Essay on Corruption for Students and Children

500+ words essay on corruption.

Essay on Corruption – Corruption refers to a form of criminal activity or dishonesty. It refers to an evil act by an individual or a group. Most noteworthy, this act compromises the rights and privileges of others. Furthermore, Corruption primarily includes activities like bribery or embezzlement. However, Corruption can take place in many ways. Most probably, people in positions of authority are susceptible to Corruption. Corruption certainly reflects greedy and selfish behavior.

Essay on Corruption

Methods of Corruption

First of all, Bribery is the most common method of Corruption. Bribery involves the improper use of favours and gifts in exchange for personal gain. Furthermore, the types of favours are diverse. Above all, the favours include money, gifts, company shares, sexual favours, employment , entertainment, and political benefits. Also, personal gain can be – giving preferential treatment and overlooking crime.

Embezzlement refers to the act of withholding assets for the purpose of theft. Furthermore, it takes place by one or more individuals who were entrusted with these assets. Above all, embezzlement is a type of financial fraud.

The graft is a global form of Corruption. Most noteworthy, it refers to the illegal use of a politician’s authority for personal gain. Furthermore, a popular way for the graft is misdirecting public funds for the benefit of politicians .

Extortion is another major method of Corruption. It means to obtain property, money or services illegally. Above all, this obtainment takes place by coercing individuals or organizations. Hence, Extortion is quite similar to blackmail.

Favouritism and nepotism is quite an old form of Corruption still in usage. This refers to a person favouring one’s own relatives and friends to jobs. This is certainly a very unfair practice. This is because many deserving candidates fail to get jobs.

Abuse of discretion is another method of Corruption. Here, a person misuses one’s power and authority. An example can be a judge unjustly dismissing a criminal’s case.

Finally, influence peddling is the last method here. This refers to illegally using one’s influence with the government or other authorized individuals. Furthermore, it takes place in order to obtain preferential treatment or favour.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Ways of Stopping Corruption

One important way of preventing Corruption is to give a better salary in a government job. Many government employees receive pretty low salaries. Therefore, they resort to bribery to meet their expenses. So, government employees should receive higher salaries. Consequently, high salaries would reduce their motivation and resolve to engage in bribery.

give an essay on corruption

Tough laws are very important for stopping Corruption. Above all, strict punishments need to be meted out to guilty individuals. Furthermore, there should be an efficient and quick implementation of strict laws.

Applying cameras in workplaces is an excellent way to prevent corruption. Above all, many individuals would refrain from indulging in Corruption due to fear of being caught. Furthermore, these individuals would have otherwise engaged in Corruption.

The government must make sure to keep inflation low. Due to the rise in prices, many people feel their incomes to be too low. Consequently, this increases Corruption among the masses. Businessmen raise prices to sell their stock of goods at higher prices. Furthermore, the politician supports them due to the benefits they receive.

To sum it up, Corruption is a great evil of society. This evil should be quickly eliminated from society. Corruption is the poison that has penetrated the minds of many individuals these days. Hopefully, with consistent political and social efforts, we can get rid of Corruption.

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Essay on Corruption

essay on corruption

Here we have shared the Essay on Corruption in detail so you can use it in your exam or assignment of 150, 250, 400, 500, or 1000 words.

You can use this Essay on Corruption in any assignment or project whether you are in school (class 10th or 12th), college, or preparing for answer writing in competitive exams. 

Topics covered in this article.

Essay on Corruption in 150-250 words

Essay on corruption in 300-400 words, essay on corruption in 500-1000 words.

Corruption is a pervasive problem that plagues societies worldwide, undermining progress, eroding trust in institutions, and hindering economic development. It involves the abuse of entrusted power for personal gain, often through bribery, embezzlement, or nepotism.

Corruption has severe consequences for societies. It diverts public resources away from essential services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure, exacerbating inequality and impeding socio-economic progress. It undermines the rule of law, erodes public trust in government institutions, and fosters a culture of impunity.

Addressing corruption requires a comprehensive approach. Transparency, accountability, and strong institutions are essential. Governments must enact and enforce stringent anti-corruption laws, establish independent oversight bodies, and promote transparency in public procurement and financial transactions. Strengthening the judicial system and providing protection to whistleblowers are also crucial steps.

Moreover, fostering a culture of integrity and ethical behavior is vital. Education and awareness campaigns should highlight the damaging effects of corruption and promote the values of honesty, fairness, and accountability. Civil society plays a crucial role in monitoring and advocating for anti-corruption measures, and individuals must reject corrupt practices and demand ethical conduct from their leaders.

In conclusion, corruption is a pervasive problem that undermines societal progress and hampers economic development. Combating corruption requires the concerted efforts of governments, institutions, and individuals. By promoting transparency, accountability, and a culture of integrity, we can build a society that upholds the values of honesty, fairness, and justice, fostering a brighter future for all.

Corruption is a deep-rooted issue that plagues societies worldwide, undermining trust in institutions, hindering economic growth, and perpetuating inequality. It refers to the misuse of power or position for personal gain, often through bribery, embezzlement, or nepotism.

Corruption has far-reaching consequences. It siphons public resources away from essential services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure, leaving societies deprived of much-needed development. It perpetuates a culture of unfairness and inequality, as those with wealth and connections can manipulate systems for their advantage while the marginalized suffer the consequences.

Furthermore, corruption erodes the rule of law and weakens institutions meant to uphold justice and fairness. It erodes public trust in governments and fosters cynicism among citizens, leading to apathy and disengagement from civic life. Corruption also undermines investment and economic growth, as it deters both domestic and foreign investors who fear unfair competition and lack of accountability.

Addressing corruption requires a multi-faceted approach. Strong institutions, transparency, and accountability are crucial. Governments must enact and enforce robust anti-corruption laws, establish independent oversight bodies, and ensure the swift prosecution of offenders. Strengthening the judicial system and providing protection to whistleblowers are essential steps toward combating corruption effectively.

Promoting a culture of integrity and ethics is equally important. Education and awareness campaigns should emphasize the damaging effects of corruption and instill values of honesty, fairness, and accountability in individuals from an early age. Anti-corruption education should be integrated into school curricula, and training programs should be provided to public officials to promote ethical behavior and strengthen their resistance to corruption temptations.

Civil society plays a crucial role in fighting corruption. NGOs, media outlets, and citizen-led initiatives can monitor and expose corrupt practices, advocate for transparency, and hold public officials accountable. Empowering and protecting whistleblowers is vital to encourage reporting and ensure their safety.

Individuals also have a responsibility to reject corruption and demand ethical conduct from their leaders. By exercising their rights, participating in civic activities, and promoting transparency and accountability, citizens can contribute to building a corruption-free society.

In conclusion, corruption remains a grave challenge that hampers progress and undermines societal well-being. Tackling corruption requires a comprehensive approach involving strong institutions, transparency, education, and citizen participation. By promoting integrity, demanding accountability, and fostering a culture that values ethics and fairness, we can build a more just and prosperous society for all.

Title: Corruption – A Cancer Eating Away at Societal Progress

Introduction :

Corruption is a deeply rooted problem that plagues societies worldwide, hindering progress, eroding public trust, and perpetuating inequality. It refers to the misuse of power, position, or resources for personal gain, often through bribery, embezzlement, or nepotism. This essay explores the causes and consequences of corruption, its impact on society and development, effective measures to combat it, and the importance of promoting transparency, accountability, and ethical behavior.

Understanding Corruption

Corruption manifests in various forms, including grand corruption at the highest levels of government and petty corruption in everyday interactions. It arises from factors such as weak governance, lack of transparency, inadequate accountability mechanisms, and a culture of impunity. Additionally, socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and income inequality, can exacerbate corruption by creating opportunities for bribery and favoritism.

Consequences of Corruption

Corruption has severe consequences for societies. It diverts resources away from essential public services, leading to inadequate healthcare, education, and infrastructure. The marginalized and vulnerable bear the brunt of corruption, as it perpetuates inequality and undermines social justice. Moreover, corruption weakens institutions, erodes the rule of law, and fosters a culture of unfairness, eroding public trust in governments and democratic processes.

Economically, corruption hampers development and stifles investment. It distorts markets, creates an uneven playing field, and deters domestic and foreign investors who fear unfair competition and lack of transparency. The misallocation of resources and compromised governance systems hinder economic growth and perpetuate cycles of poverty.

Effective Measures to Combat Corruption

Combating corruption requires a multi-pronged approach at various levels:

a. Strengthening Institutions

B. legislation and enforcement, c. transparency and access to information, d. international cooperation, e. ethical leadership and political will.

Governments must establish strong, independent institutions and enforce the rule of law. This includes establishing robust anti-corruption agencies, promoting transparency and accountability, and ensuring the impartiality and efficiency of the judicial system.

Enacting comprehensive anti-corruption laws and enforcing them rigorously are vital. Governments should criminalize bribery, embezzlement, and illicit enrichment while providing protection for whistleblowers and witnesses.

Governments should promote transparency in public administration, budgeting processes, and procurement practices. Implementing freedom of information laws and establishing mechanisms for public scrutiny can curb corrupt practices and empower citizens to hold officials accountable.

Corruption often crosses borders, necessitating international cooperation in combating it. Governments should collaborate to trace and recover stolen assets, exchange information, and strengthen legal frameworks to prevent money laundering and illicit financial flows.

Leaders must lead by example, demonstrating a commitment to ethical behavior and the fight against corruption. Governments should promote a culture of integrity, fostering ethical conduct in public service and discouraging tolerance for corruption.

Promoting Transparency and Accountability

Transparency and accountability are essential in preventing corruption. Governments should establish mechanisms for public oversight, such as independent auditing bodies and ombudsman offices, to monitor the activities of public officials and ensure adherence to ethical standards. Promoting the use of technology, such as e-governance platforms and online portals for public information, can enhance transparency and reduce opportunities for corruption.

Civil society plays a crucial role in holding governments accountable and advocating for transparency. NGOs, media outlets, and citizen-led initiatives can monitor public spending, expose corrupt practices, and raise awareness about the damaging effects of corruption. Whistleblower protection laws should be enacted and enforced to encourage reporting and safeguard those who expose corruption.

Changing Attitudes and Promoting Ethics

Addressing corruption also requires a shift in societal attitudes and values. Education plays a vital role in promoting ethics, integrity, and responsible citizenship. Incorporating anti-corruption education into school curricula can foster a culture of transparency and ethical behavior from an early age.

Furthermore, promoting a culture of integrity in both public and private sectors is essential. Businesses should adopt robust anti-corruption policies, implement ethical practices, and adhere to international anti-corruption standards. Ethical behavior should be recognized, rewarded, and celebrated, while those engaged in corrupt practices should face consequences.

Conclusion :

Corruption remains a global challenge that undermines societal progress, perpetuates inequality, and hampers development. Addressing corruption requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses strong institutions, transparency, accountability, and a culture of integrity. By enacting and enforcing anti-corruption legislation, promoting transparency and access to information, and fostering ethical leadership, societies can root out corruption and build a more just and prosperous future for all.

Human Rights Careers

5 Essays About Corruption

Internationally, there is no legal definition of corruption, but it includes bribery, illegal profit, abuse of power, embezzlement, and more. Corrupt activities are illegal, so they are discreet and done in secrecy. Depending on how deep the corruption goes, there may be many people aware of what’s going on, but they choose to do nothing because they’ve been bribed or they’re afraid of retaliation. Any system can become corrupt. Here are five essays that explore where corruption exists, its effects, and how it can be addressed.

Learn more about anti-corruption in a free course .

Corruption in Global Health: The Open Secret

Dr. Patricia J. Garcia The Lancet (2019)

In this published lecture, Dr. Garcia uses her experience as a researcher, public health worker, and Minister of Health to draw attention to corruption in health systems. She explores the extent of the problem, its origins, and what’s happening in the present day. Additional topics include ideas on how to address the problem and why players like policymakers and researchers need to think about corruption as a disease. Dr. Garcia states that corruption is one of the most significant barriers to global universal health coverage.

Dr. Garcia is the former Minister of Health of Peru and a leader in global health. She also works as a professor and researcher/trainer in global health, STI/HIV, HPV, medical informatics, and reproductive health. She’s the first Peruvian to be appointed as a member to the United States National Academy of Medicine

‘Are women leaders less corrupt? No, but they shake things up”

Stella Dawson Reuters (2012)

This piece takes a closer look at the idea that more women in power will mean less corruption. Reality is more complicated than that. Women are not less vulnerable to corruption in terms of their resistance to greed, but there is a link between more female politicians and less corruption. The reason appears to be that women are simply more likely to achieve more power in democratic, open systems that are less tolerant of corruption. A better gender balance also means more effective problem-solving. This piece goes on to give some examples of lower corruption in systems with more women and the complexities. While this particular essay is old, newer research still supports that more women in power is linked to better ethics and lower corruption levels into systems, though women are not inherently less corrupt.

Stella Dawson left Reuters in 2015, where she worked as a global editor for economics and markets. At the Thomson Reuters Foundation and 100Reporters, she headed a network of reporters focusing on corruption issues. Dawson has been featured as a commentator for BBC, CNB, C-Span, and public radio.

“Transparency isn’t the solution to corruption – here’s why”

David Riverios Garcia One Young World

Many believe that corruption can be solved with transparency, but in this piece, Garcia explains why that isn’t the case. He writes that governments have exploited new technology (like open data platforms and government-monitoring acts) to appear like they care about corruption, but, in Garcia’s words, “transparency means nothing without accountability.” Garcia focuses on corruption in Latin America, including Paraguay where Garcia is originally from. He describes his background as a young anti-corruption activist, what he’s learned, and what he considers the real solution to corruption.

At the time of this essay’s publication, David Riverios Garcia was an Open Young World Ambassador. He ran a large-scale anti-corruption campaign (reAccion Paraguay), stopping corruption among local high school authorities. He’s also worked on poverty relief and education reform. The Ministry of Education recognized him for his achievements and in 2009, he was selected by the US Department of State as one of 10 Paraguayan Youth Ambassadors.

“What the World Could Teach America About Policing”

Yasmeen Serhan The Atlantic (2020)

The American police system has faced significant challenges with public trust for decades. In 2020, those issues have erupted and the country is at a tipping point. Corruption is rampant through the system. What can be done? In this piece, the author gives examples of how other countries have managed reform. These reforms include first dismantling the existing system, then providing better training. Once that system is off the ground, there needs to be oversight. Looking at other places in the world that have successfully made radical changes is essential for real change in the United States.

Atlantic staff writer Yasmeen Serhan is based in London.

“$2.6 Trillion Is Lost to Corruption Every Year — And It Hurts the Poor the Most”

Joe McCarthy Global Citizen (2018)

This short piece is a good introduction to just how significant the effects of corruption are. Schools, hospitals, and other essential services suffer, while the poorest and most vulnerable society carry the heaviest burdens. Because of corruption, these services don’t get the funding they need. Cycles of corruption erode citizens’ trust in systems and powerful government entities. What can be done to end the cycle?

Joe McCarthy is a staff writer for Global Citizen. He writes about global events and environmental issues.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

How to Stop Corruption Essay: Guide & Topics [+4 Samples]

Corruption is an abuse of power that was entrusted to a person or group of people for personal gain. It can appear in various settings and affect different social classes, leading to unemployment and other economic issues. This is why writing an essay on corruption can become a challenge.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

One “how to stop corruption” essay will require plenty of time and effort, as the topic is too broad. That’s why our experts have prepared this guide. It can help you with research and make the overall writing process easier. Besides, you will find free essays on corruption with outlines.

  • ✍️ How to Write an Essay
  • 💰 Essay Examples
  • 🤑 How to Stop Corruption Essay
  • 💲 Topics for Essay

✍️ How to Write an Essay on Corruption

Before writing on the issue, you have to understand a few things. First , corruption can take different forms, such as:

  • Bribery – receiving money or other valuable items in exchange for using power or influence in an illegal way.
  • Graft – using power or authority for personal goals.
  • Extortion – threats or violence for the person’s advantage.
  • Kickback – paying commission to a bribe-taker for some service.
  • Cronyism – assigning unqualified friends or relatives to job positions.
  • Embezzlement – stealing the government’s money.

Second , you should carefully think about the effects of corruption on the country. It seriously undermines democracy and the good name of political institutions. Its economic, political, and social impact is hard to estimate.

Let’s focus on writing about corruption. What are the features of your future paper? What elements should you include in your writing?

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

Below, we will show you the general essay on corruption sample and explain each part’s importance:

You already chose the paper topic. What’s next? Create an outline for your future writing. You’re better to compose a plan for your paper so that it won’t suffer from logic errors and discrepancies. Besides, you may be required to add your outline to your paper and compose a corruption essay with headings.

At this step, you sketch out the skeleton:

  • what to write in the introduction;
  • what points to discuss in the body section;
  • what to put into the conclusion.

Take the notes during your research to use them later. They will help you to put your arguments in a logical order and show what points you can use in the essay.

For a long-form essay, we suggest you divide it into parts. Title each one and use headings to facilitate the reading process.

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🔴 Introduction

The next step is to develop a corruption essay’s introduction. Here, you should give your readers a preview of what’s coming and state your position.

  • Start with a catchy hook.
  • Give a brief description of the problem context.
  • Provide a thesis statement.

You can always update and change it when finishing the paper.

🔴 Body Paragraphs

In the body section, you will provide the central points and supporting evidence. When discussing the effects of this problem in your corruption essay, do not forget to include statistics and other significant data.

Every paragraph should include a topic sentence, explanation, and supporting evidence. To make them fit together, use analysis and critical thinking.

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

Use interesting facts and compelling arguments to earn your audience’s attention. It may drift while reading an essay about corruption, so don’t let it happen.

🔴 Quotations

Quotes are the essential elements of any paper. They support your claims and add credibility to your writing. Such items are exceptionally crucial for an essay on corruption as the issue can be controversial, so you may want to back up your arguments.

  • You may incorporate direct quotes in your text. In this case, remember to use quotation marks and mark the page number for yourself. Don’t exceed the 30 words limit. Add the information about the source in the reference list.
  • You may decide to use a whole paragraph from your source as supporting evidence. Then, quote indirectly—paraphrase, summarize, or synthesize the argument of interest. You still have to add relevant information to your reference list, though.

Check your professor’s guidelines regarding the preferred citation style.

🔴 Conclusion

In your corruption essay conclusion, you should restate the thesis and summarize your findings. You can also provide recommendations for future research on the topic. Keep it clear and short—it can be one paragraph long.

Don’t forget your references!

Include a list of all sources you used to write this paper. Read the citation guideline of your institution to do it correctly. By the way, some citation tools allow creating a reference list in pdf or Word formats.

💰 Corruption Essay Examples

If you strive to write a good how to stop a corruption essay, you should check a few relevant examples. They will show you the power of a proper outline and headings. Besides, you’ll see how to formulate your arguments and cite sources.

✔️ Essay on Corruption: 250 Words

If you were assigned a short paper of 250 words and have no idea where to start, you can check the example written by our academic experts. As you can see below, it is written in easy words. You can use simple English to explain to your readers the “black money” phenomenon.

Another point you should keep in mind when checking our short essay on corruption is that the structure remains the same. Despite the low word count, it has an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, body section, and a conclusion.

Now, take a look at our corruption essay sample and inspire!

✔️ Essay on Corruption: 500 Words

Cause and effect essay is among the most common paper types for students. In case you’re composing this kind of paper, you should research the reasons for corruption. You can investigate factors that led to this phenomenon in a particular country.

Use the data from the official sources, for example, Transparency International . There is plenty of evidence for your thesis statement on corruption and points you will include in the body section. Also, you can use headlines to separate one cause from another. Doing so will help your readers to browse through the text easily.

Check our essay on corruption below to see how our experts utilize headlines.

🤑 How to Stop Corruption: Essay Prompts

Corruption is a complex issue that undermines the foundations of justice, fairness, and equality. If you want to address this problem, you can write a “How to Stop Corruption” essay using any of the following topic ideas.

The writing prompts below will provide valuable insights into this destructive phenomenon. Use them to analyze the root causes critically and propose effective solutions.

How to Prevent Corruption Essay Prompt

In this essay, you can discuss various strategies and measures to tackle corruption in society. Explore the impact of corruption on social, political, and economic systems and review possible solutions. Your paper can also highlight the importance of ethical leadership and transparent governance in curbing corruption.

Here are some more ideas to include:

  • The role of education and public awareness in preventing corruption. In this essay, you can explain the importance of teaching ethical values and raising awareness about the adverse effects of corruption. It would be great to illustrate your essay with examples of successful anti-corruption campaigns and programs.
  • How to implement strong anti-corruption laws and regulations. Your essay could discuss the steps governments should take in this regard, such as creating comprehensive legislation and independent anti-corruption agencies. Also, clarify how international cooperation can help combat corruption.
  • Ways of promoting transparency in government and business operations. Do you agree that open data policies, whistleblower protection laws, independent oversight agencies, and transparent financial reporting are effective methods of ensuring transparency? What other strategies can you propose? Answer the questions in your essay.

How to Stop Corruption as a Student Essay Prompt

An essay on how to stop corruption as a student can focus on the role of young people in preventing corruption in their communities and society at large. Describe what students can do to raise awareness, promote ethical behavior, and advocate for transparency and accountability. The essay can also explore how instilling values of integrity and honesty among young people can help combat corruption.

Here’s what else you can talk about:

  • How to encourage ethical behavior and integrity among students. Explain why it’s essential for teachers to be models of ethical behavior and create a culture of honesty and accountability in schools. Besides, discuss the role of parents and community members in reinforcing students’ moral values.
  • Importance of participating in anti-corruption initiatives and campaigns from a young age. Your paper could study how participation in anti-corruption initiatives fosters young people’s sense of civic responsibility. Can youth engagement promote transparency and accountability?
  • Ways of promoting accountability within educational institutions. What methods of fostering accountability are the most effective? Your essay might evaluate the efficacy of promoting direct communication, establishing a clear code of conduct, creating effective oversight mechanisms, holding all members of the educational process responsible for their actions, and other methods.

How to Stop Corruption in India Essay Prompt

In this essay, you can discuss the pervasive nature of corruption in various sectors of Indian society and its detrimental effects on the country’s development. Explore strategies and measures that can be implemented to address and prevent corruption, as well as the role of government, civil society, and citizens in combating this issue.

Your essay may also include the following:

  • Analysis of the causes and consequences of corruption in India. You may discuss the bureaucratic red tape, weak enforcement mechanisms, and other causes. How do they affect the country’s development?
  • Examination of the effectiveness of existing anti-corruption laws and measures. What are the existing anti-corruption laws and measures in India? Are they effective? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
  • Discussion of potential solutions and reforms to curb corruption. Propose practical solutions and reforms that can potentially stop corruption. Also, explain the importance of political will and international cooperation to implement reforms effectively.

Government Corruption Essay Prompt

A government corruption essay can discuss the prevalence of corruption within government institutions and its impact on the state’s functioning. You can explore various forms of corruption, such as bribery, embezzlement, and nepotism. Additionally, discuss their effects on public services, economic development, and social justice.

Here are some more ideas you can cover in your essay:

  • The causes and manifestations of government corruption. Analyze political patronage, weak accountability systems, and other factors that stimulate corruption. Additionally, include real-life examples that showcase the manifestations of government corruption in your essay.
  • The impact of corruption on public trust and governance. Corruption undermines people’s trust and increases social inequalities. In your paper, we suggest evaluating its long-term impact on countries’ development and social cohesion.
  • Strategies and reforms to combat government corruption. Here, you can present and examine the best strategies and reforms to fight corruption in government. Also, consider the role of international organizations and media in advocating for anti-corruption initiatives.

How to Stop Police Corruption Essay Prompt

In this essay, you can explore strategies and reforms to address corruption within law enforcement agencies. Start by investigating the root causes of police corruption and its impact on public safety and trust. Then, propose effective measures to combat it.

Here’s what else you can discuss in your essay:

  • The factors contributing to police corruption, such as lack of accountability and oversight. Your paper could research various factors that cause police corruption. Is it possible to mitigate their effect?
  • The consequences of police corruption for community relations and public safety. Police corruption has a disastrous effect on public safety and community trust. Your essay can use real-life examples to show how corruption practices in law enforcement undermine their legitimacy and fuel social unrest.
  • Potential solutions, such as improved training, transparency, and accountability measures. Can these measures solve the police corruption issue? What other strategies can be implemented to combat the problem? Consider these questions in your essay.

💲 40 Best Topics for Corruption Essay

Another key to a successful essay on corruption is choosing an intriguing topic. There are plenty of ideas to use in your paper. And here are some topic suggestions for your writing:

  • What is corruption ? An essay should tell the readers about the essentials of this phenomenon. Elaborate on the factors that impact its growth or reduce.
  • How to fight corruption ? Your essay can provide ideas on how to reduce the effects of this problem. If you write an argumentative paper, state your arguments, and give supporting evidence. For example, you can research the countries with the lowest corruption index and how they fight with it.
  • I say “no” to corruption . This can be an excellent topic for your narrative essay. Describe a situation from your life when you’re faced with this type of wrongdoing.
  • Corruption in our country. An essay can be dedicated, for example, to corruption in India or Pakistan. Learn more about its causes and how different countries fight with it.
  • Graft and corruption. We already mentioned the definition of graft. Explore various examples of grafts, e.g., using the personal influence of politicians to pressure public service journalists . Provide your vision of the causes of corruption. The essay should include strong evidence.
  • Corruption in society. Investigate how the tolerance to “black money” crimes impact economics in developing countries .
  • How can we stop corruption ? In your essay, provide suggestions on how society can prevent this problem. What efficient ways can you propose?
  • The reasons that lead to the corruption of the police . Assess how bribery impacts the crime rate. You can use a case of Al Capone as supporting evidence.
  • Literature and corruption. Choose a literary masterpiece and analyze how the author addresses the theme of crime. You can check a sample paper on Pushkin’s “ The Queen of Spades ”
  • How does power affect politicians ? In your essay on corruption and its causes, provide your observations on ideas about why people who hold power allow the grafts.
  • Systemic corruption in China . China has one of the strictest laws on this issue. However, crime still exists. Research this topic and provide your observations on the reasons.
  • The success of Asian Tigers . Explore how the four countries reduced corruption crime rates. What is the secret of their success? What can we learn from them?
  • Lee Kuan Yew and his fight against corruption. Research how Singapore’s legislation influenced the elimination of this crime.
  • Corruption in education. Examine the types in higher education institutions . Why does corruption occur?
  • Gifts and bribes . You may choose to analyze the ethical side of gifts in business. Can it be a bribe? In what cases?
  • Cronyism and nepotism in business . Examine these forms of corruption as a part of Chinese culture.
  • Kickbacks and bribery . How do these two terms are related, and what are the ways to prevent them?
  • Corporate fraud . Examine the bribery, payoffs, and kickbacks as a phenomenon in the business world. Point out the similarities and differences.
  • Anti-bribery compliance in corporations. Explore how transnational companies fight with the misuse of funds by contractors from developing countries.
  • The ethical side of payoffs. How can payoffs harm someone’s reputation? Provide your point of view of why this type of corporate fraud is unethical.
  • The reasons for corruption of public officials .
  • Role of auditors in the fight against fraud and corruption.
  • The outcomes of corruption in public administration .
  • How to eliminate corruption in the field of criminal justice .
  • Is there a connection between corruption and drug abuse ?
  • The harm corruption does to the economic development of countries .
  • The role of anti-bribery laws in fighting financial crimes.
  • Populist party brawl against corruption and graft.
  • An example of incorrigible corruption in business: Enron scandal .
  • The effective ways to prevent corruption .
  • The catastrophic consequences of corruption in healthcare .
  • How regular auditing can prevent embezzlement and financial manipulation.
  • Correlation between poverty and corruption .
  • Unethical behavior and corruption in football business.
  • Corruption in oil business: British Petroleum case.
  • Are corruption and bribery socially acceptable in Central Asian states ?
  • What measures should a company take to prevent bribery among its employees?
  • Ways to eliminate and prevent cases of police corruption .
  • Gift-giving traditions and corruption in the world’s culture.
  • Breaking business obligations : embezzlement and fraud.

These invaluable tips will help you to get through any kind of essay. You are welcome to use these ideas and writing tips whenever you need to write this type of academic paper. Share the guide with those who may need it for their essay on corruption.

This might be interesting for you:

  • Canadian Identity Essay: Essay Topics and Writing Guide
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🔗 References

  • Public Corruption: FBI, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Anti-Corruption and Transparency: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
  • United Nations Convention against Corruption: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
  • Corruption Essay: Cram
  • How to Construct an Essay: Josh May
  • Essay Writing: University College Birmingham
  • Structuring the Essay: Research & Learning Online
  • Insights from U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre: Medium
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Essay on Corruption: 100 Words, 200 Words

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essay on corruption

Corruption is an act of bribery that involves taking gifts and favours in exchange for some gain in terms of services and acceptance. In easy words, corruption means the misuse of power and any positions for personal and financial gain. Whether it’s a public official accepting bribes, a company engaging in fraudulent practices, or a student cheating on an exam, corruption takes various forms. This blog sheds light on the term corruption and the effects of corruption and lists down essay on corruption in 100 and 200 words. 

This Blog Includes:

Effects on corruption, essay on corruption in 100 words, essay on corruption in 200 words.

Also Read: English Essay Topics

Also Read: How to Write an Essay in English

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Here are some effects of corruption on individuals and society:

  • When people in power are corrupt, people lose trust in them. People start doubting their decisions and intentions for everyone. People can also revolt against them and take any action.
  • Corruption can make life unfair. Instead of the most deserving person getting a job or a chance, it might go to someone who paid a bribe. 
  • Corruption slows down a country’s progress. Money that should be used to build roads, and schools and also the living conditions get worse. This means the country doesn’t become better and people’s lives stay hard.
  • Corruption can block opportunities for many people. If anyone needs a job, education or any healthcare facility and is not able to afford to pay bribes, their opportunities get lost.

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Corruption is when people misuse power for their gain. It’s like cheating the system. Corruption hurts a lot of people. Corruption makes people lose interest and trust in leaders. 

Money meant for schools, hospitals, and roads gets stolen. Jobs might go to those who pay bribes, not the deserving. This may seem unfair to a lot of people. 

Corruption slows down progress and makes life tough. We must stop corruption by being honest and also taking a stand against it. When we fight corruption, we make our world a better place for everyone.

Corruption is a big problem that hurts everyone. It happens when people in power misuse their authority for personal gain. To a lot of people, it may seem unfair. 

The first cause can be that corruption breaks trust. People start doubting if their leaders are working for them personally or for themselves. It also makes them feel upset and also feel disappointed.

Second, corruption wastes money. Money that should help schools, hospitals, and roads ends up in the wrong hands. It means that people who do not get the things that they need for their betterment of life.

Corruption also creates unfairness. People who deserve opportunities might not get them if they can’t pay bribes. It also makes the life of people tough and lose a lot of opportunities. It can also impact the progress of the country and weaken the strong pillars of the country.

To fight corruption, the candidates need to be honest and take steps to stand against it. People can demand transparency and fairness in the country to make the issue sustainable. With the contribution of people, they can create a world where people in power are working for everyone not just for themselves. 

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Some of the adverse effects of corruption in today’s society are lost trust, lost opportunities, and slows down the country’s progress.

The negative emotions related to corruption are anxiety, anger and disappointment.

To write a short essay on corruption, make sure to include the effects of corruption and all the aspects of the term.

Hence, we hope that this blog has assisted you in comprehending what an essay on Corruption must include. If you are struggling with your career choices and need expert guidance, our Leverage Edu mentors are here to guide you at any point of your academic and professional journey thus ensuring that you take informed steps towards your dream career.

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Corruption Essay

Corruption has spread like wildfire throughout India and other countries. It has emerged as one of the social challenges in Indian society that is growing rapidly. Generally, opportunistic leaders are the ones who start it and promote it. Working to increase transparency and accountability can help to effectively control corruption in every sector. Here are a few sample essays on ‘Corruption’.

100 Words Essay on Corruption

200 words essay on corruption, 500 words on corruption essay, how to stop corruption, impact of corruption, factors responsible for corruption.

Corruption Essay

Corruption is one of the most serious issues faced by the society today. It has become increasingly rampant in all sectors, from government to business and even in our everyday lives. It appears in many forms, ranging from bribery and embezzlement to extortion and fraud. Corruption damages trust and erodes public confidence, leading to a breakdown of institutions that are responsible for maintaining law and order. Corruption has expanded in scope, and it now substantially curtails the nation's economic, social, and infrastructure development like never before. There are several causes of corruption and they negatively impact society. We, as conscious citizens, should participate in combatting and addressing the problem of corruption for the betterment of our society.

Corruption is the misuse of power for personal gain. It can take many forms, such as bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, nepotism, and patronage. Corruption undermines good governance, ethical values, and public trust. It leads to injustices, inefficiencies, and a waste of resources. Corruption in the political and administrative structures of the nation is impeding its development and robbing the people of their fundamental liberties, including the rights to equality, freedom, and equal opportunity as well as to free and obligatory health and education.

Process of Corruption

There are various ways in which corruption can occur—

Bribery | This is when someone in a position of power accepts or solicits a bribe in exchange for a favour.

Embezzlement | This is when someone entrusted with money or property illegally appropriates it for their own use.

Influence Peddling | This is when someone uses their position of power to influence decisions made by others for personal gain.

Nepotism | This is when someone gives favours to family or friends without regard for merit.

Patronage | This is when someone uses their position of power to appoint people to positions or give them benefits based on loyalty rather than capability.

The acceptance of corruption as a frequent occurrence in Indian society explains its high prevalence. Today, there are fewer voices speaking out against corruption than ever before, and the public accepts corruption as normal and inescapable.

A collaboration between two parties is essentially what constitutes corruption, but more often than not, one side may be coerced into the agreement by a second party.

There is no one answer to the question of how to stop corruption. But there are a number of things that can be done to help reduce it.

One way to stop corruption is to increase transparency and accountability. This can be done by requiring public officials to declare their assets and income, and making this information available to the public. There should also be laws against conflicts of interest, and mechanisms in place for reporting and investigating corruption.

Another way to reduce corruption is to improve governance and management. This includes things like increasing institutional capacity, improving coordination between different agencies, and streamlining procedures. It also means making sure there are effective checks and balances, so that no one person or group has too much power.

Ultimately, stopping corruption requires both individual action and collective effort. Each person needs to do their part to uphold integrity and fight against bribery and fraud. But it will also take the concerted action of governments, businesses, civil society groups, and others working together to make real progress.

Corruption is a major problem in many societies. It can have many negative impacts on society, including economic development, social stability, and political stability.

Corruption can lead to economic stagnation by diverting resources away from productive investments and into the pockets of corrupt officials. This can reduce productivity and growth, as well as discourage foreign investment. In addition, corruption can increase the cost of doing business, as firms must pay bribes to secure contracts or regulatory approvals. This raises the cost of goods and services, making them less affordable for consumers.

Corruption can also undermine social stability by eroding trust in government and institutions. This can lead to social unrest and even violence. In addition, corruption can fuel crime by providing opportunities for criminal networks to flourish.

Finally, corruption can jeopardise political stability by weakening faith in democracy and rule of law. This can lead to authoritarianism or even revolution.

There are many factors responsible for corruption. Some of the important ones are listed below:

Lack Of Transparency And Accountability | When there is lack of transparency and accountability in an organisation, it provides scope for corrupt practices. For example, if there is no clarity on how the funds are being utilised, it becomes easy for the officials to misuse them.

Lack Of Adequate Checks And Balances | In any system, it is important to have adequate checks and balances in place to prevent abuse of power. However, if these checks and balances are weak or absent, it can lead to corruption.

Greed | Greed is a major factor responsible for corruption. When people are greedy, they tend to resort to corrupt practices in order to get what they want.

Lack Of Ethical Values | When people do not have strong ethical values, they are more likely to engage in corrupt practices. Ethical values instil a sense of right and wrong in people and help them refrain from indulging in activities that are unethical or illegal.

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Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Operations manager.

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Bank Probationary Officer (PO)

Investment director.

An investment director is a person who helps corporations and individuals manage their finances. They can help them develop a strategy to achieve their goals, including paying off debts and investing in the future. In addition, he or she can help individuals make informed decisions.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.

Construction Manager

Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.

Urban Planner

Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities. 

Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Naval Architect

A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

Pathologist.

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Videographer

Multimedia specialist.

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). 

Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French , German , Italian . 

Public Relation Executive

Travel journalist.

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

Merchandiser.

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Metallurgical Engineer

A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Business Intelligence Developer

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  • Corruption Essay

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Essay on Corruption

Corruption refers to any act performed by individuals or a group in lieu of some form of bribes. Corruption is considered to be a dishonest and criminal act. If proven, Corruption can lead to Legal Punishments. Oftentimes the act of Corruption comprises the rights and privileges of some. It is very hard to find a definition that takes into account all the characteristics and aspects of Corruption. However, as responsible citizens of the Nation, we all must be aware of the true meaning and manifestation of Corruption in its every form so that whenever we come across it we can raise our voice against it and fight for justice. 

Place and Process of Corruption

Corruption is very common in government or private offices. The most common acts of Corruption involve some form of Bribery. Bribery involves some use of improper favours and gifts exchanged for personal gains of some sort. Moreover, Corruption is often found to be intertwined with embezzlement. Corruption can take place in many ways and in any public and private office. It is observed that most people in a position of power or authority are more likely to be involved in corrupt acts.  

The actual reasons behind Corruption are believed to be greed and selfishness. Bribery can include a range of favours like money, gifts, company shares, sexual favours, entertainment, political benefits as well as personal gain. One or more of such favors can inspire people to indulge in Corruption and preferential treatment and also inspire them to overlook criminal activities. 

Embezzlement, on the other hand, is another form of Corruption. An embezzlement is an act of withholding or concealing information about personal assets for the purpose of illegal trading or threat. Embezzlement generally involves people who were entrusted with the assets in question in the first place. Apart from being an act of Corruption, embezzlement is also an act of financial fraud. 

Another important form of Corruption is the graft. It is a global form of Corruption. It is also one of the most noteworthy and widespread corrupt practices in existence. Grafting refers to illegally using a politician's authority to achieve personal gains or goals. An eminent Example of this would be politically influential people misdirecting public funds to meet their own selfish needs.

Another important form of Corruption is extortion. Extortion means obtaining property, money or services through illegal means. Extortion takes place by taking advantage of individuals through coercion, threats or influence. It is very similar to blackmail. One of the oldest forms of Corruption is nepotism and favoritism. Both of these practices involve people being favored for a position or task due to his or her filial or familial status or ties. 

Another form of favoritism includes influence peddling. In this case, one's influence on people in power is used to get work done. The last form of Corruption is an abuse of discretion, in this type the person is power uses his or her authority to bend legal proceedings.

How to End Corruption? 

Corruption not only hinders working in an organization but also affects the economy of a country and the efficiency of various services. To stop Corruption, the government must take stricter measures. Existing laws must be strictly implemented and if the need arises, new laws are introduced. Workplaces should be strictly monitored to prevent any unethical exchange of favors. Only an end to small forms of Corruption can result in a cumulative effect and bring a significant change in Society. 

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FAQs on Corruption Essay

1. How to write an essay on Corruption?

To write an essay on Corruption, the writer needs to have an understanding and get some research done on the topic. After they know something about the topic, a broad topic line and the layout of the essay can be figured out based on the number of words required to write the essay. Students can then start writing by giving a quirky and compelling headline that captures the reader's attention. After giving the headline, come the major and most important paragraph of the essay, that is, the introduction of the essay. The introduction sets the feel of the essay and should be written keeping that in mind. 

Most people who will see the essay will go through the headline and the introduction paragraph and this will set the impression if the reader will read the complete essay or not. Students can then move on to writing three to four paragraphs or more in the body part where they can explain more about Corruption, why it happens and how to solve the problem of Corruption. This will be the main content part of the essay. Then the student can conclude the essay with a nice conclusion which the reader will take with them, it should include the gist of the whole article and its important points. This is how students can write an essay on Corruption. They can also refer to Vedantu's website where they can find essays on Corruption and other topics that they can use or refer to.

2. How to prepare to write an Exam?

Essays are a form of creative writing which is often tested in Exams for a good weightage of marks. Creative writing is a skill and like all skills, it can also be learned. To write long-form content like this, where minimum word limits are given, it's necessary to note the information, one knows about the topic and then divide the topic in optimum layout to cover the maximum and minimum word limit. 

Any essay should be divided into 3 parts- The Introduction, The Body, and The Conclusion. The introduction of any essay is very important as a good introduction can really impress a teacher. The body contains the main facts, data, and explanation of the introduction. Conclusion concludes an essay with a complete list of the topic. Good words and proper use of grammar will give a different shine to your essay and the complete English Exam. 

Essay writing can be difficult for some students, but students should remember that essay writing is an easy and high-scoring area in an English Exam or test. Students can learn more about Essay Writing at Vedantu's official website where they can browse from various Examples of essays written by our best English teachers to help the students to get full marks in content writing. This is how students can write an essay in an Exam and get full marks.

3. Why does Corruption exist in Society?

Corruption is the venom that can destroy any Society. Tackling Corruption is indirectly tackling people's mindset and handling their needs by keeping the system fair and equal for everyone. The last decades have shown a lot of growth in the overall condition of the country but the Corruption rates have also sky-rocketed. Corruption can also exist because greedy people have a good network and contacts that get the work done.  Corruption can give one temporary control over their time but they should remember that they'll eventually be caught one day.

4. How to write a good body in an essay?

Essays are long-form creative writing exercises that can be often difficult for many students. The most time-consuming and biggest element of an essay is the body which comprises all the facts, explanations, and examples of the essay.  After writing a perfect and compelling introduction, the writer has to start the main heart and soul of the essay; the body. 

The body can be started by explaining the introduction statements and explaining one's opinion on the topic. These explanations and opinions can be backed up by some evidence, facts, or theories. That's how one can write a good body element in an essay. To study more about essay writing, one can check Vedantu's official website where they can browse many Examples and sample written essays on several topics by the best English teachers. Students can master the skill of essay writing with some practice and guidance.

5. What makes a good conclusion in an essay?

Essays are divided into 3 parts where the conclusion comes last after an introduction and the body. Introduction and body are important but the conclusion will decide how much the reader will take back with the conclusion is the concluding paragraph or paragraphs which need an essay with the gist of the complete essay. Unlike the introductory paragraph, which outlines the general idea of the essay, the conclusion should precisely confirm why one's thesis is correct using the facts from your supportive body paragraphs. That's why a conclusion is an important part of an essay and should be written that way. To learn more about essay writing, one can check out Vedantu's official website where they can find the format, Examples, and tips to write a good essay and a good conclusion. They'll find essays written on numerous topics by the best English teachers at Vedantu.

The Problem of Corruption in Government Essay

Organized political corruption, politician’s economic privileges and the participation of citizens.

Despite global policies aimed at eradicating corruption as an unacceptable phenomenon in the government sphere, acute issues still arise, and periodic high-profile court cases are made public. Some officials’ corruption manipulation cannot be regarded as a modern trend since the top administration of states tries to fight against bribery, extortion, and other manifestations of unethical practices. Nevertheless, problems exist, and one of the essential tasks is to change political courses to prevent economic crime among the highest ranks completely. In addition to officials, citizens are also partly responsible for the existence of corruption as a daily occurrence, therefore, not only senior staff but also the population may be involved in combating bribery.

Political corruption has no justification since it is the violation of all existing constitutional norms and presupposes severe criminal penalties. According to Kupatadze (2015), if financial machinations are encouraged at the highest level, all other spheres of life (business, industrial, agricultural, and others) are also based on corrupt activities. Bringing officials to justice is mandatory if relevant cases of violations are identified. However, sometimes it is not easy to determine which of the officials violates the law since the entire political system may be built on machinations and bribery. Kupatadze (2015) quotes the words of the former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov who called on to “have a conscience” and not to take too much out of the budget – “don’t steal 50 per cent” (p. 199). This approach proves that in case the highest administrative officials are aware of financial frauds and allow them, no order can be maintained.

Economic privileges that some politicians have significantly complicate the process of fighting corruption and other unethical practices. Moreover, obstacles arise for natural economic progress. As Hessami (2014) argues, “corruption also diminishes returns on investment” (even when ignoring the risk involved) because it acts as a tax” (p. 373). The author explains it by the fact that entrepreneurs are willing to bribe responsible officials who can help to open or promote a particular business (Hessami, 2014). Funds do not go to the treasury, and the state cannot make a profit. Therefore, from an economic point of view, corruption is a disastrous factor, and growth is impossible due to the privileges of some politicians who are able to control financial flows and the allocation of resources.

The participation of citizens in solving the problem of corruption can also be crucial. For instance, Rose-Ackerman and Palifka (2016) give the example of Sudan, where, according to the survey, “38% of citizens reported paying a bribe,” and “56% of them report having been asked for a bribe” (p. 47). Such statistics show that the population encourages corruption and promotes its strengthening among the ruling elites. If citizens stop any requests for bribery and signal any cases of officials’ unethical behavior promptly, it is likely that extortion will cease to be part of the governments’ modern work.

In addition to combating corruption and bribery at the state level, citizens’ participation can also be encouraged as the way to eradicate these unacceptable phenomena. In case the ruling elites do not have unhindered access to the budget, a higher level of control may be provided. Economic progress can be impossible if officials use their privileges as the way of personal enrichment at the expense of the population.

Hessami, Z. (2014). Political corruption, public procurement, and budget composition: Theory and evidence from OECD countries. European Journal of Political Economy , 34 , 372-389. Web.

Kupatadze, A. (2015). Political corruption in Eurasia: Understanding collusion between states, organized crime and business. Theoretical Criminology , 19 (2), 198-215. Web.

Rose-Ackerman, S., & Palifka, B. J. (2016). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

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Bibliography

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EssayBanyan.com – Collections of Essay for Students of all Class in English

Corruption Essay

Corruption is an act of indulging in illegal practices in order to gain monetary or material benefits. Corruption compromises the genuine rights of someone else and is a huge deterrent to the growth of the nation. It also results in poverty, unemployment and lowers the quality of life of its people.

Short and Long Essay on Corruption in English

Some short and long essays on Corruption in different words limit are given here to help students of classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Corruption Essay 10 Lines (100 – 150 Words)

1) Corruption is the illegal and dishonest practice performed by a person or organization.

2) It refers to the illegal use of power and position to earn personal profit.

3) Corruption is harmful to the development of the country.

4) Corruption can lead to more unemployment and poverty, thus degrading the quality of life.

5) The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has been constituted to monitor corruption.

6) Corruption is a part of both government and non-government sectors.

7) Corruption majorly affects the life of common people.

8) Today corruption can be found in the department of Education, healthcare, etc.

9) Bribery, graft, and embezzlement are the common methods of corruption.

10) Whistle Blowers Protection Act (2011), Prevention of Corruption Act (1988), etc have been passed by the Government to reduce corruption.

Essay 1 (250 Words) – Measures to Control Corruption

Introduction

Corruption refers to a situation when to get a particular job that you rightfully deserve, done only by offering a favor to the person authorized for the act. Unfortunately, corruption is so prevalent that it is today being accepted by the people as an unavoidable truth.

Corruption Control Measures

There are several measures to control corruption, most of them affected by the government and law enforcement agencies. Some of the significant measures taken by the Government of India to check corruption are listed below-

  • Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

This Act aims to check corruption in government agencies and also the public sector businesses throughout India. It proposes the appointment of special judges and speedy trials among other measures.

  • The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

Commonly known as the Lokpal Act, this Act proposes the appointment of a Lokpal to inquire into corruption allegations against important politicians and senior government officials such as the Prime Minister, Ministers of Cabinet, Members of Parliament, Chief Secretaries, Cabinet Secretaries, etc.

  • Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011

This Act proposes to inquire about alleged wrongdoings in government departments, offices, and projects and penalize the corrupt officials and office-bearers. It also seeks to protect the person who exposes the corruption, in this case referred to as the ‘whistle blower’.

  • Central Vigilance Commission

Central Vigilance Commission is a governmental body instituted in 1964 with the objective of addressing corruption in the government and concern departments. It functions as an autonomous body free from the control of any executive body.

There are several agencies established for the sole purpose of controlling corruption, yet the most potent weapon to fight corruption is a collective effort by the people to stop and raise voice against corrupt practices.

Essay 2 (400 Words) – Factors of Corruption

Corruption is a term used to describe illegal practices of favoritism and financial fraud, undertaken primarily with the objective of personal gains. Corruption is the most glaring problem that degrades the quality of life and also the trust of the public in the government machinery.

Factors Fuelling Corruption

There are several factors that act to promote corruption in some way or the other. Some of the most significant of such factors are described below.

  • General Greed

This is primarily the most important factor responsible for corruption. Human beings are greedy about their possessions, money, and assets. For this very basic reason, people with authority in certain matters, tend to misuse the power to increase their own personal wealth. To satisfy their individual greed, several people may also conceive a devious plan together.

  • Degrading Moral Values

We are living in a world that has been over-saturated with the competition. Everyone, not only wants to perform better than others but also to be richer and have more assets. This desire to illogically compete probably emerges from shallow moral values. A child, who has always been told that success means cars, houses, and bank balance, will naturally tend to prefer corrupt practices to be successful and to be above others.

  • Underpayment

Often the employers don’t pay the employees enough to live a decent life with the justifiable standard of living. Most of the time employees are paid just enough to meet their daily requirement of food. The total amount paid to the employees is too low as compared to the company’s turnover, due to their collective effort. This in appropriation and unjust remuneration causes the employees to look for corrupt means to gain wealth or little more money at the least.

  • Slack Laws and Poor Implementation

Laws are made to dissuade people from involving in illegal practices and to instill fear of punishment on them. What if the people find out loopholes in the system and using them to escape penalization? This is exactly what’s happening in case of corruption. First of all, nobody pays any heed to such practices, even the affected take it as a matter of fact. In case the corruption goes reported, there are several loose knots in the inquiry system to help the accused. Free of corruption charges despite being guilty only make the accused emerged more corrupt and confident.

Whatever the causes of corruption maybe, finally it affects the overall progress of the nation and the general well being of its people. To deal with corruption effectively, we must take cognizance of the factors that fuel it.

Corruption Essay

Essay 3 (500 – 600 Words) – Methods and Types of Corruption

Corruption refers to a dishonest act by an individual or a group, which compromises the rightful privileges of others. Corruption degrades the economic and infrastructural growth of a country and is by far the most potential hindrance to the well being of its people.

Methods of Corruption

There are two very common methods of corruption – bribery, embezzlement, and graft.

  • Money, gifts and other benefits offered in exchange for an undue favor is termed as a bribe and the act on a whole is called ‘bribery’.
  • There is a wide range of favors that could be offered as a bribe. For example, money, land, loans, company shares, employment, house, car, jewelry, etc.
  • Embezzlement, on the other hand, is an act of misusing money or assets that the beholder is entrusted with. It is a kind of financial fraud undertaken by the individuals or groups of people who have been entrusted with the money/asset.

Graft is a kind of political corruption. The term is widely used in America to refer to misuse of the fund intended to the public, for personal benefits.

Types/Examples of Corruption

Below given are some of the examples of corruption in various departments/sectors related to our everyday life.

  • Corruption in Public Sector

This includes corruption within the agencies responsible to implement public welfare and other development schemes by the government. This is by far the most prevalent type of corruption that affects the interests of a large number of general populations.

  • Judicial Corruption

Judicial corruption refers to an act of misconduct by the judges, wherein they give a biased judgment, ignoring facts and evidence, in exchange for personal gains offered.

  • Corruption in Education

Since the last couple of decades, the education department in some of the states of India was considered as the most corrupt department. The reasons to substantiate this claim were many – unfair and illegal appointments of teachers and staff, manipulation of results/grades, embezzlement of funds for students’ welfare schemes, etc. Corruption in education is also responsible for a rise in illiteracy and school dropout rates, mainly in the remote rural locations of the country.

  • Corruption in Policing

Police have the responsibility of upholding the law and order situation and ensuring that every individual gets equal right to justice as enshrined in the constitution. Police are duty-bound and morally obliged to not discriminate against people on the basis of caste, creed, religion, age, gender or other divisions. Police largely function in a way that it should; though, sometimes serious charges of favoritism are leveled against its officers. It is very necessary to make the policing system independent from political interferences if it has to function effectively and in an unbiased way.

  • Corruption in Healthcare

The healthcare system is an essential sector that impacts the lives of millions of common citizens. A corruption-free healthcare system only ensures that the benefits of healthcare reach the poorest of the poor and no one remains without medical help in case of any eventuality. Unfortunately, it is not all that good as it sounds. This sector has been a victim of fund embezzlement, wherein, funds allotted for infrastructure and facilities for the patients are siphoned off by corrupt officials, doctors and other office bearers for personal gains. Also, not all the free medicine and other facilities reach to the beneficiary at the ground level.

Corruption is the most potential impediment in the growth of a nation and the welfare of its people. It is not limited only to a specific sector and covers a wide range of offices, departments, sectors, etc. It could only be dealt with effectively by making people aware of its effects and also by implementing strict anti-corruption laws.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions on Corruption

Ans . Corruption means showing dishonest conduct by people who are sitting in a powerful position.

Ans . Yes, it is a crime and it slows down the development of the society and nation.

Ans . South Sudan is stated as the most corrupt country in the world.

Ans . Denmark is the country in the world that has the least corruption.

Ans . It is an Act passed by the government of India in 1988 to minimize corruption in government offices and public sector businesses.

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Politics — Corruption

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Essays on Corruption

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Essay on Corruption 1000+ Words

Corruption is a grave issue that has plagued India for many years, hindering its progress and development. This essay will argue that corruption in India is a formidable challenge, undermining trust in institutions, siphoning resources away from essential services, and impeding the nation’s growth. We will delve into the causes and consequences of corruption, as well as potential solutions to address this pressing problem.

The Prevalence of Corruption

Corruption in India is alarmingly prevalent, with numerous cases reported at various levels of government and society. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, India consistently ranks low, indicating a high level of perceived corruption. This issue affects citizens from all walks of life.

Causes of Corruption

Corruption in India has deep-rooted causes, including the lack of transparency, bureaucratic red tape, and political influence. Experts opine that complex regulations and excessive discretion in decision-making provide fertile ground for corrupt practices. Additionally, poverty and low wages in some sectors may drive individuals to engage in corruption for financial gain.

Economic Impact

Corruption has a detrimental economic impact on India. Funds allocated for public projects and welfare schemes often get siphoned off through corrupt practices. This not only hampers the country’s economic growth but also perpetuates poverty and inequality, as resources meant for the marginalized are diverted.

Erosion of Trust in Institutions

Widespread corruption erodes trust in public institutions, including the government and the judiciary. When citizens lose faith in these institutions, it weakens the democratic fabric of the nation. People become disillusioned with the idea of justice and equitable governance.

Social Consequences

Corruption has severe social consequences, as it can lead to a breakdown of ethical values and moral degradation. When corruption becomes the norm, society suffers from a loss of integrity, hindering the nation’s social progress.

Impediment to Foreign Investment

Foreign investors may be hesitant to invest in a country known for its corruption. The perception of corruption can deter foreign investment, limiting opportunities for economic growth and job creation. This hinders India’s potential as a global economic player.

Legal Measures and Accountability

Efforts have been made to combat corruption through legal measures and accountability. Initiatives such as the Right to Information Act and the establishment of anti-corruption bodies like the Central Vigilance Commission aim to increase transparency and hold corrupt individuals accountable.

Public Awareness and Education

Educating the public about the negative consequences of corruption is crucial. Awareness campaigns and educational programs can empower citizens to resist corruption and report unethical practices.

Strengthening Institutions

To address corruption effectively, institutions must be strengthened. This includes reforms in the legal and judicial systems, as well as improvements in administrative processes to reduce bureaucratic red tape.

Encouraging Ethical Leadership

Promoting ethical leadership is vital to combat corruption. Leaders at all levels of government and society must lead by example, demonstrating integrity and accountability.

Conclusion of Essay on Corruption

In conclusion, corruption in India is a pressing issue that poses significant challenges to the nation’s progress and prosperity. It erodes trust in institutions, hampers economic growth, and has far-reaching social consequences. While legal measures and accountability mechanisms have been put in place, addressing corruption requires a collective effort. Public awareness, education, and strengthening institutions are essential steps toward curbing corruption in India. As a nation, India must unite to combat corruption, fostering a culture of integrity and accountability for a brighter future.

Also Check: 500+ Words Essay on Should Plastic be Banned

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Essay on Corruption [250-500 Words]

Essay On Corruption- Corruption is affecting individuals’ lives as well as society and the country. It is an evil that is widespread in every field. The poor are the main victims and are highly Impacted by corruption. Everyone agrees that corruption is wrong and offensive.

Corruption has become a method of earning money by using one’s authority illegally. Some measures were introduced against the misuse of power by the government servant. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act came into force in January 2014 to probe into allegations of corruption against individual public officials.

Short Essay On Corruption | 250 Words

Introduction.

There are various social issues in society. One issue of them is corruption. Corruption is a form of criminal activity done by either an individual or an organisation. This activity compels others to compromise with their rights. It is a roadblock in the overall development of any country.

Everyone agrees that corruption is wrong and offensive. Unfortunately, in India, corruption has become a segment of life.

Essay On Corruption | Introduction

How is corruption impacting lives?

In small form or in big forms, Corruption is prevalent in almost every region. Corruption is affecting our lives directly. The poor have to be hit by corruption more because they have no money for bribery. This leads to inequality in society.

On the one hand, where the daily needs of poor people are not being met and they have sent their children to work for wages., on the other hand, some people are living gracefully.

How to tackle this issue?

The first measure to be taken by the government is to impose a terrible penalty for those who are found involved in corruption. Furthermore, the Government should increase the salary of employees so that they can meet their needs also there is a need to recruit more employees in the government offices to decrease the workload per employee.

Plus, Individuals have their own duties to tackle corruption. They need to be aware of their rights and never tend to compromise with them.

Corruption is a social issue that needs to be thrown out of society. it is contaminating society. Corrupt people are not beneficial for society as well as for the country. Corruption is the poison that has transfixed the minds of many people these days. Surely, with constant political and social efforts, we can get rid of Corruption.

Long Essay On Corruption | 500+ Words

“ All the power belongs to the amount of money “. This notion leads individuals and organisations to create a pile of money. They go on the illegal track to earn money and use their authority in an evil way.

Corruption is getting more prominent day by day because of people’s growing hunger for more extra power, fame and wealth. They don’t even care about which path they are following.

Today, No nation is safe from the disease of Corruption. From Hospitals to enterprises and governments, no place and nobody is immune from Corruption. Corruption originates from the greater levels and goes down to the lower levels fast, building an environment of less hard work and cheated events.

Impacts of corruption

The poor are the main victims and are highly Impacted by corruption. The rich get every work done easily with the help of bribery whereas the poor have to wait and face difficulties. This situation creates inequality in society and thus violates the Right to equality act.

Moreover, Crimes are provoked by corruption because criminals can easily be freed with the help of bribery and on the other hand, victims find no justice at all. Corruption is affecting individuals’ lives as well as society and the country. It is an evil that is widespread in every field.

Corruption in India

In India, corruption has become a part of life. Today, we have to live with it. In every field in India, you will come across this illegal activity. From hospital to school admission, from getting a driving licence to getting benefits of any government scheme, from politics to private organisation. No place and no one is untouched by corruption.

It has become a method of earning money by using one’s authority illegally. Some measures were introduced against the misuse of power by the government servant. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act came into force in January 2014 to probe into allegations of corruption against individual public officials. India holds every skill, talent and resource to be a developed nation, just some changes are required.

Reasons for co r ruption

There are many reasons for corruption given below is a list of common reasons for corruption.

  • Greed: The first and foremost reason for corruption is greed to earn more money in order to lead a glamorous lifestyle. Most of the government servants in India are corrupt because of their greed.
  • Workload: Workload in government offices is another reason for corruption. The officials tend to ask for bribery for doing their duties.
  • Low salary: Low salary is also a reason for corruption so that people can easily meet their required monthly expenses.
  • Less number of employees: less number of employees provokes corruption to take place.
  • Hurry in work: Individuals prefer to pay bribery in order to get their work done fast. This is one of the major reasons for corruption.

Methods of corruption

Bribery is the most popular method of Corruption. Bribery includes the inappropriate use of favours and rewards in exchange for private gain. Besides, the types of favours are distinct. In 2020 , India records the highest rate of bribery in Asia according to a survey.

Embezzlement refers to the act of keeping assets for the target of theft. Moreover, it takes place by 1 or more individuals who were committed to these assets. Above all, embezzlement is a kind of commercial fraud.

Graft is a global model of Corruption. Most remarkable, it points to the unauthorised use of a politician’s authority for private gain. Moreover, a popular way for graft is misleading public supplies for the interest of politicians.

Extortion is another principal mode of Corruption. It means to acquire property, money or services illegally. Above all, this obtainment happens by compelling individuals or organizations. Therefore, Extortion is considerably similar to blackmail.

How to stop corruption

Strong laws are very powerful for stopping Corruption. Above all, severe punishments need to be given out to guilty people. Besides, there should be an effective and fast implementation of stringent laws. Using cameras in workplaces is a great way to stop corruption.

Apart from this, many people would avoid involving in Corruption due to fear of being arrested. Moreover, these people would have been oppositely involved in Corruption.

The government need to make sure to retain inflation low. Due to the increase in prices, many people consider their incomes to be too low. As a result, this increases Corruption among the crowd.

One significant way of stopping Corruption is to provide a greater salary in a government job. Several government workers get pretty low salaries.

Doubling the number of workers can be another proper way of controlling Corruption. In several government offices, the workload is very large. This gives a chance to slow down the workload of government servants.

Final words (Conclusion)

Corruption is a common issue that requires being forced out of society. it is corrupting society. Corrupt personalities are not helpful for society as well as for the nation. One point is for sure, first and foremost, when our leaders stop their own corruption, India will be corruption free.

Essay On Corruption | Conclusion

Faq’s- Essay on Corruption

What is the definition of corruption?

Corruption is a form of criminal activity that involves the illegal use of authority and power for personal gain.

Which country topped the list of most corrupt?

In the list, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Singapore and Switzerland are perceived as the top 6 least corrupt nations in the world.

How to write an engaging essay on corruption?

We can write an essay of any type in three simple steps: 1. Just gather some information about the topic 2. Think of the structure of the essay 3. Start your essay with an engaging sentence 4. At the end, give a finishing touch to your conclusion. That’s all you can write an essay on corruption.

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Essay on Corruption in English for Children and Students

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Essay on Corruption: Corruption is the use of power or position for personal gain. It can take many forms, from bribery and embezzlement to nepotism and cronyism. It can be found in both the public and private sectors, and its effects can be devastating to both individuals and society as a whole.

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Corruption refers to an act performed by an individual or a group, which seriously compromises the rights and privileges of someone else or the public in general. “Corruption” includes a significant number of illegal and immoral activities from different arenas of governance and administration. Corruption is not only limited to the government and its agencies, but, it also includes private businesses and organizations. Corruption severely hampers the growth and development of a society and a nation as a whole. A corrupt system makes people loose general trust in the government, resulting in an environment of fear and chaos.

Long and Short Essay on Corruption in India in English

We have provided below some Essay on Corruption of varying lengths in English for your information and knowledge.

These corruption essay have been written in simple and easy language so that you don’t face any difficulty in understanding the sentences.

The essay will give you an in depth analysis of Corruption and its effects on the society and the country.

You will also know the measures taken by the government to counter corruption and subdue its effects.

Essay on Corruption 100 words

Corruption is a poison which has been spread in the mind of wrong people of the society, community and country. It is the mistreatment of public resources just for getting some unfair advantage to fulfill little wish. It is concerned with the unnecessary and wrong use of both power and position by anyone whether in the government or non-government organization. It has affected the growth of the individual as we well as the nation and reduces income. It is a big reason of inequalities in the society and community. It affects the growth and development of the nation in all aspects like socially, economically and politically.

Essay on Corruption 150 words

Corruption is the misuse of public property, position, power and authority for fulfilling the selfish purposes to gain personal satisfactions. Corruption is the misuse of authority for personal gain of an individual or group. It is the unfair use of public power for some private advantages by breaking some rules and regulations made by government. Now a day, it has been spread deeply in the society and has become very strong because of its lots of roots. It is like a cancer which once generated cannot be ended without medicine and spreading its roots continuously.

One common form of corruption in our country is receiving cash money, through online transfer or in the form of costly gift etc. Some people wrongly uses someone else money for their own sake. Some people recruited in the government or non-government offices have been involved in the corruption and can do anything to fulfil their wishes.

The saying goes, “It’s a problem that affects everyone, from the least wealthy to the wealthiest. Corruption in India comes in different forms, like giving and taking bribes, stealing money, favoritism, and misusing public resources. The main reason for corruption in India is the absence of clear rules, responsibility, and a strong legal system.

Essay on Corruption 200 words

We all are well familiar of the corruption and as it is not a new phenomenon in our country. It has taken its roots so deeply in the people’s mind. It is a very common poison in the society since ancient time. It is available from the history time of the Mughal and Sultanate period. It is reaching to its new height. It has affected the mind of people to a great extent and become so common that wrong people can play with the public life. It is a type of greediness which corrupt human mind and destroy one’s humanity and naturalness.

Corruption is of different types which has been spread in every filed like education, sports, games, politics, etc. Because of the corruption, one does not understand his/her responsibilities at work place. Corruptions are like theft, dishonesty, wastage of public property, wastage of time unnecessarily, exploitation, scams, scandals, malpractice of responsibilities, etc are the various types of corruption. It has made its roots in both developing and well developed countries. We need to remove corruption from our society and country in order to get real freedom from the slavery. We all need to be loyal towards our responsibilities and strict for any type of greediness.

Essay on Corruption 250 words

Now-a-days, corruption is seen everywhere in the society just like an infectious disease. The great leaders of the India who have fought their whole life for removing corruption and other social issues completely from the society. It is the very shameful condition for us that even after losing various great lives, we are not able to understand our real responsibilities. Corruption has been spread in the common public lives, politics, central governments, state governments, businesses, industries, etc. It has not left any field. Corruption is increasing day by day instead of decreasing or steadying because of the continuous increase in the appetite of people for money, power, position and luxury.

We have forgotten the real responsibility of being a human just because of the money. We need to understand that money is not everything and it is not a stable thing. We cannot keep it forever to us, it can only give us greediness and corruption. We should give importance to the value based life and not money based life. It is true that we need lot of money to live a common life however it is not true that just for our selfishness and greediness; we should play someone’s life or money in some unfair ways.

Essay on Corruption 300 words

As we all know that corruption is very bad thing. It inhibits the individual growth as well as society and country growth and development. It is social evil which is playing humans body and mind socially, economically and intellectually. It is continuously making its roots so deeply because of the increasing human greediness towards money, power and position. Corruption is the misuse of authority, public position, natural or public resources, power, etc by someone to gain his/her personal gratifications. According to the sources, it has been identified that India ranks three in the highly corrupted countries.

Corruption is highly spread in the field of civil service, politics, business and other illegal fields. India is a famous country for its democracy but it is corruption which disturbs its democratic system. Politicians are highly responsible for all type of corruption in the country. We chose our leaders by having lots of expectations to them to lead our country in the right direction. In the starting they make us lots of promises however, just after the voting they forget all that and involve in corruption. We are sure that our India would be corruption free a day when our political leaders would be free of greediness and use their power, money, status and position in right direction to lead the country, not their own luxury and personal wishes.

We should select very honest and trustworthy leaders to lead our India just like our earlier Indian leaders such as Lal Bahadur Shastri, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, etc. Only such political leaders can reduce and finally end the corruption from India. Youths of the country should also need to be aware of all the reasons of corruption and get together to solve it in group. Increasing level of the corruption needs to take some heavy steps to get control over it.

Essay on Corruption 400 words

Corruption is the highly infectious social disease which has spread its roots to the mind of the bad people. No one take birth to do such type of bad activities in the society however some bad conditions of their life forced them to do so. Gradually they become habitual for all of these bad activities. However, people suffering from any problem, disease, etc should keep patience and trust on themselves and never do anything bad in life. As, one negative step of anyone may harm the lives of many people. We are not a single entity on this earth, there are many like us, so we should think a little about others and live life happily and peacefully with positive thoughts.

Now-a-days, lots of benefits are given by the government of India to the poor people on the basis of various rules and regulations to bring social awareness among common people as well as equality in the society. However, poor people are not getting benefited of those advantages given by the government as many officers doing corruption secretly in between the channel before reaching to the poor people. They are doing corruption against law for just fulfilling their own pockets with money.

There are many causes of corruption in the society. Now-a-days political leaders are making interest oriented programmes and policies instead of nation oriented programmes and policies. They are just wishing to be famous politician for completing their own interests instead of citizen’s interests and requirement. There is increasing level of change in the value system in the human mind as well as decreasing ethical qualities of human being. The level of trust, faith and honesty is decreasing which gives rise to the corruption.

The number of common people with increased tolerance power towards corruption is increasing. There is a lack of strong public forum in the society in order to oppose the corruption, widespread illiteracy in rural areas, poor economic infrastructure, etc are the reasons of endemic corruption in the public life. Low salaries norms of the government employees force them towards channel of corruption. Complex laws and procedures of the government distract common people to get any type of help from government. During election time, corruption become at its highest peak. Politicians always take support of poor and illiterate people by dreaming them big in future during their governance however nothing happens after win.

Essay on Corruption 500 words

Corruption has been spread like a disease all over the India as well as abroad. It has become one of the most speedily increasing social issues in the Indian society . It is generally initiated and promoted by the opportunistic leaders. They never think about the nation’s benefits and do lots of damage to the nation through their corruption even for their small advantage. They sell their country properties in the wrong hands and spread wrong beliefs about India in the people’s mind living in other countries.

They are spoiling the old traditions and cultures of India for their personal benefits. Now-a-days people who are working in right direction using right principles considered as foolish in the modern society and the people who are working wrong and making wrong promises are good for the society. However, in turn it is true that corrupted people cheating the simple, ordinary and innocent people. They are ruling the mind of innocent people.

Corruption increases in India day by day because there is a strong connection between the officials, politicians and criminals who are making this country weak and so weak. India got independence in 1947 and it was slowly becoming strong and developing but in the mid way the disease of corruption started and stop India to grow ahead. In India there has been a trend of give and take means give some money in order to get your work done whether in the government offices or private sectors offices. And now the condition is getting worse and worse, as earlier, the money was paid for getting wrong works done or only work to be done, but currently money is paid for getting works done in right ways and at right time. Even after paying complete money according to the demand, there is no full chance of getting things done at time and in right way.

Corruption is everywhere in every department whether it hospitals, education, job, government offices, nothing is left of corruption. Everything has become a business and the source of earning money in wrong way. Educational institutions are also involved in the corruption and they give seat to those students only who have paid for, whether they are good students with good marks or not. Very weak students are given admission in the top colleges and universities only on the basis of money paid for wrong admission and the topper student with good marks and lack of money gets back in the life or take admission in any simple college.

Now-a-days, private sectors companies are so good in comparison to the governmental jobs. Private companies are giving job on the basis of candidate’s skills, ability, technical knowledge, good percentage of marks and all the educational records. However, it has become tough to get job in the government offices as they need lots of bribe to give any type of job (high level or low level) like teaching, clerk, babu, nurse, doctor, sweeper, etc. And the amount of bribe increases in the market as the level of job increase like IAS, PCC, police, etc ranks jobs.

All the essays given above are essay on corruption under various words limit according to the student’s need and requirement in the school. All the corruption essay are written to almost fulfill the current need of students. Corruption is a social issue and this topic is in vogue for the student’s awareness. Following are the other social issues on which we have provided varieties of essays:

Long Essay on Corruption – 1700 words

A majority of us are probably aware of the term “corruption” and the situations in which the word perfectly fits in. The most plausible reference to the nature of corruption could be assessed by the words of Joe Bidden, 47 th Vice President of the United States of America, who quoted – “corruption is just another form of tyranny.” The statement weighs corruption as equivalent to that of cruel and oppressive rule of government. However, for a common man/woman, corruption is a challenge, that he/she faces every day, in protecting of his/her fundamental rights and privileges, otherwise guaranteed by the Constitution.

Corruption in India

Though, the ranking of India in Global Corruption Index 2018 has been improved by three places; at a global rank of 78 it’s still far from becoming a corruption free nation.

Corruption in India had been prevalent even under the subjugation of British Empire, when India was still far from gaining independence. How deeply rooted was the corruption in Indian society, can be assessed by the words of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The Muslim League Leader once stated – “One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering – I do not say that other countries are free from it, but I think our condition is much worse – is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison”.

This statement of Mr. Jinnah delivered while addressing the first Presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 th August 1947, bares naked the truth of corruption in India, even before independence.

Even after 73 years of Independence, not much has changed on that front for the people of India. On the contrary, corruption has grown in dimension and today, it seriously hampers the economical, social and infrastructural progress of the nation as never before.

Corruption in political and administrative system of the country, is curtailing its progress and it devoid the people of India of their basic rights of equality, freedom, right to equal opportunity and right to compulsory education and health among others.

Factors Leading to or Responsible for Corruption

The corruption is rooted into several social, political and economical factors. Though, the most elaborate explanation for the cause of corruption could be estimated by the words of 19 th century British politician Lord Acten, who had famously said – “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The quote was a reference to relationship between power and corruption. Corruption is most like to occur with power as the powerful can successfully evade accountability, by using his/her power and influence.

The scenario explained above gels perfectly with the Indian political and administrative system of governance. Huge powers are vested upon our political representatives and administrative officials, by the Constitution. The motive behind bestowing them with power was the greater idea of empowering them to act as facilitators to the public, in general interest of the nation.

They are expected to exercise their powers in implementing several welfare schemes and projects, without any hindrance, for the overall welfare of the people and progress of the nation. However, the whole idea seems to backfiring with, the powerful wielding the powers to their own interests, seriously compromising the interest of the nation and its people.

This is when the corruption slowly seeps into otherwise honest political and administrative circles of India.

Another, most troubling factor behind the prevalence of corruption in India is the latter’s acceptance in society as a common phenomenon. Today, the voices against corruption are fainter than ever before and the people have accepted corruption as natural and unavoidable.

This is the reason why we tend to bribe public servants, to escape the legal formalities on issues those are of interest to us. Moreover, giving and taking bribe is today being considered as a wise act and is being applauded in private, if not publically.

Below is given a point wise narration of other social and economical factors that could escalate corruption –

  • Inadequate compensation and monthly emoluments to the government employees could lead them to corruption.
  • Illiteracy fuels corruption as it makes a person more submissive and likely to be exploited by greedy officials.
  • Illiteracy, poverty and lack of a transparent grievance redressal system make people more vulnerable to political and other types of corruption.
  • A decline of ethics and moral values in the society are also responsible for corruption.
  • Lack of awareness among the people on their rights and privileges is acting as a fuel to the corruption.

Different Faces of Corruption

The demon of corruption has many faces, than could be imagined, like judicial corruption, governance corruption, corruption in education, corruption in enforcement of laws, financial corruption, political corruption etc. There could be thousands of other similar situations; those could act as examples of corruption. It wouldn’t be possible to elaborate all types of corruption in this essay; however, we will discuss a few of them below.

  • The spectrum of corruption is vast enough to affect people from different walks of life. It involves situations like bribing to secure a government job, bribing to lodge a complaint in local police station, bribing the government doctor for treatment, bribing the official for swift movement of file, paying bribe to the official to get the cheque that you deserve anyway.
  • Firstly, we will make an assessment of political corruption in India. We all know that the credibility of a political representative is based on the transparent and unbiased election that he or she faces in order to be elected. Despite the Election Commission of India doing a commendable job every time to conduct free and fair elections, there are still some cracks in the otherwise impeccable election system.
  • More often than not, during elections, we get stray news from throughout the nation, of voters being influenced by money or by wielding powers, by the contestants in election. Such acts amount to political corruption of highest degree and can adversely influence the democratic structure of the nation.
  • Now let’s consider the scenario of a government hospital which functions to provide free or subsidized medical facilities to all the citizens of India. The doctors deployed by the government in the hospitals are compensated adequately for their services; however, sometimes they are seen demanding money from patients to perform an operation or treatment, which should otherwise be performed free of cost. This is a perfect example of corruption in healthcare system.

Likewise there are several examples of corruption in different sectors, depending on their nature and outcome.

Corruption – An Act of Collusion or Not

Corruption is basically an act of collusion between two parties; however, more often than not one party might be forced into the agreement by another party.

Suppose, if a Public Works Department Engineer demands bribe from a civil contractor, for passing the bill for the portion of road constructed by the latter. In this case, though the demand is not obligatory on the contractor, he/she will mostly oblige considering the otherwise cumbersome process of proceeding legally against the demands. In this case the party who gives bribe is actually forced to do so by the party who demands it.

On the contrary, there could be situations in which both the opposite parties have colluded willingly in order to mutually benefit each other. For example a non deserving candidate for a government job, pays bribe to the recruiting official, in order to secure the job.

Nevertheless, whether forced or mutually agreed upon, corruption is an act of collusion, between two parties, which seriously compromises the privileges and rights of other individuals.

Measures to Counter/Control Corruption in India

The corruption in any sector could be effectively controlled by working on improving transparency and accountability in that particular sector. Transparency will ensure that each and every functioning, decision and its outcome is known to the public and all, so that the fairness of the deal could be ascertained. On the other hand accountability places responsibility of an undesirable outcome/loss on an individual.

  • This has been done by the government of India under the Right to Information or the RTI act, which had been incorporated in 2005. RTI Act 2005 gives the power of questioning to the common citizen of India. Using the RTI Act anyone could now question any department by simply submitting a RTI application.
  • You can now question and get answers on subjects like – how much of the taxes collected, did the government spend and on what mode; how many children in your neighboring school were provided admission under EWS (Economically Weaker Section); what was the cost incurred for the construction of road in your locality and what amount was paid to the contractor; what action did the government take against the official involved in corruption etc.
  • The RTI law mandates the appointment of a Public Information Officer (PIO) in all the central and state runs departments and ministries. The provision of responding to the queries is binding on the PIO, who has to do so in a stipulated time, failing which s/he would attract departmental action or a hefty fine.
  • The government has also established Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in 1964 to look into the matters of governmental corruption. The CVC functions as an autonomous body, free from the influence of any executive authority.
  • The Government has amended Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, to criminalize the party which pays bribe for undue advantages.
  • The amendments have a provision to impose penalty on the organization of the person convicted for giving or taking bribery, if latter couldn’t be traced or has deliberately left the country to escape law.
  • Another step that could well be taken to eliminate corruption is, setting up a fast and speedy judicial system, to address the corruption cases in the country.

Though, the corruption is rampant in India, it is also true that by and large the common men and women of India are honest and have an evident dislike for corruption. However, deep rooted the corruption might be, it could be successfully eliminated with political will and public awareness.

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Essay on Corruption FAQs

What is corruption in an essay.

Corruption in an essay refers to the act of dishonesty or misuse of power for personal gain, often involving bribery, embezzlement, or unethical behavior.

How do you write a corruption essay?

To write a corruption essay, start with an introduction, discuss its forms and impact, provide real-life examples, and conclude with solutions to tackle this issue.

What is corruption in 200 words?

Corruption is a dishonest act where individuals misuse their authority for personal benefit, leading to societal harm and mistrust. It includes bribery, fraud, and embezzlement.

What are the points of corruption in India?

Corruption in India involves bribery, political scandals, irregularities in government contracts, and a lack of transparency, leading to social and economic problems.

What is corruption in India in simple words?

Corruption in India means people in power using their position for personal gain, leading to unfairness and inequality.

What is corruption in very simple words?

Corruption, in the simplest terms, is when people with authority do bad things for their own benefit, causing harm to others and breaking the rules.

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Corruption: A Very Short Introduction

Corruption: A Very Short Introduction

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Corruption is one of the biggest global issues, ahead of extreme poverty, unemployment, the rising cost of food and energy, climate change, and terrorism. It is thought to be one of the principal causes of poverty around the globe. Its significance in the contemporary world cannot be overestimated. Corruption: A Very Short Introduction notes that corruption is as old as humanity itself, and then considers why the international community has only highlighted it as a problem in the past two decades. It explores the phenomenon from several different perspectives, from the cultural differences affecting how corruption is defined, its impact, its various causes, and the possible remedies.

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Mismeasuring Corruption Lets Rich Countries Off the Hook

Conventional global corruption rankings are not only biased and one-dimensional, but also ultimately misleading and harmful. Only by assessing the problem across multiple dimensions can we begin to see how it manifests in different contexts, including rich countries that tend to be considered above reproach.

WASHINGTON, DC – “In an increasingly performance-oriented society, metrics matter. What we measure affects what we do,” argued the 2008 report of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance. “If we have the wrong metrics, we will strive for the wrong things.”

The Commission was challenging the primacy of GDP as the metric of development. But the same observation applies to corruption, which is conventionally – and misleadingly – measured as a one-dimensional problem.

Global corruption indices, including Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Index , assign a single score to countries. These metrics consistently show that rich countries are “very clean” while poor countries are “highly corrupt.” For example, the 2023 CPI ranks the United Kingdom (scoring 71) as the world’s 20th least corrupt country, much cleaner than China (42) and Brazil (36). Most CPI users, including media outlets, companies, and analysts, interpret these numbers as a fact.

But are richer countries really less corrupt than poorer ones? One-dimensional metrics like the CPI obscure the fact that qualitatively different varieties of corruption cannot be reduced to a single score. These metrics also systematically under -measure what I call “corruption of the rich” – which tends to be legalized, institutionalized, and ambiguously unethical – as opposed to “corruption of the poor.”

In poorer countries, corruption takes clearly illegal and outrageous forms, such as stealing public funds and taking bribes. In rich countries, by contrast, many believe the problem has disappeared. In The Quest for Good Governance , Alina Mungui-Pippidi even concludes that advanced economies have reached an end state of “ethical universalism,” where “equal treatment applies to everyone.” Britain is “the classic historical performer” in this respect, followed by “British empire splinters populated mostly by populations of European descent.” In short, the rich West is clean.

But given the rise of populism in high-income democracies today, much of it a backlash against the outsize advantages enjoyed by the rich and politically connected, “ethical universalism” seems more illusory than real. As a blistering 2020 exposé by the New York Times revealed, half of UK government contracts for medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic went to “companies run by friends and associates of politicians” through a special “VIP Lane.”

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How, then, did the CPI rank the UK as the 20th least corrupt country? The score is based not on surveys conducted internally by Transparency International, but on a combination of various third-party polls . Almost all of these come from Western organizations such as the Economist Intelligence Unit, and they tend to rely heavily on responses from Western business executives.

Moreover, the wording in these surveys is often vague. For example, the World Competitiveness Yearbook, one of CPI’s sources, presents business executives with a crude binary choice: “Bribery and corruption: exist or do not exist.” No wonder the CPI shows that rich countries are “very clean” year after year, even as their ordinary citizens disagree.

Recognizing that there were no alternatives to these conventional metrics, despite numerous critiques (including from the CPI’s own creator ), I piloted the Unbundled Corruption Index . Like the CPI, the UCI is a perceptions-based metric of corruption that relies on expert surveys. However, it unbundles corruption into four distinct varieties : petty theft (extortion by street-level officers), grand theft (embezzlement by politicians), speed money (small bribes to overcome bureaucratic hurdles or harassment), and access money (big payoffs in exchange for exclusive, lucrative privileges such as contracts and bailouts).

While the first three varieties of corruption – the ones endemic in poor countries – are brazenly unlawful and directly harmful, access money might be illegal (as with bribery) or permissible (as with campaign finance). Sophisticated methods of buying privileges may involve entire institutions where no individual is corrupt. For example, money laundering, for which London is a known hub , can involve moving funds seamlessly across borders through widely respected financial institutions. In the United States, banks collectively spent billions lobbying for lax regulations, leading to the 2008 financial crisis , yet only one banker was indicted.

The UCI uses an original expert survey to rate all four types of corruption. To improve the quality of measurement, I employ stylized vignettes that ask respondents to rate the prevalence of specific representative scenarios rather than overall corruption levels. My prototype, covering 15 countries, is visualized below. Each country’s total UCI score appears at the top and is broken down into the four categories of corruption, with a colored box representing the most dominant type. Now we can compare not only aggregate levels of perceived corruption, but also the type and configuration of corruption across countries.

give an essay on corruption

One illuminating comparison is between the US and China . The US is less corrupt than China overall, but the gap is narrowest in the category of access money, the dominant type of corruption in both countries. Notably, America’s access-money score is higher than that of lower-income countries like Thailand and Ghana. If we relied solely on bundled scores, we would conclude that the US is clean. But once the scores are disaggregated, we can explain the appeal of populist promises to “drain the swamp.”

give an essay on corruption

Even more interesting is that different forms of access money prevail in the US and China . In a comparison based on a vignette about bribe-taking through politicians’ personal networks, China clearly dominates. Yet when we turn to “revolving door” practices and regulatory capture through lobbying, the US takes the lead.

give an essay on corruption

In short, access money in the US is primarily institutional, whereas the problem in China is still enmeshed within personal relationships involving bribery and piles of buried cash. China isn’t necessarily more corrupt than the US, but its corruption certainly has a different quality.

Mismeasuring corruption is no mere technicality. Fundamentally, it reinforces the illusory, hypocritical, and often Eurocentric message that high-income countries have achieved a lasting state of ethical purity. In reality , corruption did not necessarily disappear as countries grew richer – rather, it evolved, becoming more sophisticated and imperceptible.

We must continue to fight “corruption of the poor.” But, by unbundling corruption, capitalist democracies can also direct urgently needed attention toward some of their most pressing problems, including rising inequality, declining public trust in government, and what USAID Administrator Samantha Power calls “ modern corruption ” (such transnational networks of illicit finance). Overcoming these challenges requires measuring them accurately, rather than pretending they don’t exist.

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Rage, waste and corruption: how Covid changed politics

Four years on from the start of the pandemic, the drama may have subsided but the lingering effects go on. Are we suffering from political long Covid?

L ike many people, I have had Covid and I have had long Covid. They are very different experiences. I first caught the disease at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when its effects were relatively unknown. It was unnerving and highly unpredictable. I did not get particularly sick, but I probably gave the virus to my father, who did. Back then, Covid appeared to be the great divider – the old were far more at risk than the young, and those with pre-existing vulnerabilities most at risk of all – and the great equaliser. Almost everyone experienced the shock and the fear of discovering a novel killer among us. We soon acquired a shared language and a sense of common purpose: to get through this together – whatever this turned out to be.

I developed long Covid last year, six months after I had caught glandular fever. The fresh bout of the Covid virus made the effects of the glandular fever far worse: more debilitating and much harder to shake. Some mornings it was a struggle to get out of bed, never mind leave the house. It was as though Covid latched on to what was already wrong with me and gave it extra teeth. The experience was unpredictable in a very different way from the drama of getting sick in 2020: not a cosmic lottery, but a drawn-out bout of low-level, private misery. Good days were followed by bad days for no obvious reason, hopes of having recovered were snuffed out just when it seemed like the worst was past. Long Covid is less isolating than being locked down, but it is also a lonelier business than getting ill at the peak of the pandemic was, if only because other people have moved on.

The physical and psychological effects of these different versions of Covid – the short and the long – are oddly parallel to its political consequences. The disease turns out to be its own metaphor. We are all suffering from political long Covid now. The early drama is over. A series of lingering misfortunes has replaced it. As with long Covid, different countries are suffering in different ways, trapped in their own private miseries. The shock of the new has gone, to be replaced by an enduring sense of fatigue.

When the pandemic hit, its effects on politics were intensely felt and hard to predict. In some ways, it seemed like the ultimate stress test. Different political systems – and leaders – were exposed in different ways. Those with longstanding vulnerabilities seemed destined to fail. At the same time, the advent of Covid appeared to open up the prospect of new kinds of political solidarity. We were in this together. Covid’s global impact was a reminder of what it is that we all have in common. An acute awareness of our shared vulnerability might create the conditions for a renewed sense of purpose in tackling global problems, including the climate emergency. Maybe a pandemic was just what we needed to remember what was at stake, and to remind some of us how lucky we are.

Four years on, the picture looks very different. The immediate experience of the pandemic feels more and more remote, even though public inquiries are now under way, trying to establish just what really happened and who was to blame for what went wrong. Part of the reason for the remoteness is that much of what once looked like high-stakes decision-making has come out in the wash: many outcomes were similar, regardless of the political choices that were made. Maybe it was in the lap of the gods after all.

At the same time, the more pernicious but harder to recognise political consequences of Covid are all around us. The immediacy of the threat has passed, but the lingering signs of the damage it did to the body politic are everywhere. The pandemic and its consequences – lockdowns, economic dislocation, inflation, growing frustration with political elites – have found out pre-existing weaknesses in our politics and made them worse. It has given what ails us extra teeth.

The early days of Covid gave reason to hope that the massive disruption it entailed might also shift the direction of travel of global politics. That hope turned out to be illusory. In the first phase of the pandemic, it looked to have exposed populist grandstanding for what it was: bleach, it turned out, was no sort of viral disinfectant. But populism remains on the rise around the world, feeding off the many discontents of the lockdown years, and of the years that preceded them.

Likewise, Covid did not start any major wars – 2020 and 2021 were two of the most peaceful years for international conflict on record. But a post-Covid world is now as militarily dangerous as at any time since the cold war.

Covid did not exacerbate climate breakdown: for a short while, carbon emissions fell as economies shut down. But the world is still getting warmer and the hope that tackling the virus would provide a model for more urgent climate action turns out to have been a pipe dream.

The pandemic wormed its way into the weak spots in our political life, just as long Covid finds weaknesses in the human body. It no longer galvanises us, nor is it capable of destroying us. Instead, its symptoms are erratic and hard to fathom, appearing in surprising and seemingly unrelated places. Political long Covid is neither the great divider nor the great equaliser. It’s the great destabiliser.

D uring 2020, when the pandemic forced governments around the world to improvise their responses at breakneck speed, it looked as though it would expose some basic truths about the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems. The biggest and most immediate contrast was between autocratic China and the democratic west. Ruthlessness and decisiveness – which the Chinese political system appeared to possess in abundance – were the order of the day. The democracies struggled to keep up.

In March of that year, after Italy became the first European country to grapple with the question of how to keep its population from infecting one another, the Chinese sent a group of health officials to help advise . The Italians were concerned by the fact that, despite putting draconian lockdowns in place, the virus was still spreading. The Chinese explained the problem. These weren’t actually lockdowns as they understood them. People could still leave their homes for emergencies, enforcement was sporadic, and punishment was relatively light. Meanwhile, in Wuhan, the very centre of the Covid outbreak, armed guards stood outside apartment blocks, curfews were brutally enforced and those with the virus could be barricaded inside their homes. Within a matter of weeks, Italy’s death toll was more than double that of China’s.

The biggest contrast with China was the US, where a federal system of executive decision-making, a widespread suspicion of government mandates and an incompetent president meant that Covid soon killed far more people than anywhere else. If the US was the flagship for democracy, then it looked like democracy was failing to answer the call.

However, it quickly became clear that the global picture was more complicated than any hastily assembled political morality tale might suggest. New Zealand – democratic, liberal and with a robustly independent population – for a long time kept the virus almost completely at bay . The country had the advantage of being an island state that was able to shut its borders. But Britain is also an island, and that made no difference to the government’s ability – or inability – to act. Vietnam, which is not an island, did almost as well as New Zealand. Russia did almost as badly as the US. Some of the worst death tolls were in the countries of eastern Europe, such as Bulgaria and Serbia, which had a mixed legacy of authoritarianism and democracy. Dividing the world up by regime types proved little.

Demography turned out to be as important as politics: elderly, unhealthy populations suffered more. Equally, any geopolitical morality tales concealed a more complex set of tradeoffs. A zero-Covid policy, ruthlessly enforced as in China, turned out to be storing up trouble for the future . Even with the advent of effective vaccines – and China’s homegrown versions turned out to be less effective than elsewhere – too many of China’s population remained unprotected from the virus and the much-delayed economic opening left them exposed. China has also displayed a longstanding weakness of autocratic systems: an absence of transparency means we don’t know the ultimate death toll there, because they are not telling. It is simply not possible to compare it with other countries.

Rishi Sunak, in August 2020 when chancellor, placing an ‘eat out to help out’ sticket in the window of a restaurant in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland.

The wider tradeoffs – the toll that lockdowns have taken on mental health, on treatment for other illnesses, on educational prospects for the children worst affected – make it hard to draw any clear political lessons. Sweden, which was heralded – and viciously derided – for providing a real-time experiment in the efficacy of non-lockdown policies, now presents as mixed a picture as anywhere else: more Covid-related deaths than its Scandinavian neighbours ( 2,576 deaths per million , compared with Denmark’s 1,630 and Norway’s 1,054) but similar or even lower overall excess mortality rates from all causes, and less educational and economic disruption, though no readily quantifiable economic benefits. Covid was not just a political stress test. It was a series of impossible choices.

Four years on, it is also clear that many of the lasting political consequences of the virus have little to do with the relative performance of individual governments. In the UK, the long-term incumbent parties north and south of the border are suffering serious Covid fallout despite adopting opposed approaches to the pandemic. The Tories in Westminster were reluctant lockdowners, the SNP in Edinburgh far more enthusiastic ones. It made little odds for the final outcomes: overall mortality rates were relatively consistent for the UK as a whole and variations had more to do with the underlying population profiles in different parts of the country than with the policy preferences of elected politicians.

What lingers is something more familiar: the whiff of corruption and the stench of hypocrisy. Although Rishi Sunak, as chancellor, was responsible for one of the more hare-brained schemes of 2020, “eat out to help out” – which gave diners discounts for getting back into pubs and restaurants, at a time when the virus was still widespread in the population and about to surge back – that is not the reason why he is in such deep political trouble. Instead, the Covid legacy that haunts the Tories stems almost entirely from the parties held in Downing Street during Boris Johnson’s premiership, when the rest of the country was still locked down. Ultimately it is not the contrast between the public performance of different administrations that has come to matter politically, but the contrast between public pronouncements and private practice: not how many died in the end, but how many died while the wine was flowing in Downing Street. Hypocrisy is the political killer.

The same is true for the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon, who once appeared caring and decisive in her nightly news conference, now seems sanctimonious and evasive, her WhatsApp messages long deleted , her personal grievances exposed. The harsh light of a public inquiry has revealed the SNP to have been as motivated by petty point-scoring and score-settling as any other self-interested political party.

Politics everywhere – in whatever form – takes its toll on its practitioners. The scars accumulate, especially for longstanding administrations. Covid, initially, appeared to be something else: an unprecedented governmental challenge, requiring a new kind of skill set. But in the end, it found a way to expose the regime fatigue that had set in regardless. As Johnson and Sturgeon have discovered, long political Covid is a lonelier business than the exposure they faced in the white heat of the initial outbreak. It works its way through to latch on to personal vulnerabilities and makes them far harder to shake off.

W hat happened to the sense of solidarity that the arrival of Covid appeared to have engendered? In the early days of the pandemic, many governments – including in the UK – were worried that people would soon tire of restrictions on their freedom of movement. Some behavioural models had indicated that widespread disobedience would become the norm after a matter of weeks. Those models turned out to be wrong. Most citizens around the world did as they were told for far longer than might have been expected.

This gave rise to a hope that concerted action on an equivalent scale might be possible in other areas, too. If, in the face of a serious threat, the public was willing to act in the common interest, even if that meant making significant personal sacrifices, then perhaps other collective action problems – from mass migration to the climate crisis – might be amenable to a similar spirit of cooperation. Maybe we were more public-spirited than we had given ourselves credit for.

Yet no such dividend has been delivered. On the most contentious political questions, we remain as far apart as ever. Environmental policies – particularly when tied to net zero targets – still provoke deep divisions and can stoke widespread anger. A voting public that was so furious with Johnson over breaking his own Covid rules that it effectively helped turf him out of office nonetheless elected a Tory in his Uxbridge and Ruislip constituency when the party turned the issue of the Ulez traffic levy being introduced by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, into a symbol of bureaucratic meddling in the affairs of local communities. Lockdown was one thing. But environmental protections are something else: readily weaponised as evidence of elite interference in ordinary people’s lives.

Anti-immigrant sentiment, including among many of the older voters who most dutifully complied with Covid restrictions, continues to fuel populism around the developed world. Geert Wilders won the popular vote in last year’s Dutch general election on a platform that combined migrant-bashing with net zero scepticism. But unlike some other far-right politicians, Wilders is no Covid sceptic. He had also been one of the first Dutch politicians to complain about his country’s slow rollout of its Covid vaccination programme.

A sign on the M8 motorway near Glasgow in March 2020.

Why does Covid solidarity not translate to other areas? In part, it is the lack of any comparable sense of urgency. Net zero targets are there to stave off long-heralded but also long-distant threats of catastrophe. At its height, Covid threatened to crash public health systems in a matter of days. But there is another difference. Public support for government restrictions during Covid was about controlling collective behaviour when it threatened our personal safety. The danger was other people: keep them in to keep us safe. Climate action is so much harder to sell because it seems to represent an infringement of personal freedom for the sake of some far less immediate collective benefit. In that sense, Covid compliance has more in common with anti-immigrant sentiment. Keep them out to keep us safe.

Throughout the pandemic, public opinion in the UK tended to be critical of the government for being too eager to lift restrictions rather than too keen to impose them. In a pandemic the majority of British people want other people to be told what to do, even if it means being told what to do themselves.

This has not been the case everywhere. In large parts of the US, the public proved deeply resistant to the many varieties of mandated behaviour, particularly when it came to mask-wearing, which became a proxy for a whole host of other resentments and frustrations. The pandemic latched on to what unites us and what divides us. It did nothing to change the contours of those divisions.

The truth is that public cooperation during Covid did not reveal civic capabilities of which we had been unaware. Publics obeyed the injunctions of democratic politicians because those politicians were already doing their best to respond to the choices of the public. Successfully observed lockdowns were as much a reflection of ongoing behaviour as they were a constraint upon it. Likewise, when lockdowns failed, it was often because political leaders, themselves pandering to perceived public opinion, failed to endorse them wholeheartedly.

Covid didn’t generate the political response required to change the way we live. In most cases, it gave us the political response that we asked for.

T he area where Covid made the biggest immediate political difference was in public finance. Politicians suddenly found the money that was needed to stave off disaster, conjuring it up any way they could. The magic money tree turned out to exist after all. In a genuine crisis, despite everything that had been said about the insurmountable limits on public spending, there proved to be both a will and a way to surmount them.

As chancellor in 2020, Sunak launched a furlough scheme that guaranteed 80% subsidies to almost everyone in employment: the closest the UK has ever come to instituting a kind of universal basic income. In the US, a rolling series of extensive relief and stimulus packages included direct cash payments to all households, mortgage relief, tax holidays and giant subsidies to businesses. As a result, people stayed in work and businesses stayed afloat, while public debt in both countries soared. At the same time, governments around the world spent heavily to support vaccine development programmes. Conventional practice in the pharmaceutical industry meant there was invariably a multi-year gap between finding a new treatment and bringing it to market. But again, these constraints turned out to be dispensable. Effective vaccines arrived within a year of the outbreak.

Was this, then, the model for an alternative political future, in which vastly accelerated public spending can drive innovation while protecting citizens from disruption? Could it be the means of tackling the climate crisis?

In reality, the response to Covid was less like a trial run for a new climate politics and more like the response to a war. The emergency measures were put in place for the attritional phase of the pandemic, when the threat of collapse was real. They have been steadily wound down ever since. Meanwhile, the spending on vaccine research was only a part of wider government programmes that tended to be far less efficient and highly wasteful. As in any actual war, successful weapons programmes are the exception, not the norm. Most of the money gets siphoned off by schemes that go nowhere.

Military vehicles crossing Westminster Bridge in March 2020.

As a result, the legacy of government action on Covid has been lingering dissatisfaction rather than a new sense of political possibility. The symptoms of political long Covid include public frustration with the bill that has to be paid. Part of the cause for that frustration is widespread inflation, stoked by looser public finances, which has fuelled anger with governments around the world and created electoral volatility. Javier Milei might not be president of Argentina without Covid-fuelled inflation. Donald Trump might not be making a comeback without it, either.

At the same time, stories of the waste and corruption that inevitably went along with unfettered government spending continue to surface. In the UK, the face of government pandemic spending is not Kate Bingham, the head of the highly effective UK vaccines taskforce, but the Tory peer Michelle Mone , who is accused of having used a VIP fast-lane to bypass standard procurement processes and secure government contracts for a company to supply PPE worth more than £200m, much of which apparently turned out to be useless (though the company denies this). The price of sidelining politics as normal is that when politics as normal resumes, the corner-cutting doesn’t look so good.

In the aftermath of the first and second world wars, when government spending among the belligerents was colossal, and waste and corruption were widespread, lasting social transformation nonetheless followed in their wake. The foundations of a new kind of welfare state were laid by the scale of wartime public investment, along with a sense that public sacrifices needed to be repaid.

The pandemic has not been the same. In part, it is a question of scale. The $12bn the US federal government spent supporting vaccine research is a drop in the ocean of public spending. Even the trillions of dollars the US government made available in various forms of aid pales compared with the legacy of pre-existing programmes such as Medicare and Medicaid. The levels of US public debt in 2024 are similar as a percentage of GDP to what they were in 1945, in the immediate aftermath of second world war. But that has more to do with the long-term burdens of welfare programmes and defence spending than with the response to Covid.

In a war, the young fight and give up their lives to keep the old safe, who in return pledge to make life better for the those who are being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. It is part of what creates a sense of mutual obligation between the generations. In Covid, it was the old who lost their lives, but it was still the young who made many of the sacrifices, in lost employment and educational opportunities. That makes the tradeoff more complicated. Its legacy has not been a new intergenerational compact. If anything, political differences between the generations are wider than ever, and Covid has exacerbated them. The young have not been repaid for their sacrifice with the kinds of promises that tend to follow an actual war: better housing, greater educational access, full employment. This is in part because the price paid by the younger generation has proved far harder to quantify than the physical toll the disease took on the old. Who owes whom for what? This was a war with no obvious winners.

Except, perhaps, those politicians who saw what might come next. In October 2022, as his invasion of Ukraine was stalling, Vladimir Putin told his government coordination council in Moscow that the lesson was clear: Russia needed to translate Covid urgency into military urgency. “We faced certain difficulties and the need to upgrade our work, give it a new momentum and a new character when we were responding to the coronavirus pandemic,” he said. Those lessons had to be taken forward in prosecuting the war. “We need to get rid of those archaic procedures that are preventing us from moving forward at the pace the country needs.” As a first step, Putin declared martial law in the four regions controlled by Russian forces.

Covid was not an actual war, though it often felt like one. Nor was Covid a dry run for how to deal with the challenge of the climate crisis, though it occasionally felt like that too. Now we know that Covid was, for some politicians, a dry run for war itself.

C ovid did not fundamentally change the way we live. The French writer Michel Houellebecq , when asked what impact Covid would have on the future, said: “The same, but worse.” That is perhaps too bleak. It is not all worse. In some respects, life has returned to its previous patterns, for better and for worse. The drivers of change remain the same, even if some of them have accelerated.

The pandemic dramatically accelerated some social transformations that were already under way. Working from home was something being facilitated by new technology long before 2020. The pandemic did not create hybrid working, nor did it begin the steady hollowing out of downtown office space. But it brought them forward by about a decade.

Politics, too, is similar enough to what went before that it seems unlikely future historians will see 2020-21 as representing a sea-change in world affairs. The US and China are more hostile to each other than they were, though the hostility had been growing for more than a decade before 2020. The Middle East is more unstable than it was, electoral politics more fractious, authoritarians more assertive, the planet hotter, the disparities greater. This is somewhat different. But none of it is new. And there is no vaccine for political long Covid, any more than there is for the longer form of the disease itself. Its effects are too sporadic and its triggers still too poorly understood for that.

But in one respect, the political consequences of Covid in 2024 might yet come to look decisive in the history of the 21st century. The politician who paid the highest electoral price for the pandemic was Donald Trump. At the start of 2020 he was well set for re-election: the US economy was relatively strong, his base was relatively happy (above all with his nominations to the supreme court), and the Democrats were unable to agree on a candidate to oppose him. Covid changed all that. Trump handled it badly – he never got his message straight – and even some of his supporters noticed. The economy suffered. The Democrats rallied behind Joe Biden, who did not have to suffer the physical stresses of a full campaign because most forms of campaigning were impossible. Trump lost, but only narrowly – without Covid he would almost certainly had won.

For the many people inside and outside the US who found Trump beyond the pale, his removal from office looked like one of the few blessings of the pandemic. Yet had Trump won in 2020 he would have been, like most second-term US presidents, something of a lame duck. He had achieved little by way of serious reform in his first term: a second term would have likely been even more underwhelming, since Trump runs on resentment, which re-election would have done much to defuse. Now, in 2024, we would be looking at the back of Trump, and at a new generation of candidates, some of whom might have been offering something new.

Instead, a narrow defeat in 2020 – coupled with his insistence that he had been robbed – has given Trump all the resentment he needs. It is Biden who has inherited the problems of a post-Covid world and the challenge of defending his administration from the resentments that have built up. A second Trump term coming after an interlude of four years, during which time he and his supporters have been making sure they won’t get fooled again, and his opponents have been looking for ways to have him jailed, is a far more serious prospect. The stakes are much higher. The damage could be far greater.

This year is the busiest year around the world in the history of electoral democracy: more than 4 billion people are entitled to vote in elections from India to Ireland to Mexico. It is one sign that Covid, which put so many democratic freedoms on hold, did not do so permanently. But the US presidential election in November still has the potential to outweigh all that. Trump is by no means certain to win. Yet if he does, and if he decides this time to make good on his promise to change the way the US is governed, by hollowing out the administrative state and by withdrawing US support for Ukraine and for Nato, then Covid will have had a truly lasting impact on global politics. At that point, political long Covid will be hard for any of us to escape.

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"He'll never leave": Why Trump's dynasty, built on corruption and violence, won't end with him

Fascism expert ruth ben-ghiat says maga violence is a grave danger — no matter how the 2024 election turns out, by dean obeidallah.

No, you’re not being hyperbolic if you say MAGA is a fascist movement. You're just being accurate. That was one of the biggest points made by NYU historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of the book " Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present ," during our recent "Salon Talks" conversation.

Ben-Ghiat explained that Donald Trump is leading a “right-wing counterrevolution against the loss of white male privilege,” aimed at taking America back to the time when women, nonwhite people and non-Christians “knew their place.” 

But what truly defines MAGA as fascist, Ben-Ghiat said — rather than just right-wing — is its use of violence . “Fascists believe that violence is the way to change history,” she told me. We saw that clearly enough on  Jan. 6, 2021 , with the attack on the Capitol mean to keep Trump in power despite his loss in the 2020 election.

What is most worrisome going forward, Ben-Ghiat suggested, is Trump’s defense of the Jan. 6 attackers as “hostages” and his promises to pardon them, which seek to change "the perception of violence." Trump’s message to his loyal followers, she said, is that “violence is sometimes morally necessary and even righteous, and even patriotic.” That, she added, is “what we call sacralizing violence, giving violence a kind of ritual, religious tone.”

Ben-Ghiat sees Trump’s promise to pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as intended to inspire his supporters to commit future acts of violence if that can help him win. The implied promise is that if they commit violent acts and Trump regains the White House, he'll pardon them too. That's straight out of the autocrat's playbook, Ben-Ghiat says: "All authoritarians use pardons” and manipulate the justice system to maintain power.  

Ben-Ghiat says she's not trying to scare us, only to prepare us for what we're likely to see between now and November — and for a good while after that if Trump wins. Too many Americans still don't believe, Ben-Ghiat warns, that "it can happen here" — "it" being a fascist takeover. History tells us those people are wrong.

Watch my full conversation with Ruth Ben-Ghiat here or read a transcript of our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

You’ve been discussing and studying this issue for years, but it seems even more important than ever to talk about authoritarianism.

It's incredible that it could be upon us. Here's Trump saying he's going to be a "dictator for day one," but we know that they're never dictators for day one. They never relinquish their powers, so it's extremely important to understand what we're up against.

Despite Trump saying he wants to be a dictator and facing 91 felony counts for his attempted coup,  the GOP base and millions of Americans still love him. What do you take from that?

Sadly, in history, when these charismatic demagogues come to power, they use emotions to manipulate people. Trump says, "I love you" to his people. He told them he loved them on Jan. 6. He builds a personality cult so he poses as the victim, which is really important because not only are all his crimes presented as persecutions by the "deep state," but saying he's being persecuted makes his followers feel protective of him.

You have quotes from MAGA people saying, "Oh, it's so distressing. We have to be there for him." That's what Jan. 6  was. It was many things. It was a violent coup attempt. But he was a leader in distress and he called on people, he brought them to the rally and they responded. They were trying to rescue him. This happens in history. I have quotes in “Strongmen” with people, actual fascists sitting in jail in 1945, where they're like, "Oh, I was completely magnetized by Mussolini. I didn't realize what was going on." So that's how I see it.

Is history warning us about the fact that Trump has not been held accountable by the system? There was such a long delay in investigating him. He's finally charged and now he's using his lawyers to manipulate the system to keep him on the ballot, and maybe not have any of the serious criminal trials before Election Day.

It's very disheartening, and no one is going to save the American people. My mantra has always been, "Never underestimate the American people." We had the Women's March , we had Black Lives Matter . These were the largest protests in history, and they led to electoral [change] in the midterms in 2018 and 2022. 

We've got to do it. We can't depend on our institutions, which is very sad in a democracy. But our democracy has been so damaged, including the Supreme Court with Justice Thomas who wouldn't recuse himself. There's a whole attempt to delegitimize democracy, and not just Joe Biden, but the whole system. So we have to do this from the ground up.

From an academic point of view, is MAGA an authoritarian movement? Is it a fascist movement? Where does it fall?

It's pretty fascist.

The reason I wrote “Strongmen” was to have this 100-year history of authoritarianism, almost all right-wing, because that's my specialty. Obviously communists had a higher body count than fascism, so I could have put them in there, but for narrative and other reasons, I focus on the right wing. Fascism was the first stage of authoritarianism, but it continued in different forms, like the Cold War military dictatorships. 

Trump is very similar to Mussolini in many ways. It checks all the boxes, where it's this huge right-wing counterrevolution against the loss of white male privilege, and it's to save civilization, and the whole "great replacement" theory, which is big in the MAGA base, the idea that nonwhites and non-Christians are having too many babies: We're going to be extinguished. Mussolini talked about this too. You can track a whole series of checkpoints and talking points, and they're pretty much the same.

What's the core of fascism? And why do you, as an academic, look at MAGA and say, "Yep, it's now fascist"?

Mussolini actually was a great sloganeer. He created fascism and had one very simple definition. He called it "a revolution of reaction." Both those things are true because it upends everything. It disrupts everything. It uses violence. Fascists believe that violence is the way to change history. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, he came to the Iowa State Fair to help Trump in the summer. People are eating their corn dogs, there's kids there, and he says, "Only through force will we bring change to corrupt D.C." This is after the coup that tried to do that. So that's the revolution part. People are given permission to be their most violent selves, their worst selves. It's a collapse of morals.

The reaction is what I was saying before, where you want to turn the clock back to "the good old days." MAGA wants to make the nation "great again" by going back to times when women knew their place, as did nonwhites and non-Christians, so things were as they should be. This is part of authoritarianism, which is also a set of attitudes about child-rearing, about traditions, about male authority. All of that, Trump says, is threatened, and so the MAGA base is responding to that.

As an expert in authoritarianism, when you hear Donald Trump defending the people who attacked the Capitol, calling them "hostages" and saying they've been treated unfairly, pledging to pardon them, does that raise red flags for you? And if it does, what does it mean?

Totally. One of the major things that fascists did, and that Trump is doing — he's been doing this through his rallies with frightening relentlessness — is to change the perception of violence. To get people to see that violence is not negative, including violence against your neighbors, or that you're going to look the other way when your neighbor's deported. Violence is sometimes morally necessary and even righteous, and even patriotic. He has used his rallies since 2015, and I wrote about this in my report for the Jan. 6 committee, where he'd say, "Oh, in the old days we used to be able to beat people up and nothing happened." This is thug talk. This is part of fascism. 

"To have an autocracy, you need people to be cruel. You need them to think that solidarity and empathy and kindness are for weak people. That's totally fascist."

So Jan. 6 becomes this righteous " Stop the Steal ." The people who have been arrested become patriots. He almost is doing what we call sacralizing violence, giving violence a kind of ritual, religious tone. In his rallies, he has the Jan. 6 prisoners choir sing. This is totally fascist. Trump has these fascist spectacles. 

I wrote an essay for Lucid when he kicked off his campaign at Waco, Texas. What a choice! He had the choir and the spectacle of it reminded me of Hitler's Nuremberg rally. I think I entitled my essay, for my Substack newsletter, " Triumph of the Will, Waco Version ." He knows exactly what he's doing because he's a showman, he's a man of TV, he's a man of the camera. It's really scary and it really works. That's what all of that is about. The pardons are about encouraging people to do more violence, thinking that they're not going to pay any consequences. That's actually the essence of authoritarianism and fascism: You arrange government so that you can be violent and corrupt, and get away with it.

When Trump says "I'm going to pardon you for committing these crimes," then the message becomes "If you commit crimes for me as we get closer to the election, I will do the same for you."

That's right. We also want to talk about not just Trump, but the enablers. So Rep. Paul Gosar , who should not be anywhere near government, in my opinion, who hangs out with Nazis, he was promising people pardons to get all the thugs he knew, all the right-wingers who were violent, to come on Jan. 6 — promising them pardons because Trump had just pardoned all these violent people like Roger Stone  and Michael Flynn  and [Steve]  Bannon . That's the environment.

All authoritarians use pardons because why do you want people sitting in jail, the worst people in the world, who are for you the best people, when they could be serving you? So Mussolini, Pinochet, they all use pardons to free up the people they need. It's really awful, but this is where we are.

The fact that you know all this, does it scare you more?

I do. It's a little eerie that things are unfolding exactly as they have — well, not exactly as they have in the past because it always looks different, which is why some people don't see it coming. Because no, we're not 1930s Germany, even though Trump's saying, "I hope the economy crashes," which is the Hitler playbook. But it redoubles my mission to speak out and to warn people. The challenge is to reach more people now, reach the people who usually don't vote, who have no idea. 

There was a poll that was very disturbing that said, I forgot what percent, a lot of Americans have never heard Trump's authoritarian declarations. They'd never heard any of that, and some of them don't know about his crimes because they don't follow the news at all.

As a historian, are you concerned that there are Americans who sincerely believe it can't happen here? "It" being fascism, authoritarianism and the end to self-determination as a people.

Oh, absolutely. Even when I'm speaking to people, and these are people who have come to hear me, so they know what I'm about, when I say things like, "The GOP is an autocratic entity, or it's become autocratic" — I don't use the word fascist often — you can see that they're kind of, “Well, this is a little exaggerated.” It's like a mental divide between what we hear about abroad and what we are. In the meantime, they're going to pick their kid up from school, they're going to the gym, and they don't have any conception of how their lives would be affected. So it just seems like some blathering by a professor, and that is frustrating.

Sticking to Trump and what he says, at a rally recently, he mocked President Biden's stutter. At another rally last year, he made fun of Paul Pelosi , Nancy Pelosi's husband, a man in his 80s who was hit in the head with a hammer. Trump doing that is one thing, but what is more bone-chilling to me is when he did that, the crowd cheered and laughed. With Biden's stutter, the crowd cheered and laughed. What does that indicate to you?

This is part of his re-marketing of violence as positive. That's the Pelosi part. There's a reason that threats to members of Congress and their families are up like 400%. 

Mocking the speech impediment is about cruelty. To have an autocracy, you need people to be cruel. You need them to think that solidarity and empathy and kindness are for weak people. That's totally fascist. That's what fascism is. In fact, Mussolini, who, like Hitler, read Nietzsche, the philosopher of the Übermensch and all that, and took away from it that if somebody is weak and they're on a cliff, you should just push them because they're useless to society. That's the philosophy. Trump also made fun, years ago, of a New York Times reporter with a disability. And the disabled, just to take that theme for a second, have always been persecuted by fascists and others.

When Biden gave the State of the Union   address,   he raised the alarm about Trump. What more should he be doing, in talking about Trump, to alert our fellow Americans?

I was glad that he was doing that. You have to respond forcefully. This whole thing partly includes Putin's maneuvers in Ukraine. Biden came to office and in his first press conference said, "We've got to prove democracy works." So from the very beginning, he was going to not only save democracy in our country, but prove it works abroad and stop these people.

"Personality cults, they're like plants. You've got to water them, you got to tend to them and they need the person to be viable and active."

He had a summit with Putin in the summer of 2021. They sat there and Putin was placed as an equal visually, and they had the globe between them. It was in Geneva. I looked at Putin — because I live in these people's heads, unfortunately — and I got a really bad feeling. He was also being grilled by the U.S. press, including by female journalists, and he didn't like that at all. He was put on the spot by a female American journalist. I thought, “This is bad,” because there was something about him. So that night I wrote for my Lucid newsletter that Putin could become very reckless over the next months because he felt extremely threatened that Biden was there instead of Trump. It was a nightmare for him that Trump didn't win. He was risking a lot. 

Then we know what happened. He went into Ukraine and before that, he and China made a formal alliance. And so all of this, one way to read it is it's because of Biden's commitment to democracy. Now, after Jan. 6, he's there. He almost didn't make it into office, but now he's there and we're at the showdown. I think he needs to be even more forceful, but at least he's stepped up.

Trump recently invited Viktor Orbán , the prime minister of Hungary, to Mar-a-Lago. He said, "There's no one that's a better or smarter leader than Viktor Orbán. He's fantastic." What alarm bells go off when you hear that?

Trump has actually been conditioning Americans to see authoritarian leaders like Orbán as positive role models, as well as saying, "I'm going to be a dictator." One of the interesting things he said after that was that Orbán is a "non-controversial leader because he says, 'This is the way it's going to be,' and everybody accepts it, end of discussion." So what Trump is saying is that literally being a dictator, dictating what you're going to do and everybody just submits, shouldn't be controversial. It's how it's going to be.

He's using these visits not just to curry favor with these autocrats and whatever dirty deals they're going to have — and it's all about Putin, because Orbán is a client of Putin — but he's using these occasions to keep indoctrinating Americans that this is the leadership they're going to have.

It resonates with some folks in the base. I see interviews where people are like, "Yes, he'll be a dictator just in the beginning to get everything right." And you're like, "You are not upset that he'll be a dictator because he'll be your dictator." That's the way it is. If Biden said, "I want to be a dictator," the right would go ballistic, as they should.

They already say he's a dictator. That's what I call the upside-down world of authoritarianism. Marjorie Taylor Greene and others talk about the “Biden regime.” Mussolini did this: Liberal democracy is tyranny, fascism is freedom. Then we get all the way to Auschwitz, where the gates of said, "Work will set you free." That's the upside-down world of authoritarianism.

We're seven or eight months out from the election right now. As we get closer, do you have concerns about violence by the MAGA movement? 

"The essence of authoritarianism and fascism is that you arrange government so that you can be violent and corrupt, and get away with it."

I do, because they're being egged on. There was a news item out of Kansas, where there was a Republican fundraiser and they were using an effigy of Biden and encouraging people to attack it. This kind of violence against anybody who is trying to hold Trump accountable or protect democracy could easily, because of our lax gun laws, happen as the election nears.

If Trump loses in 2024, do you expect a similar scenario as we saw after 2020? Even a call for another Jan. 6-style attack?

I do. Sometimes I'll have these thoughts and then they come to me and I'm like, “Oh, that's not good.” It's very interesting, when a president loses and a new one's going to come in, there's a transition team. That transition team is activated after the election is known.  Project 2025 , which has tens of thousands of people, 70 organizations, it builds itself as a transition team. Probably millions of dollars are being spent with giant staffs to plan a transition as though they think that whatever happens, they're coming into power. So that is disturbing, and that's a part of Project 2025 we haven't thought about. Why are they doing all this if it's going to be a free and a fair election, and they could lose?

It's important for President Biden, as a defender of democracy, to adhere to democratic norms. Right now, there’s a debate about whether Biden should give him the standard national intelligence briefing. Do you think that is it in the nation's best interests for Biden to adhere to this tradition that goes back to the time of Truman or, given the threat that Trump presents — and that he's actually charged with felonies for mishandling classified documents — should Biden not give him the briefing? 

Somebody who has instigated a violent coup to overthrow the government and kept classified documents in the bathroom of his private residence is not exactly trustworthy. It's not just Trump, it's also Jared Kushner. We need to be investigating how he came out of the Trump administration immediately into the hands of the Saudis. It's a whole flow of illicit money and networks. Absolutely he cannot be briefed. If that happens, that's actually very naive.

If Trump wins in 2024, do you think he would leave office peacefully in 2028?

No. He'll never leave, and if he falls ill or something, there's other Trumpers waiting in the wings. It's a dynasty. You could even see they're talking about Jared Kushner as secretary of state, which would be perfect for crime, for corruption. You don't know what will happen, but they build dynasties, and Trump has always had a family business. His two sons are not exactly equipped to take on high public office, but there are other people around. Lara Trump was just put in charge of the Republican National Committee so that every penny will go to [the Trump campaign]. This is classic corruption. So it could be anyone. It could be Lara Trump, who knows? As long as they keep control.

How's this going to end if Trump ends up being convicted, he loses the election, he's convicted and put in prison? With authoritarian movements from the past, do you have any guide? Does that weaken the movement, or no?

Yeah, there are polls showing that if he's actually convicted and sent to jail, he may become irrelevant. We can contrast what has happened after Jan. 6 here with Brazil, where they had a military coup in 1964. They had over 20 years of horrible dictatorship, with torture and all kinds of things, that only ended in 1985. The political class, the judges, they all know. They were there, or their parents were there.

Brazil had its own insurrection, on Jan. 8 [in 2023], but the former president [ Jair Bolsonaro ] has been banned from politics until 2030, so his popularity is going down. Same thing happened in Italy without an insurrection: Silvio Berlusconi had over 20 indictments and 14 major corruption trials. He was finally convicted two years after he left office and banned from politics for five years. That's when his amazing, formidable personality cult shriveled. Because personality cults, they're like plants. You've got to water them, you got to tend to them, and they need the person to be viable and active. If they're in jail or they're banned from politics, that's what you need to end them. So I hope to goodness that happens.

from "Salon Talks" about the threat to U.S. democracy

  • "These indictments are critical to our history": MSNBC's Ali Velshi talks Donald Trump
  • "There's a real risk they get away with it": Lawrence Lessig on how to steal the 2024 election
  • Michael Cohen: Trump will go broke and may face prison — "it's going to hit him hard"

Dean Obeidallah hosts the daily national SiriusXM radio program, "The Dean Obeidallah Show" on the network's progressive political channel. He is also a columnist for The Daily Beast and contributor to CNN.com Opinion. He co-directed the comedy documentary "The Muslims Are Coming!" and is co-creator of the annual New York Arab American Comedy Festival. Follow him on Twitter @DeanObeidallah and Facebook @DeanofRadio

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MacKenzie Scott donates $640 million, more than doubling her planned gifts to nonprofit applicants

FILE - Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, March 4, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Scott announced Tuesday, March 19, 2024 she would give $640 million to more than 360 organizations in response to an application process she launched last year. The award is more than double the amount that she initially promised in an “open call” for applications. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, March 4, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Scott announced Tuesday, March 19, 2024 she would give $640 million to more than 360 organizations in response to an application process she launched last year. The award is more than double the amount that she initially promised in an “open call” for applications. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

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Billionaire philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday she is giving $640 million to 361 small nonprofits that responded to an open call for applications.

Yield Giving’s first round of donations is more than double what Scott had initially pledged to give away through the application process. Since she began giving away billions in 2019 , Scott and her team have researched and selected organizations without an application process and provided them with large, unrestricted gifts.

In a brief note on her website, Scott wrote she was grateful to Lever for Change, the organization that managed the open call, and the evaluators for “their roles in creating this pathway to support for people working to improve access to foundational resources in their communities. They are vital agents of change.”

The increase in both the award amount and the number of organizations who were selected is “a pleasant surprise,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, vice president at The Center for Effective Philanthropy. She is interested to learn more about the applicants’ experience of the process and whether Scott continues to use this process going forward.

Some 6,353 nonprofits applied to the $1 million grants when applications opened.

This 2022 photo shows Kate Nelson in Bakersfield, Calif,, after attending a Farmlink Project food delivery in Bakersfield to support the farmer community. Farmlink Project is one of numerous nonprofits established by Gen Z founders during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Owen Dubeck/Farmlink Project via AP)

“The donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount,” said Lever for Change, which specializes in running philanthropic prize awards.

The 279 nonprofits that received top scores from an external review panel were awarded $2 million, while 82 organizations in a second tier received $1 million each.

Competitions like Scott’s open call can help organizations who do not have connections with a specific funder get considered, said Renee Karibi-Whyte, senior vice president, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

“One of the best things about prize philanthropy is that it surfaces people and organizations and institutions that otherwise wouldn’t have access to the people in the power centers and the funding,” she said. Her organization also advises funders who run competitive grants or philanthropic prize competitions to phase the application to diminish the burden of applying on any organization that is eliminated early.

Megan Peterson, executive director of the Minnesota-based nonprofit, Gender Justice, said the application was a rare opportunity to get noticed by Scott.

“Having seen the types of work that she has supported in the past, we did feel like, ‘Oh, if only she knew that we were out here racking up wins,’” said Peterson.

Her organization has won lawsuits recently around access to emergency contraception and the rights of trans youth to play sports. They plan to use the funds to expand their work into North Dakota. Peterson said the funds must be used for tax exempt purposes but otherwise come with no restrictions or reporting requirements — just like Scott’s previous grants.

“I think she’s really helping to set a new path for philanthropy broadly, which is with that philosophy of: Find people doing good work and give them resources and then get out of the way,” Peterson said of Scott. “I am grateful for not just the support individually, but the way in which I think she is having an impact on philanthropy broadly.”

The open call asked for applications from nonprofits who are community-led with missions “to advance the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means,” Yield Giving said on its website. Only nonprofits with annual budgets between $1 and $5 million were eligible to apply.

The awardees were selected through a multilayer process, where applicants scored fellow applicants and then the top organizations were reviewed by a panel of outside experts.

Scott has given away $16.5 billion from the fortune she came into after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Initially, she publicized the gifts in online blog posts, sometimes naming the organizations and sometimes not. She launched a database of her giving in December 2022, under the name Yield Giving.

In an essay reflecting on the website , she wrote, “Information from other people – other givers, my team, the nonprofit teams I’ve been giving to – has been enormously helpful to me. If more information about these gifts can be helpful to anyone, I want to share it.”

Smith Arrillaga, of CEP, said it was important that Scott is, “continuing to honor her commitment in terms of giving away her wealth, even though she’s thinking, changing and tweaking the ‘how’ of how it’s done and she’s still trying to go with the spirit of what she committed to.”

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy .

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Intel Receives $8.5 Billion in Grants to Build Chip Plants

The award, announced by President Biden at a plant in Arizona, is the biggest the government has made under a new program that aims to rebuild the nation’s semiconductor manufacturing industry.

A large construction site, with an excavation several stories below ground and a crane overhead.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs ,  Madeleine Ngo and Don Clark

Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Chandler, Ariz., Madeleine Ngo from Washington and Don Clark from San Francisco.

President Biden on Wednesday awarded $8.5 billion in grants to Intel, a major investment to bolster the nation’s semiconductor production, during a tour of battleground states meant to sell his economic agenda.

Speaking from the Intel campus in Chandler, Ariz., Mr. Biden said the award would support thousands of new manufacturing jobs, including ones that do not require a college degree.

“It’s going to transform the semiconductor industry,” Mr. Biden said. “Where the hell is it written saying that we’re not going to be the manufacturing capital of the world again?”

The award, which will go to the construction and expansion of Intel facilities around the United States, is the biggest the federal government has made with funding from the CHIPS Act , which lawmakers passed in 2022 to help re-establish the United States as a leader in semiconductor manufacturing.

The Biden administration, equipped with $39 billion in subsidies to distribute, is spearheading an ambitious effort to ramp up production of the tiny chips that power everything from smartphones to computers and cars. The effort is at the center of Mr. Biden’s goal to reduce America’s reliance on foreign countries: Although semiconductors were invented in the United States, only about 10 percent of the world’s chips are made domestically.

“Nearly all manufacturing of leading-edge chips across the entire industry moved overseas to Asia years ago,” Mr. Biden said. “That’s why today’s investment is such a big deal: We will enable advanced semiconductor manufacturing to make a comeback here in America.”

In addition to the grants, the federal government is planning to award Intel up to $11 billion in loans on what the company characterized as generous terms. Intel is also expected to claim federal tax credits that could cover 25 percent of the expense of its U.S. expansion projects, which are expected to cost more than $100 billion over five years.

The grants are intended to help fund the company’s construction plans in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon. The projects are expected to create more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs and roughly 20,000 construction jobs, according to Biden administration officials.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whose department is overseeing the distribution of the grants, said the award would help ramp up the country’s production of the most advanced semiconductors, which are used in artificial intelligence, smartphones, supercomputers and the most sensitive military hardware. The United States currently produces none.

Ms. Raimondo said the Intel award would be the single largest grant to a chipmaker under the new program. The investment will help put the United States on track to produce roughly 20 percent of the world’s leading-edge chips by the end of the decade, she said.

“This investment will enable Intel to produce leading edge, the most sophisticated chips in the world that will power our economic and national security,” Ms. Raimondo said at the Intel campus on Wednesday.

In Arizona, the money will help fund Intel’s recent construction of two advanced plants and the modernization of another facility. The money will also help establish an entirely new site near Columbus, Ohio, starting with two factories, in its first move to a new U.S. region in more than 40 years.

In Rio Rancho, N.M., Intel will use the federal funds to transform two plants into advanced packaging facilities, where chips are assembled together to enhance performance and reduce costs. The company will also expand and modernize an innovation hub in Hillsboro, Ore., which is expected to further the company’s technological leadership and development of new innovations.

Mr. Biden and his Democratic allies view the semiconductor investments as a key way to try to turn around perceptions of the economy among voters in battleground states like Arizona.

“We have not been talking to folks about the issues that President Biden has been delivering on, and that’s what we are determined to do,” Yolanda Bejarano, the Arizona Democratic Party chairwoman, said on Tuesday, adding that Democrats would need to talk more about the effects of the semiconductor investments.

Although Intel will have to meet certain milestones before the money is distributed, senior Biden administration officials said they expected the funds to start flowing to the company by the end of this year.

Patrick Gelsinger, Intel’s chief executive, told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday evening that the government incentives represented a proud moment for his company and a major achievement for politicians of both parties. Though satisfied with the incentives earmarked for Intel, he said officials might need to invest more in the industry to reverse decades of shifting investment from the United States to countries in Asia.

“It doesn’t get fixed in one three- to five-year program,” Mr. Gelsinger said. “I do think we’ll need at least a CHIPS 2 to finish that job.”

Intel is the fourth company to receive a federal award under the new program, and brings the total announced grants to more than $10 billion. The first three grants — to GlobalFoundries, Microchip Technology and BAE Systems — were to makers of legacy chips, which are created with older production processes but are still used in many products like cars and dishwashers.

Biden administration officials are expected to announce more awards in the coming months to other major chipmakers, including the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung and Micron Technology. Those companies have also made major investments in new or expanded semiconductor manufacturing plants in the United States in recent years.

The United States’ dependence on Asia for its chips has become even more pronounced with the rise of artificial intelligence. Nearly all chips used to power the latest generative A.I. services were manufactured in Taiwan by T.S.M.C., though designed by the Silicon Valley company Nvidia.

Intel has been trying to change that by developing new manufacturing technology, beginning to build chips designed by other companies and lobbying heavily for the legislation. The investment in Intel is intended to help enable U.S. companies to lead in the A.I. industry by ensuring there is a domestic supply of advanced chips.

About $50 million of federal funding will be set aside for Intel to spend on training and developing “a new generation of workers for the semiconductor industry,” Mr. Biden said. Many semiconductor companies and industry groups have voiced concerns about potential shortages of technicians, engineers and other workers to fill all of the positions that will be created once the facilities are constructed.

In total, private companies have announced more than $240 billion in semiconductor and electronic manufacturing investments since Mr. Biden took office, according to administration officials. Some chipmakers, however, have run into obstacles while trying to expand their domestic manufacturing capacity, resulting in delays.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent, covering President Biden and his administration. More about Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Madeleine Ngo covers U.S. economic policy and how it affects people across the country. More about Madeleine Ngo

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    The billionaire philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday she would give $640 million to more than 360 organizations in response to an application process she launched last year. ... In an essay reflecting on the website, she wrote, "Information from other people - other givers, my team, the nonprofit teams I've been ...

  29. Intel Receives $8.5 Billion in Grants to Build Chip Plants

    President Biden on Wednesday awarded $8.5 billion in grants to Intel, a major investment to bolster the nation's semiconductor production, during a tour of battleground states meant to sell his ...