Since the transition to democracy, our social and political landscape is defined by events revolving around corruption. We have a very generic understanding of corruption, that is limited to bribery for power and positions. Thus, we talk a lot about corruption and solutions to eradicate it. Given the many forms and faces of corruption, different methods and solutions are required to tackle this issue. When addressing corruption in developing countries with a weaker economy like ours, Francis Fukuyama points out two phenomena.
The first phenomenon is called ‘rent-seeking’, which arises from various licenses and regulations. For resource-rich countries this represents a common challenge. Rent-seekers are those who seek to use their authority to reap higher benefits with minimum effort. Simply put, these groups seek to perpetuate their benefit solely through their authority .
The second phenomenon is called ‘clientelism’, which describes an interdependence between political elite and business interests where authorities offer advantages to businesses due to the attainment of political power with their support in the first place. The recently disclosed cases, including the so-called ‘60 billion MNT’ case and ‘the small and medium enterprise fund’ case, are undeniable evidence for the flourishing clientelism in Mongolia. The price stabilization program, the Development Bank loans, and concession contracts are only a part of a very long list of clientelism cases. In short, our current political environment can be described as a ‘clientelist politics’.
Woes of a young democracy
Clientelism is, of course, nothing new. In the 19th century, for instance, clientelism was so strong in the United States that the political party which won the election used to divvy up the public service between their clientele groups. It is even said that President James Garfield was assassinated because a promised appointment was not made. This led to the passing of a law that ensured the embedding of merit-based principles in the American public service and intended to protect the government from selling positions. In the 20th century, Austria saw their two political parties divvy up all government positions, starting with kindergarten and school headmasters. These examples demonstrate that today’s highly developed democracies have also gone through a time when clientelism was status quo.
In our case,‘rent-seeking’ and ‘clientelism’ are the fundamental causes that have been keeping Mongolia’s public governance weak for the last 30 years. In the same vein, political parties and media are both supposed to be a channel that helps shape the public opinion by expressing views in a more organised and transparent manner. However, over 70 per cent of Mongolia’s media are controlled by politicians today, while our political parties are prone to clientelism and unlikely to contribute to the formation of an educated and informed public opinion. Under these circumstances, civil society is the platform to keep public governance healthy.
Pillar of democracy
French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville has provided a very simple definition of civil society in his book ‘Democracy in America’. According to him, civil society is a prerequisite of democracy and a platform where people unite at their own free will and collectively find solutions to common issues by sharing their time, knowledge, and information. In modern terms, civil society is a politically independent, open platform that allows to exercise the right to unite, hold a peaceful demonstration, and voice opinions (to exercise the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association).
When transitioning to a new society, we ratified the basic rights of civil society in our constitution. In 1997, a law was passed on non-governmental organizations, which is the key institution that represents civil society. Between then and now, over 20,000 NGOs have been established, which shows that people have been exercising their right to unite. Despite the formation of a plethora of civil society organizations, their quality and maturity remain questionable.
Fifteen years ago, the CIVICUS, which is the global alliance of civil society organizations, conducted its first ever assessment on Mongolia’s civil society and its development. The report concluded that our civil society was relatively weak in its ability to hold the government accountable for its actions and influence government policy. Cases of corruption get revealed with plenty of evidence, yet, no one faces accountability for the crimes illustrating that Mongolia’s civil society is still not mature enough to exert significant influence on public governance.
Vulnerable point
Similar events are taking place in the social and political landscape of other post-communist countries which have made a transition similar to Mongolia’s. The history of these countries is partly defined by the totalitarian system before the 1990s. Since totalitarianism prohibited an autonomous civil society, therefore these nations did not have the conditions for civil society to flourish when their democratic transition started.
In his book ‘From Totalitarianism to Defective Democracy’, political scientist Michal Klima described the Czech Republic’s 25-year-old clientelism and the crisis of political parties which is very similar to what is happening in Mongolia today. Klima concludes that the void of civil society has become the most vulnerable point of the Czech Republic’s transition to democracy.
In this context, civil society has been forming and maturing in these countries. However, we witness increasing attempts to restrict civil society in Eastern Europe, previously viewed as one of the most stable regions.
Fed up of the refugee crises in the euro zone as well as corruption cases of their own authorities, the Eastern European countries elected radical political parties to power. As a result, independent judiciary and civil society are greatly compromised.
Mongolia’s democratic transition over the last 30 years has been defined by corruption and corruption-related phenomena. What our society and politics will form into over the next three decades is largely depending on our civil society. A strong civil society is key to escaping the public governance crisis and leaving the clientelist system behind.
As Michal Klima said, if civil society does not fulfil its irreplaceable functions, there will only be a ‘clientelist democracy’ or even an authoritarian regime.
2019.07.10
Trans. by B.Amar