The Need for Studying the Link between Organized Crime and Power

Georgi Petrunov

Abstract

Scientists who investigate former socialist countries which are in transition to market democracies indicate that the results that have been observed nowadays are very different from what was expected to happen in theory. The inability to explain these changes suggests that the studies on countries in transition lack an essential element of these countries, which does not allow fully understand them. The article argues that this element is actually the organized crime itself and particularly the link between organized crime and power. There is a lack of thorough scientific research on organized crime, as well as on power, especially by Bulgarian social scientists. This implies a need for them to be included as a variable in studies done on the changes in post-socialist countries, which would enable the understanding of the transition processes that have not been previously revealed. Hence, social scientists could actively participate with their expertise in combating organized crime, by helping specialized agencies in the development of strategies for fighting this social phenomenon.