权利寻租是指政府官员或其他掌权者利用自己的权力或影响力为他人获取不正当利益的非法行为。 中华人民共和国刑法中相关的罪名有滥用职权罪与受贿罪等。

Influence peddling is the illegal practice of using one's influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment. Also called traffic of influence or trading in influence. In fact, influence peddling is not necessarily illegal as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has often used the term "undue influence peddling" to refer to illegal acts of lobbying. However, influence peddling bears the stench of corruption that may de-legitimise democratic politics with the general public.