Again, The United States Gets 'Honourable Mention'
*Obama (pix:Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Corruption and economic turmoil often go hand-in-hand. In western
nations like the United
States and many European countries, we often
see corruption come to light as the result of whistleblowers or journalistic
efforts. But in many other areas of the world, however, corruption
plays a major role in fostering staggering poverty and
broken economic systems in a much more blatant way.
Oftentimes, specific power structures and government
architectures provide an easier means for corrupt politicians, businessmen, or
military officials to exploit the system. Many governments have their roots in
constitutions from generations ago, and have outgrown their current systems.
Many other countries are ruled by a variety of independent tribal leaders and
often lack a centralized power structure with any meaningful sway.
Transparency International developed
a comprehensive list of the world’s most corrupt nations last year, and the
countries that top the list probably won’t come as much of a surprise to many.
The study ranks countries on a scale from 0 to 100, with zero being the most
corrupt, and 100 being the least.
Of course, corruption comes in
a variety of forms, so getting a precise gauge is difficult. But
perception itself is a very strong tool, and can have a big effect on its own.
If the study reveals anything, it’s that the world overall has a huge issue in
terms of corrupt officials. By looking at the Corruptions Perception Index,
along with the existing power structures and economic systems within each
country, the picture does become a bit clearer. That’s why we dug a little
deeper, examining the rankings for ourselves.
Although not among the top ten,
we’ve included the United States
on the list to give perspective as to where America ranks internationally in
terms of corruption and economic strife. By Transparency International’s
calculations and scale, the U.S.
is sitting fairly pretty, although it’s common knowledge that there are
definitely issues with how things are run in Washington . Other countries you might expect
to see like Russia , Mexico , or Venezuela all have their places as
well, and the full list of 177 nations can be viewed
straight at the source from Transparency International.
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