Government corruption
has been defined as the
abuse of public power
for private gain. Such
abuse has a long history. For example,
the Bible includes a law
prohibiting bribery in
judicial cases, showing
that the practice was
already well-known
over 3,500 years ago.
(Exodus 23: Of course,
corruption involves more than just accepting bribes.
Corrupt public officials
sometimes appropriate
goods, take advantage
of services to which
they are not entitled, or
even steal funds
outright. They may also
use their position to
favor their friends and
relatives unfairly.
While corruption can
exist in any human
organization, it seems
that corruption in
government is the
worst.
The 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, published by Transparency International, reported
that people worldwide
have the perception
that the five most
corrupt institutions are
political parties, the
police, public officials,
the legislature, and the
judiciary. Consider just
some reports that
highlight the problem.
AFRICA: In 2013,
some 22,000 public
officials in South
Africa were charged
with misconduct for
corrupt activities.
AMERICAS: In 2012, in Brazil, 25 people
were convicted of
using public funds to
buy political support.
Among those convicted was the former president’s chief of staff, the second most powerful man in thecountry.
ASIA: In Seoul, South Korea, 502 people
died in a department-store collapse in 1995.
Investigators found
that city officials had
been bribed to allow
contractors to use
substandard
concrete and to
violate safety rules.
EUROPE: “The
extent of the
problem [corruption
in Europe] is breathtaking,”
according to European
Commission Home
Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström. She
added that “the
political commitment
to really root out
corruption seems to
be missing.” Government corruption
has deep roots.
Professor Susan Rose-
Ackerman, an expert on
the subject of anticorruption, wrote
that reform would
require “fundamental
changes in the way
government does
business.” While the
situation might seem to be hopeless, the Bible shows that even
greater changes are not
only possible but also
certain to happen.