GC: n

S: EncBrit; TERMIUM PLUS.

N: 1. bribery (n): late 14c, “theft, robbery, swindling, pilfering” see bribe (n) + -ery.
2. Bribery, the act of promising, giving, receiving, or agreeing to receive money or some other item of value with the corrupt aim of influencing a public official in the discharge of his official duties. When money has been offered or promised in exchange for a corrupt act, the official involved need not actually accomplish that act for the offense of bribery to be complete. The crime is typically punishable as a felony.
Although bribery originally involved interference with judges, its definition has since been expanded to include actions by all sorts of government officials, from the local to the national level, and to cover all public employees. Special provisions also have been enacted in various jurisdictions to punish the bribing of voters, jurors, witnesses, and other lay participants in official proceedings.
3. Corruption, Improper and usually unlawful conduct intended to secure a benefit for oneself or another. Its forms include bribery, extortion, and the misuse of inside information. It exists where there is community indifference or a lack of enforcement policies. In societies with a culture of ritualized gift giving, the line between acceptable and unacceptable gifts is often hard to draw.
4. This type of action results in matters that should be handled objectively being handled in a manner best suiting the private interests of the decision maker.
5. Bribery constitutes a crime and both the offeror and the recipient can be criminally charged.
6. Proof of bribery requires demonstrating a “quid pro quo” relationship in which the recipient directly alters behavior in exchange for the gift
7. Attempts to bribe exist at common law and under the Model Penal Code, and often, the punishment for attempted bribery and completed bribery are identical.
8. Solicitation of a bribe also constitutes a crime and is completed regardless of whether the solicitation results in the receipt of a valuable gift.
9. The terms “bribery”, “passive bribery” or “bribery of public official” also mean cohecho pasivo in Spanish and corruption de fonctionnaire in French.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/ (last access: 29 October 2014). 2 & 3. EncBrit. 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8. LII – http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/bribery (last access: 29 October 2014). 9. TERMIUMPLUS; NM – http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Bribery/Passive-bribery (last access: 28 October 2014); GDT; FCB.

SYN:
S:

CR: bribe, clientelism, prevarication.