# Report says 7% of US paid a bribe to a public body in the last year. Who? What? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-7-of-us-paid-a-bribe-to-a-public-body-in-the-last-year-who-what/663079 "2013-07-09T20:57:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-7-of-us-paid-a-bribe-to-a-public-body-in-the-last-year-who-what/663079/81 "2013-07-11T00:33:53Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > (from post #52): > > Classy, huh?-- to brag about how your serial payola gets you not only protection, but forgiveness > for what might reasonably be inferred as serial reckless driving. :p. No tickets, Otis!! ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-7-of-us-paid-a-bribe-to-a-public-body-in-the-last-year-who-what/663079/82 "2013-07-11T00:47:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Define bribe. I am a small business owner. I give away a ton of services to local cops. … Am I guilty of bribery? I dunno are you? For the purposes of this study you gave a bribe if you answered their question in the affirmative. If you said you or somebody in your household has not given a bribe in the past 12 months, then you didn’t for the purposes of this study. It’s the definition of the person who answered the online survey in the US. > [@brazil84](#): > > I would guess that a lot of people misunderstood the question. That’s my guess too, but… > [@](#): > > …I’m not a survey taker, but my job does require me to ask questions of people over the phone. For most of the world, it was an in person or over the telephone survey. For the US, it was an online survey. Online surveys have a poor reputation for reliability. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-7-of-us-paid-a-bribe-to-a-public-body-in-the-last-year-who-what/663079/83 "2013-07-11T03:31:44Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > A material (and thus more sincere) “Thank You” in a world where words are cheap? I can’t say why you do it, but I know that the owners of the fast food restaurants I worked in during college gave cops free food in the hopes that 1) They would come into that restaurant for their meals (rather than the one down the block) and prevent trouble by their mere presence and 2) Maybe respond a little faster if there was a problem. It’s technically not bribery, as they aren’t being given the food in return for not doing their jobs - but it’s also not just saying “thank you” ``` Earlier , someone said something about a Christmas gift to the sanitation worker or mailman. No , that's not really a bribe, although they not be permitted to accept the gift. However, it is not uncommon in my city for people to give the sanitation worker a "tip" for collecting more bags of garbage that they are supposed to from a particular house or for allowing recycling into the regular truck instead of making the person wait for recycling day. And those absolutely are bribes - they are being paid to do something they are not supposed to do ``` ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-7-of-us-paid-a-bribe-to-a-public-body-in-the-last-year-who-what/663079/84 "2013-07-11T03:48:51Z")
I think this thread left GQ territory some time ago. Anyone wishing to discuss this topic further can open a new thread in Great Debates. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-7-of-us-paid-a-bribe-to-a-public-body-in-the-last-year-who-what/663079.md?page=4)