Mafia state

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about systemic corruption of a government by organised crime syn
dicates. For the 2011 book about Russia, see Mafia State (book).
This article refers to a systematic corruption of a government by major orga
nized crime syndicates. For the greater connotation that literally means "rule b
y thieves", see Kleptocracy.
Political corruption
Concepts
Bribery Cronyism Kleptocracy Economics of corruption Electoral fraud Legal p
lunder Nepotism Slush fund Political scandal
Corruption by country
Europe
Albania Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Cz
ech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Georgia Greece Iceland Ireland Italy
Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Pol
and Portugal Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine
Asia
Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Cambodia China India Indonesia Iran Iraq Jord
an Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Malaysia Myanmar North Korea Pakistan Philippines Singapore
South Korea Sri Lanka Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen

Africa
Angola Botswana Cameroon Congo Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Ghan
a Guinea-Bissau Kenya Liberia Mauritius Morocco Nigeria Senegal Somalia South Af
rica South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
North America
Canada Cuba Haiti Mexico Nicaragua United States
South America
Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Venezuela
Oceania and the Pacific
Australia New Zealand Papua New Guinea
Transcontinental countries
Russia Turkey
v t e
A mafia state is a state system where the government is tied with organized crim
e, including when government officials, police, and/or military take part in ill
icit enterprises.[1] The term mafia is a reference to any organized crime groups
strongly connected with the authorities.
According to the critics of the mafia state concept, the term "has now been so u
sed and abused in popularized descriptions of organized criminal activity that i
t has lost much of its analytic value".[2]
According to US diplomats, Alexander Litvinenko coined the phrase Mafia state.[3
]
Contents
1 Particular applications of the concept
1.1 Cosa Nostra and Yakuza
1.2 Countries described as Mafia states
1.2.1 Republics and territories of the former Yugoslavia
1.2.2 Transnistria
1.2.3 Russia
1.2.4 Mexico
2 See also
2.1 Related concepts
3 References
3.1 Further reading
Particular applications of the concept
Cosa Nostra and Yakuza
In a critical review of Moiss Nam's essay in Foreign Affairs, Peter Andreas pointe
d to the long existence of Italian mafia and Japanese Yakuza, writing that there
were close relationships between those illicit organisations and respective gov
ernments.[2] According to Andreas, these examples speak against incidences of ma
fia states as a historically new threat.[2]
In Italy, the actions of the mafia can continue to affect people's lives today.
The Italian "Camorra" Mafia network became powerful in the city of Naples in the
19th Century; although it can trace its origins back to 15th Century Spain and
today extending its influence to European countries above Italy as well. The Cos
a Nostra and 'Ndrangheta both as well existed in Italy with a confederation of a
bout 150 different groups each with their own organizations and ruling body.[4]
Part of the network, known as the "Casalesi clan" became involved in business in
the 1970s and 80s, eventually gaining control of large areas of the local econo
my "partly by manipulating politicians and intimidating judges". Among the contr
acts the clan gained was for the disposal of toxic waste, however, much of it wa
s dumped illegally. This dumped toxic waste is thought to be cause of a rise in
the number suffering from cancer in towns around Naples. The rise was first noti
ced two decades ago, and has been calculated that there has been a 40 and 47 per
cent increase in cancer in women and men respectively. The Italian Senate is cu
rrently investigating the causes of the cancers, with illegal dumping thought to
be the likely cause.[5]