REUTERS/Henry Romero
Every year, Transparency International, the global anticorruption coalition, releases its Corruption Perceptions Index, a survey into the countries people perceive as the most corrupt on earth.
As Transparency International notes, there is no hard-and-fast way "to assess absolute levels of corruption in countries or territories on the basis of hard empirical data." This is basically because, by its very nature, corruption is usually hidden from the public.
But it creates a ranking based on several other corruption studies, and gives 168 countries a ranking out of 100, where 100 is the least corrupt and 0 is most corrupt. This helps to give a pretty good idea of where in the world is most corrupt.
The countries seen as most corrupt tend to be in Africa and the Middle East, in societies with weak legal and governmental systems and widespread poverty. For example, Somalia tops this year's list, with North Korea and Afghanistan close behind.
Business Insider decided to take a look at the wealthy, democratic nations where corruption is most rife. To do so, we looked at the positions of countries within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and then picked out those with the highest levels of perceived corruption.
Check them out below:
Ireland — Scoring 75 points overall, Ireland was one of the less corrupt countries worldwide. However a 2015 documentary from TV network RTE showed that politicians at all levels in the country had incorrectly declared their interests, with certain councillors had seeking cash payments in return for their services.
Japan — While Japan is relatively uncorrupt by global standards, GAN Integrity's anticorruption portal note that there is a traditional practice (known as amakudari) of assigning retired government officials to top positions within Japanese companies, even if they do not have the proper experience.
Chile — Despite being one of the most corrupt countries in the OECD, Chile is one of the least corrupt in Latin America, where countries like Brazil, Venezuela, and Paraguay are riddled with bribery and fraud. Overall, Chile scored 70 points, three fewer than in last year's index, meaning it has become slightly more corrupt in the past 12 months.
Estonia — In 2012, Estonia's president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, helped implement an anticorruption act to increase transparency in the public sector. It has helped improve its Corruption Index score from 69 to 70.
France — France has become slightly less corrupt in the past year, gaining a single point and scoring 70 out of 100, and corruption is not massively widespread. GAN notes that "The Penal Code criminalises active and passive bribery and bribery of national and foreign officials."
Portugal — In an Ernst & Young survey in June 2015, 83% of Portuguese citizens said that corruption and bribery are widespread in the country, and in 2014, former Prime Minister Jose Socrates was detained on suspicion of tax fraud and money laundering. Portugal scored 63 points in the Transparency Index.
Poland — Scoring 62 points in the Index, Poland just misses out on being one of the 10 most corrupt OECD nations.
Nepotism and cronyism in Poland are sadly commonplace.
According to GAN Integrity: "Political corruption constitutes a challenge to fair business as politicians use their positions to gain benefits, and practices of nepotism and cronyism are widespread."
No comments:
Post a Comment