CORRUPTION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC-25 YEARS OF CHANGES

Not only is corruption and its potential reduction a frequent topic of economic and social scientific research, but it is also a problem that very overtly concerns the governments of individual countries and citizens. Regarding the fact that bribery and other forms of corruption are illegal in most countries, their perpetrators try very hard to conceal them, and it is often nearly impossible to expose corruption. Despite this, there are many specific procedures in existence to deal with this problem in this day and age. Even during the Premyslid dynasty, the Czech Republic designated attempted bribery of public entities as a crime that deserved the most severe sentence. However, despite this fact, it is significant that corruption in the Czech Republic has always been deftly managed. To some extent, this paradox is the result of the fact that, in the Czech Republic, corrupt activities continue to be highly effective over the long term, thus the profit from corruption highly outweighs its risks. The main goal of this paper is formulated around this connection. The paper deals with the problems and trends of corruption in the Czech Republic; the past twenty five years were analyzed, because building an effective anti-corruption policy is an integral component of the wider processes of the democratization of Czech society. First, we conducted comparative research of the development of corruption in the Czech Republic on the basis of available corruption indicators. Next, using the Corruption Perception Index's series of values over time, we analyzed the evolution and nature of corruption and the probability of possible trends for corruption in the country. The conclusion of the article discusses the extent of corruption in the Czech Republic and the effectiveness of this country's anti-corruption policy in connection with their membership in the European Union.