BRIBERY

A bribe (la¤ca) is something of value offered, given or solicited to influence people in a position of responsibility to act contrary to their duty. A corrupt official could be described as a `bribe eater' (la¤cakhàdaka, Ja.II,196) in ancient India. The giving or receiving of bribes often means breaking the second and the fourth Precepts and always involves cheating, greed, injustice and law-breaking.

All traditional Buddhists countries scored very poorly on Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perception Index. Out of 180 countries Bhutan was the least corrupt Buddhist country at 45, next came Thailand at 80 and Sri Lanka at 92. Laos was 26th from the bottom and Cambodia 11th. The second most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International was Burma.