Corruption in Russia as a mass social phenomenon

The article considers corruption in Russia as a mass social phenomenon. The authors put forward an assumption that the norms of corrupt behaviour and forms of corruption depend on the socio-cultural features of the society development. At the same time, the authors believe that it is not quite correct to explain the high level of corruption by the certain aspects of Russian nation's mentality only, since it removes the moral responsibility from corrupt officials. The paper presents the results of the mass survey of Penza city residents describing their attitude to everyday corruption. Particular attention is focused on the reception of corruption as a tradition by significant number of the respondents.