Political corruption is about the abuse of power for personal gains, which are mostly illegal and common among government officials. Any illegal act performed by an official is automatically deemed to be a political corruption. This is described as when the act itself is in relation to their official duties, involves influence and done under the governance of the law.

Common Activities Related to Corruption

The truth is, there are many different forms of corruption and these include but not limited to the following:

• Bribery
• Cronyism
• Extortion
• Graft
• Patronage
• Embezzlement and;
• Nepotism

Corruption can also facilitate criminal enterprise like money laundering, human and drug trafficking. Though, these are not restricted to such activities. Again as mentioned, there are many forms of corruption.

Misusage of government power for personal reasons like repression of political enemies as well as general police brutality wouldn’t fall under political corruption. Activities that constitute illegal corruption will differ based on the jurisdiction and/or the country.

Read between the Lines

To give you an example, there are political funding practices that are completely legal in one country but is illegal in the other. There are instances to which government officials have ill-defined or broad powers making it harder to distinguish what actions are considered legal and illegal.