Lobbying and Bribery in the Usa Olympics

Lobbying and Bribery in The U.S. Olympics

Abstract

When you think about lobbying and bribery you would never think about the Olympics being involved in anything like that. However we have to remember people run the Olympics. People have their own agenda's. Some people by nature are going to accept a bribe or money when asked. They can't help it.

Difference between Lobbying and Bribery

The difference between lobbying and bribery may be debated by scholars but there are real differences between the two. Lobbying is when a deliberate attempt is made to influence decisions being made in government political organization. This is usually done by people who represent organizations, groups or even people according to Judy Nadler and Mirian Schulman of Santa Clara University in California. (SCU, 2010). This kind of thing happens out in the open all the time and usually no one questions the ethics of the process when it is practiced.

Bribery amazingly enough sounds much like lobbying when look at the definition of the word. According to the Farlex Legal dictionary bribery is when the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties. It is the expectation of a specific voluntary action in return is what makes the difference between a bribe and a private demonstration of goodwill. (Farlex, 2006). In most cases the average person would say this sounds much like lobbying.

Argument SLOC Could Make

The arguments that the SLOC could make that the payments made did not fit the definition of an illegal bribe under the FCPA regulations could be many. Some of them could include that the guns they gave away were valued at one hundred and fifty dollars or less. Or that the scholarships were actually donations seeing that it is for educational purposes. Even the medical care could have been broken down to individual visits that did not amount to be over one hundred and fifty dollars or less per visit. The medical care could even be considered a charitable donation. According to Dictionary.com the word ministerial could be acting as an agent or cause or and entity; instrumental. (The free dictionary.com, 2011) The Olympic committee certainly fits the description of ministerial so the argument could be made that this is a situation when this FCPA rule applies.

Appropriate Punishment for the Violation of Ethical and Legal Principles

In my opinion I believe that punishment for violating ethical and legal principles should be overseen by a group of peers of the accused. The actual punishment should vary by