What is Corruption?

Corruption or corrupt may refer to:

Political corruption, the dysfunction of a political system or institution in which government officials, political officials or employees seek illegitimate personal gain through actions such as bribery, extortion, etc...Some common forms of corruption that exist today are;

> Corporate corruption - the abuse of power by corporate managers against shareholders or consumers

> Putrefaction - the decomposition of recently-living bio-matter

> Data corruption - an unintended change to data in storage or in transit

> Corruption (linguistics) - the change in meaning to a language or a text introduced by cumulative errors in transcription as changes in the language speakers' comprehension

> Bribery - in politics, business, or sport (including match fixing)

World Map Index of perception of corruption

However, I am particularly interested in Political Corruption and therefore, I will define the term and give few examples of what I read, hear, and see happening everyday in no other place than Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Political corruption is simply the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain as it is prevalent in Papua New Guinea and many other nations around the world. The effects of corruption can be catastrophic on the social, economic, and political scenes within the country.

* Bribery: This requires two participants: one to give the bribe, and one to take it.

* Trading in influence: Trading in influence, or influence peddling in certain countries, refers to the situation where a person is selling his/her influence over the decision process involving a third party (person or institution).

* Graft: While bribery includes an intent to influence or be influenced by another for personal gain, which is often difficult to prove, graft only requires that the official gains something of value, not part of his official pay, when doing his work. Large "gifts" qualify as graft.

* Patronage: This refers to favoring supporters, for example with government employment. This may be legitimate, as when a newly elected government changes the top officials in the administration in order to effectively implement its policy.

* Nepotism and cronyism: Favoring relatives (nepotism) or personal friends (cronyism) of an official is a form of illegitimate private gain.

* Embezzlement: This is outright theft of entrusted funds. It is a misappropriation of property.

* Kickbacks: A kickback is an official's share of misappropriated funds allocated from his or her organization to an organization involved in corrupt bidding.

* Unholy Alliance: An unholy alliance is a coalition among seemingly antagonistic groups, especially if one is religious, for ad hoc or hidden gain.

* Involvement in organized crime: Leaders/people team up with foreigners who do not have proper work permit or who illegally entered the country to set up businesses illegally against the laws of a country. (Does this sound familiar to you, those in PNG and worldwide?)

Where does Papua New Guinea come under as far as the above are concerned? If it was a test question, I would answer, ALL OF THE ABOVE