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Public Administration vocabulary · Transparency, Audit and Ethics

Corruption

Meaning in public administration, with examples

/kəˈrʌpʃən/nounCore term

In public administration, corruption means: The dishonest use of public power or position for private gain, such as taking bribes, favouring relatives or stealing public funds.

In Turkish: yolsuzluk, rüşvet, usulsüzlük

How it is used

A key term in governance and audit texts. Governments fight, tackle, prevent or investigate corruption, and many countries have anti-corruption agencies and strategies. Specific forms include bribery, embezzlement, nepotism and favouritism.

Example sentences

  1. Online tendering has made corruption in small contracts much harder.

  2. All staff must complete a training course on preventing corruption.

Common collocations

  • fight corruption
  • anti-corruption strategy
  • allegations of corruption
  • petty corruption
  • corruption risk
  • conflict of interestA situation in which an official's personal interests, such as family, business or financial links, could affect, or seem to affect, the way they carry out their public duties.
  • whistleblowerAn employee or insider who reports wrongdoing inside an organization, such as fraud, corruption or danger to the public, to managers, authorities or the media.
  • transparencyThe principle that public bodies should act openly, so that citizens can see how decisions are made, how money is spent and who is responsible.
  • code of conductA written set of rules and principles describing how the members of an organization are expected to behave, for example on gifts, neutrality and the use of information.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Transparency, Audit and Ethics

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