Public Corruption

PUBLIC corruption does not have a single definition in the literature. The meaning of public corruption differs across individuals and academic disciplines. For instance, in criminal law public corruption seems to be confined to the act of bribery. In other disciplines, most scholars have taken bribery as the paradigm for a corrupt act and broadened the definition to include a variety of illegal acts. Public corruption is sometime viewed as rentseeking activities, and some other time as the violation of a public official's duty of faith towards her community.

Most often, public corruption will take place when a public official is offered a payoff in exchange for a favorable decision. By “public officials” we mean any individual who is either appointed, hired, elected, or working for ...