Corruption can be used as a politically charged label; a vague term referring to bad governance; or as a carefully specified political science concept. This paper’s purpose is to unpack the family of terms brought together as corruption, e.g. favouritism, conflict of interest, lack of transparency, etc. It will specify what the opposite of each term is, e.g. governance by bureaucratic rules; impartial allocation of public goods and services; decisionmaking above suspicion; and open government. Each of these “not good government” terms implies a different definition of what is wrong with governance normatively, legally and in terms of efficiency. Each also implies different sanctions, ranging from criminal prosecution and prison sentences through loss of office, popular distrust and individual shaming. If the definition is contested, then one group’s definition of corrupt practices may be another’s definition of standard operating procedures.
