Political clientelism - a factor of corruption and organized crime

This article examines political clientelism as a criminogenic phenomenon fostering corruption and organized crime in the Republic of Moldova. It explores the mechanisms through which patron- client networks become instruments of state capture and tools for preserving oligarchic interests, even amid democratization and European integration processes. The analysis identifies the historical, institutional, and socio-political factors that sustain clientelism and assesses its impact on the functioning of public institutions and citizens' trust in the rule of law. Using an interdisciplinary methodology - including structuralfunctional and comparative analysis - the study highlights the connection between clientelist practices, systemic corruption, and the infiltration of organized crime into the political sphere. The findings offer policy directions for strengthening anti-corruption mechanisms and emphasize the need for an integrated national and European approach to counteract the criminal consequences of political clientelism.