Mafia Origins, Transplantation, and the Paradoxes of Democracy
Mafia Origins, Transplantation, and the Paradoxes of Democracy
This chapter outlines a general perspective of mafia emergence and transplantation, and offers some considerations on the relation between democracy and mafias. Recent studies have shown that mafias emerge in societies that are undergoing a sudden and late transition to the market economy, lack a legal structure that reliably protects property rights or settles business disputes, and have a supply of people trained in violence who become unemployed at this specific juncture. However, not all mafias have developed during times of market transition. Mafias may well emerge within functioning market economies, and for reasons other than to ensure the protection of property rights. The best way to fight the presence of a mafia is to drain the demand for its services. It is not enough to reform the public administration or liberalize markets, or let booms go unchecked. Liberalization should be accompanied by effective measures aimed at preventing the formation of cartels in local markets and easing the effect of liberalization on the local workforce to avoid social tension.
Keywords: organized crime, mafia emergence, mafioso, mafia transplantation, democracy, liberalization, cartels, liberalization
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