I received several questions about How To Tell Difference; Bribe vs Expedite Fee. I decided to start at the beginning by looking at what corruption is and is not.
(The above picture shows voting pattern for Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovich during the 2004 Presidential election; second run off. This run off vote was deemed to be mostly free of corruption. Election Map Credit )
Corruption is something that happens in every country in the world. It is money laundering, cronyism, kickbacks, accepting bribes, rape, trying to hide wealth, government official interfering with corruption investigation and voting fraud.
American – Wolfowitz’s successor must fight corruption
Australia – Nuttall, Talbot granted adjournment in alleged corruption case
Bangladesh anti-corruption court sentences former PM aide
advertisementBrazil’s energy minister in corruption scandal
Bulgaria elects new MEPs amid corruption worries
Hungarian justice minister resigns amid police corruption scandal
Ukraine – Yushchenko applied to European Union for help in corruption fighting in Ukraine
Corruption is when someone (politician, police, and government workers) uses their position for personal gain. Examples of this are listed above.
But there are exceptions to this definition. Police officers get free soft drinks and coffee from all the convenience stores in town. The stores made this offer because they like having police randomly drop in. It cuts down on robberies.
This isn’t corruption. It isn’t a material gain for the police officer. They could afford the 60 cent drink. And this program is accepted by the community.
So the definition of corruption varies based on the country/community. Some countries you have to provide a grease payment or tip for service. While in other countries this is considered a bribe.
Recently there have been rumors about SDAPRC (Ukraine’s government adoption authority) corruption. My personal opinion is these accusations aren’t founded in facts. A translator stands in line at the SDAPRC. She doesn’t have a dossier to file. She is hoping to sell the line position. This isn’t corruption. This is a private transaction between a seller and buyer.
Transparency International (TI) is an NGO that is fighting corruption across the world. They produce an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which is frequently quoted from because it depends on local definition (AKA perception) of corruption.
The 2006 CPI ranks Ukraine as 99 out of 163. In other words Ukraine is in the middle of the index. They aren’t the worst and they aren’t the best.
TI discusses in their corruption faq the idea of local traditions vs corruption.
Norms and values are context-bound and vary across cultures. Gift-giving is part of negotiating and relationship building in some parts of the world. But cultural relativism ends where the Swiss bank account enters the scene.
From: corruption faq