Corruption has economic roots. Corruption in government contracting, in the award of licenses, and in the privatization of state enterprises has been prominent in India, says Susan Rose-Ackerman, the Henry R Luce Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University.

Videotapes of Indian politicians accepting payoffs from an undercover journalist have generated a storm of protest. Such scandals are familiar to corruption fighters around the world. Recall the sting operation in the United States where FBI agents, dressed as Arab sheiks, accepted payoffs from members of Congress. In India, opposition parties expressed shock and outrage, and several of those implicated in taking payoffs from the supposed seller of "thermal imaging binoculars" have resigned from influential political posts.

The shock seems a little disingenuous since corruption is endemic in Indian politics and the Congress Party can hardly be said to be free of corruption. Yet, perhaps the shock and outrage is an encouraging sign of political change. If opposition parties believe that an anti-corruption agenda is good politics, perhaps real reform can occur. Indians may move beyond outrage at a particularly clear example of corruption to attempt to reform the underlying structure of government/private sector relations. Perhaps the concerned public will begin to ask questions such as: Why was the president of the BJP in a position to aid a contractor in the first place? Why was not the procurement process insulated from politics-especially for a small scale, if mythical, product such as thermal imaging binoculars? A sensible response would go beyond name calling to a more fundamental discussion of the organization of government.