The Third Path into the Twilight? Corruption in Socialist Yugoslavia

Abstract

Corruption in socialist Yugoslavia was a specific phenomenon when compared to the inter-war period or to post-socialism. In contrast to liberalism, communist ideology did not support an understanding of corruption as a problem of its own but tended to see political and material “deviations” as originating from the same root – i. e., from a lack of political morale. The League of Communists failed to live up to its role as an educator of society, since it was trapped between declarative moral rigorism and the fact that material need and greed could be satisfied best by becoming a party member.