What is Political Corruption?
Defining Political Corruption
Political corruption is the misuse of power for personal gain. While corruption often involves government officials, this definition can be extended to others in positions of authority. Forms of corruption vary widely, but include bribery, extortion, nepotism, sextortion, patronage, influence peddling, graft, and embezzlement.
How would you define political corruption? We’d love to know! Send us your 10 second video clips to AlbanyMPC@gmail.com.
The Language of Corruption
From extortion to embezzlement to nepotism, corruption has a language all of its own. Learn the language of corruption by playing our matching terms game below.
Play multiple times to uncover all terms. Additionally, download our PDF of the terms to study and learn offline as well.
Test your Assumptions!
Take this short quiz to test your understanding of political corruption and the factors that go into calling someone “corrupt”.  Â
A few things to note:
This quiz is only about government and political corruption. While corruption can happen in other areas—like schools, businesses, or charities—those are not included in this quiz.
A person doesn’t have to break a law or get caught to be corrupt. Someone can still act unethically even if they were never arrested or convicted.
This quiz shouldn’t be used to compare one person’s “corruption” to another. Though some corruption may be worse than others, for this quiz, corruption is corruption.
Note: This quiz is for learning only. It is not meant to give legal advice.
Try Gerrymandering!
See how gerrymandering can be done to optimize your chances to get the result that you want.
Corruption's Impact on Society and You​
“In financial terms alone, the costs of corruption are staggering. It has been estimated that acts of corruption sap between 2 and 5 percent from global gross domestic product. While such costs are not evenly shared worldwide, the abuse of power for private gain, the misappropriation of public assets, bribery, and other forms of corruption impact every country and community. The proceeds of these acts cross national borders and can impact economies and political systems far from their origin. Anonymous shell companies, opaque financial systems, and professional service providers enable the movement and laundering of illicit wealth, including in the United States and other rule-of-law-based democracies.
Corruption threatens United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself. But by effectively preventing and countering corruption and demonstrating the advantages of transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a critical advantage for the United States and other democracies.“
White House Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core United States National Security Interest, June 3, 2021
Individuals are more likely to get involved when they believe their personal interests are at stake.