What is legalized corruption?

Answer 1

Legalized corruption includes any sort of corruption of the political or economic system that is not against the law. For example, during political campaigns, many parties contribute to a candidate's re-election campaign and implicitly get political consideration with future bills. So, for a small legalized bribe of several thousands dollars, a bill can be passed which will increase the profits of the donating party by hundreds of thousands, or millions. Sometimes these perks are instead offered through the push of expensive public works projects tendered through contracts with specifications focusing on the one donating party, so that real competition for the contact does not exist. Other times bills are passed to increase regulations on competitors, making it harder for other companies to compete or enter the market space.

Another possibility of legalized corruption is job offers, paid speaking engagements, or other perks paid to an elected official. For example, a regulator who chooses to not pursue criminal investigation or reforms too hard against some parties may be rewarded by those parties with lucrative job offers once they leave office, often as a 'consultant'.

Answer 2

Legalized corruption refers to practices where actions that would normally be considered corrupt are sanctioned or permitted by law. This can include activities like campaign finance loopholes, political contributions, or conflicts of interest that are technically legal but still unethical.