We Need to Clean up Our Understanding of Corruption

We Need to Clean up Our Understanding of Corruption  | December 17, 2015 | https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/we-need-to-clean-up-our-understanding-of-corruption/

By Janine Wedel

Corruption in America? The very idea brought the house down at a recent dinner party of young Ukrainians. They erupted in laughter at the thought that anyone (in this case, me) would study such a subject.
This seems far-fetched to them, no doubt (as I see from my perch here in Kiev as a Fulbright scholar), because corruption is seen by many Ukrainians as one of the biggest challenges their country faces—next only to the Russian-fomented instability and -instigated war on the eastern front. From the bribe-taking traffic cop to the many political leaders who have squirreled billions offshore over the years, corruption is both subtle and in-your-face. It consumed much of Vice President Joe Biden's speech to the Ukrainian parliament last week (though Biden’s son, Hunter, sits on the board of one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies), is a staple of conversation and commentary in the media, and has helped foment several revolutions. Regarding corruption, there is no denial.
But people here have more in common with Americans than they might think. A Gallup poll found that 75 percent of Americans last year said yes when asked if corruption was widespread throughout the government. Americans are tied with the East Africans of Mauritius in their view of corruption at home. As I wrote in Unaccountable in 2014 , everyday Americans, along with their peers around the world, increasingly understand that something on high is amiss and are calling it corruption. And while we can’t really know what kind of corruption all these respondents had in mind, surely many of them see a “rigged system” rather than old-fashioned bribery scandals. https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/we-need-to-clean-up-our-understanding-of-corruption/