruption.

In Soviet Russia, bribery was considered a counter-revolutionary activity, and the Criminal Code in 1922 made it punishable by death.

According to a survey the most of Russians had a negative or highly negative view on taking bribes, but only 51% had the same views on giving bribes. More than half of adult population has direct experience in giving bribes. At the same time Russians had a negative or highly negative view on reporting about the cases of corruption to the police.

On 20 November 2009, the State Duma adopted a law, which allows officials to make the citizens pay for "public services" and "public function". According to the authors of the law it is intended to make it easier for the citizens and organizations to have the public services delivered for them; however, according to the Russian parliamentary opposition parties CPRF and LDPR, this effectively legalizes corruption.

In modern Russia, it is widely accepted that corruption is one of the main obstacles to the country's economic development. There is no real fight against corruption in Russia: arrests of middle level civil servants do nothing to curb corruption, and there is no real anti-corruption policy. The global financial crisis only encouraged corruption: in the last year it grew globally.

Today all areas of government are corrupted: people give bribes to get an Assignment for a child to a kinder garden, to avoid army service. (In educational system – at scholls, universities, in judicial system, in the sphere of policy, health services – just everywhere).