Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between

Home / Public / Legal / Difference Between Bribery and Corruption

Difference Between Bribery and Corruption

August 26, 2018 Posted by Hasa

Bribery is only a form of corruption, but corruption also includes many other dishonest practices such as embezzlement, fraud, nepotism, collusion and abuse of power. This is the key difference between bribery and corruption.

Most people assume that bribery and corruption have the same meaning. But this is not exactly correct. Bribery involves dishonestly persuading someone to act in your favour by giving him or her a gift of money or another inducement. But corruption refers to dishonest or illegal behaviour in general, especially by those in a position of power.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Bribery
3. What is Corruption
4. Relationship Between Bribery and Corruption
5. Side by Side Comparison – Bribery vs Corruption in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Bribery?

Bribery is the act of offering or receiving something of value in exchange for some kind of influence or action in return. It involves dishonestly persuading someone to act in your favour by giving him or her a gift of money or another inducement. Money is a very common type of bribe. In addition, many types of payments or favours can count as bribes: gift, promotion, funding, free food, free tickets, higher paying jobs, campaign contributions, etc.

Difference Between Bribery and Corruption

Figure 01: Bribe

There are two types of bribery as active bribery and passive bribery. Active bribery is offering payment and asking for favour whereas passive bribery is accepting the bribe or asking for payment. Both giving and accepting bribes are illegal and are punishable by law. Examples of bribery include a motorist offering money to a policeman to avoid a speeding ticket and businessman offering a bribe to a politician in order to get a government contract. Here, all parties, i.e., the parties offering the bribe (motorist and businessman) and the parties accepting the bribe (policeman and politician) can be charged with bribery.

What is Corruption?

Corruption refers to wrongdoing on the part of a powerful party through illegitimate and immoral means, which are incompatible with ethical standards. In simple words, corruption is dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people such as politicians and government officials. Although corruption is often associated with bribery, it is not only limited to bribery. Corruption also includes other forms such as embezzlement, abuse of power, fraud, deception, nepotism, and collusion. In other words, bribery is only one form of corruption.

Corruption can occur in any sector, whether public or private. It also occurs in different scales. That is, it can range from small favors between few people to the massive-scale corruption that affects the whole government. Petty corruption, grand corruption and systemic corruption are three main scales of corruption. There are various tools and indices to measure the corruption accurately.

Key Difference Between Bribery and Corruption

Figure 02: Corruption Perception index 2017 (100 – very clean, 0 – highly corrupt)

According to Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), New Zealand is the least corrupt country while Somalia is the most corrupt one.

What is the Relationship Between Bribery and Corruption?

  • Bribery is a form of corruption.

What is the Difference Between Bribery and Corruption?

Bribery is the act of offering or receiving something of value in exchange for some kind of influence or action in return. In contrast, corruption is wrongdoing on the part of an authority through illegitimate and immoral means, which are incompatible with ethical standards. This is the key difference between bribery and corruption. However, bribery is also a form of corruption, while corruption includes other dishonest activities such as embezzlement, fraud, collusion, and abuse of power.

Difference Between Bribery and Corruption in Tabular Form

Summary – Bribery vs Corruption

Bribery basically means offering something like money or gifts as a payment to someone in return for a favor. Corruption, on the other hand, refers to dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people. Bribery is a form of corruption. This is the key difference between bribery and corruption.

Reference:

1.“Corruption.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Aug. 2018. Available here 
2.“Bribery.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Aug. 2018. Available here 

Image Courtesy:

1.”Bribe” By Eugene Pivovarov – Original work, (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia  
2.”Corruption Perception index 2017″ By Azerty82 (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia  

Related posts:

Difference Between ABH and GBH Difference Between Accessory and AccompliceDifference Between Accessory and Accomplice Difference Between Award and AgreementDifference Between Award and Agreement Difference Between REM and Quasi in REM Difference Between Citation and Ticket

Filed Under: Legal

About the Author: Hasa

Hasa is a BA graduate in the field of Humanities and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in the field of English language and literature. Her areas of interests include language, literature, linguistics and culture.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request Article

Featured Posts

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

You May Like

Difference Between Nature and Nurture

Difference Between Nature and Nurture

Difference Between Occupation and Designation

Difference Between Dementia and Psychosis

Difference Between La Nina and El Nino

Difference Between Wind Power and Tidal Power

Latest Posts

  • What is the Difference Between Ankylosing Spondylitis and Cervical Spondylosis
  • What is the Difference Between PAC and PVC
  • What is the Difference Between Neuralgia and Neuritis
  • What is Difference Between Craniopharyngioma and Pituitary Adenoma
  • What is the Difference Between Hydrochlorothiazide and Chlorthalidone
  • What is the Difference Between Cauda Equina and Conus Medullaris Syndrome
  • Home
  • Vacancies
  • About
  • Request Article
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2010-2018 Difference Between. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Legal.