What Is Corruption?

What Is Corruption?

Almost everyone who studies it would agree that corruption is difficult to define and
nearly impossible to measure. When a high-level government official steals millions of
dollars for his/her own personal gain, it’s relatively easy to identify that as corruption.
But, what if your neighbor gave preferential treatment to a friend or relative in her
business dealings? Is that corruption? What if a parent made a donation to a school in
order to prevent the expulsion of a child? What if you live in a conflict-ravaged country
where food supply is limited and you pay the officials a little bit of money under the table
to get extra rations to feed your hungry family? Corruption exists at many different levels.
And, some would argue that a definition for corruption is impossible because it is a
concept that is culturally determined and varies from one society to another. For
example, gift-giving to officials may be expected in one country and prohibited by law in
another. For the purpose of this guide, corruption involves the misuse of power by those
who hold it—people who, in their official position, exploit the power with which they are
entrusted by seeking private gain.
The private gain obtained by corrupt public officials, who have been entrusted with
guiding and implementing public policy and service, is at the expense of both the
common good and of those who don’t “cheat the system.” In this sense, corruption is
widely viewed as an immoral practice and is increasingly condemned around the world.
Even those compelled to participate in corrupt systems in order to survive are frequently
fed up with the role that corruption may play in their daily lives. Corruption creates a
system whereby money and connection determines who has access to public services
and who receives favorable treatment. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the

United Nations, put the cost of corruption succinctly in his Foreword to the 2004 United
Nations Convention Against Corruption. Calling corruption an “insidious plague that has
a wide range of corrosive effects on societies,” he added that it diverts funds intended for
development, undermines the ability of governments to provide basic services, feeds
inequalities and injustice, and discourages foreign aid investment.”1
These practices have particular repercussions in countries emerging from conflict
because monies that are needed for development of, for example, roads, utilities,
education, health care, and transportation, are diverted by greed and desire to survive
and get ahead in a broken system.