The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by design looks outward.
Because of this, most of the chatter in the FCPA space is about foreign corruption and how foreign citizens feel about corruption in their own countries, and how that foreign corruption (however defined) serves as a destabilizing force resulting in broad-ranging effects in the foreign country.
Many in the FCPA space latch on to foreign developments, no matter how loosely tied to corruption, such as a hunger strike in one foreign country, a march in another foreign country, or an act of civil disobedience in another foreign country.
There is nothing wrong with this of course, but the anti-corruption community here in the United States should pause from time-to-time and look inward.
Why?
Because according to the recent Chapman University Survey of American Fears (a random sample of 1,541 adults from across the United States) the top fear of Americans is corruption of government officials. This fear, expressed by 58% of poll respondents, exceeds the fear Americans have about, among other things, terrorism, identify theft, and economic issues.
It is time for the anti-corruption community to wise up and look a bit more inward.
A good place to start is by reviewing the over 55 posts tagged under this double standard heading.
