Monday, February 10, 2014

Corruption is pervasive everywhere in the world

"Stop corruption" in Russian

Corruption, and more corruption. That is the back story to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Even those who know very little about these Olympics have heard about the corruption that accompanied the preparations for the Games.

I have written about corruption previously, a little more than two years ago. In that post I pleaded for a stop to corruption. I was not so naive at the time, however, to think that my post would change the world and put an end to corruption. Nothing much has changed, nor it it likely to. My purpose was merely to inform. Corruption persists everywhere in the world, especially in Russia, as the Sochi Games illustrate so vividly.

This time I will not philosophize as much about corruption the way I did before. Nor will I catalog how extensive it is in Russia. That list would be very long indeed, although I will highlight a few examples from the Sochi Games. The Russians may not like that, but they have a lot of company when it comes to corruption.


In this post I examine Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 in order to show how pervasive corruption is throughout the world today. Russia provides a useful case study, and the preparations for the Sochi Games are a vivid illustration of how corrupt that country is.

This Index provides the best indicator of the extent of corruption in a particular country. That is why I am including the list in its entirety so that you will not have to follow a link. But you can easily see how extensive corruption is any country you choose, as measured by the Index. The Index provides a much-needed window on something most countries want to hide.

I have modified the formatting of the Index slightly, but all the figures have been retained and were not modified in any way. The entire report can be downloaded.


RANK
COUNTRY
SCORE
SURVEYS USED
CI: LOWER
CI: UPPER
2012 SCORE
1
Denmark
91
7
87
95
90
1
New Zealand
91
7
87
95
90
3
Sweden
89
7
85
93
88
3
Finland
89
7
86
92
90
5
Norway
86
7
82
90
85
5
Singapore
86
9
82
90
87
7
Switzerland
85
6
81
89
86
8
Netherlands
83
7
80
86
84
9
Australia
81
8
79
83
85
9
Canada
81
7
77
85
84
11
Luxembourg
80
6
75
85
80
12
Germany
78
8
74
82
79
12
Iceland
78
6
73
83
82
14
United Kingdom
76
8
74
78
74
15
Hong Kong
75
8
71
79
77
15
Barbados
75
3
63
87
76
15
Belgium
75
7
71
79
75
18
Japan
74
9
70
78
74
19
United States
73
9
66
80
73
19
Uruguay
73
6
71
75
72
21
Ireland
72
6
65
79
69
22
Bahamas
71
3
69
73
71
22
France
71
8
67
75
71
22
Saint Lucia
71
3
70
72
71
22
Chile
71
9
68
74
72
26
Austria
69
8
64
74
69
26
United Arab Emirates
69
7
61
77
68
28
Qatar
68
6
56
80
68
28
Estonia
68
9
64
72
64
30
Botswana
64
7
61
67
65
31
Bhutan
63
4
59
67
63
31
Cyprus
63
5
57
69
66
33
Portugal
62
7
57
67
63
33
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
62
3
53
71
62
33
Puerto Rico
62
3
52
72
63
36
Taiwan
61
7
54
68
61
36
Israel
61
6
58
64
60
38
Brunei
60
3
43
77
55
38
Poland
60
10
56
64
58
40
Spain
59
7
51
67
65
41
Cape Verde
58
4
50
66
60
41
Dominica
58
3
54
62
58
43
Lithuania
57
8
51
63
54
43
Slovenia
57
9
51
63
61
45
Malta
56
5
52
60
57
46
South Korea
55
10
51
59
56
47
Hungary
54
10
48
60
55
47
Seychelles
54
4
41
67
52
49
Rwanda
53
5
44
62
53
49
Costa Rica
53
5
46
60
54
49
Latvia
53
8
47
59
49
52
Mauritius
52
5
50
54
57
53
Malaysia
50
9
44
56
49
53
Turkey
50
9
46
54
49
55
Georgia
49
6
38
60
52
55
Lesotho
49
5
43
55
45
57
Croatia
48
9
43
53
46
57
Bahrain
48
5
39
57
51
57
Namibia
48
6
42
54
48
57
Czech Republic
48
10
43
53
49
61
Slovakia
47
8
39
55
46
61
Oman
47
5
34
60
47
63
Cuba
46
4
39
53
48
63
Ghana
46
9
41
51
45
63
Saudi Arabia
46
5
35
57
44
66
Jordan
45
7
41
49
48
67
Montenegro
44
4
40
48
41
67
Macedonia FYR
44
6
36
52
43
69
Kuwait
43
5
37
49
44
69
Romania
43
9
38
48
44
69
Italy
43
7
39
47
42
72
Brazil
42
8
36
48
43
72
Serbia
42
7
36
48
39
72
South Africa
42
9
37
47
43
72
Bosnia and Herzegovina
42
7
37
47
42
72
Sao Tome and Principe
42
3
34
50
42
77
Tunisia
41
7
38
44
41
77
Bulgaria
41
9
36
46
41
77
Senegal
41
9
39
43
36
80
China
40
9
35
45
39
80
Greece
40
7
33
47
36
82
Swaziland
39
4
36
42
37
83
Trinidad and Tobago
38
4
30
46
39
83
Mongolia
38
7
34
42
36
83
Liberia
38
7
33
43
41
83
Jamaica
38
6
35
41
38
83
El Salvador
38
6
35
41
38
83
Peru
38
7
34
42
38
83
Burkina Faso
38
7
32
44
38
83
Zambia
38
8
35
41
37
91
Malawi
37
8
34
40
37
91
Sri Lanka
37
7
34
40
40
91
Morocco
37
8
32
42
37
94
Algeria
36
6
31
41
34
94
Benin
36
6
30
42
36
94
Armenia
36
6
30
42
34
94
India
36
10
32
40
36
94
Philippines
36
9
32
40
34
94
Suriname
36
3
31
41
37
94
Colombia
36
7
33
39
36
94
Djibouti
36
3
22
50
36
102
Moldova
35
8
30
40
36
102
Thailand
35
8
33
37
37
102
Ecuador
35
6
29
41
32
102
Panama
35
6
31
39
38
106
Bolivia
34
7
28
40
34
106
Gabon
34
5
32
36
35
106
Mexico
34
9
31
37
34
106
Niger
34
5
28
40
33
106
Argentina
34
8
30
38
35
111
Kosovo
33
3
29
37
34
111
Ethiopia
33
8
29
37
33
111
Tanzania
33
8
29
37
35
114
Egypt
32
7
27
37
32
114
Indonesia
32
9
26
38
32
116
Albania
31
7
28
34
33
116
Nepal
31
5
29
33
27
116
Vietnam
31
8
27
35
31
119
East Timor
30
3
25
35
33
119
Mozambique
30
7
27
33
31
119
Sierra Leone
30
8
26
34
31
119
Mauritania
30
5
23
37
31
123
Dominican Republic
29
6
23
35
32
123
Belarus
29
5
22
36
31
123
Guatemala
29
6
25
33
33
123
Togo
29
5
23
35
30
127
Azerbaijan
28
6
22
34
27
127
Comoros
28
3
16
40
28
127
Gambia
28
5
17
39
34
127
Lebanon
28
6
23
33
30
127
Madagascar
28
8
25
31
32
127
Mali
28
6
23
33
34
127
Nicaragua
28
7
24
32
29
127
Pakistan
28
8
23
33
27
127
Russia
28
9
24
32
28
136
Bangladesh
27
7
20
34
26
136
Ivory Coast
27
8
23
31
29
136
Kenya
27
8
23
31
27
136
Guyana
27
4
22
32
28
140
Honduras
26
6
22
30
28
140
Laos
26
4
18
34
21
140
Uganda
26
8
21
31
29
140
Kazakhstan
26
8
21
31
28
144
Cameroon
25
8
20
30
26
144
Central African Republic
25
4
16
34
26
144
Iran
25
6
19
31
28
144
Ukraine
25
8
22
28
26
144
Papua New Guinea
25
5
18
32
25
144
Nigeria
25
9
20
30
27
150
Guinea
24
7
18
30
24
150
Paraguay
24
5
19
29
25
150
Kyrgyzstan
24
6
20
28
24
153
Angola
23
7
18
28
22
154
Congo, Republic of
22
6
16
28
26
154
Tajikistan
22
5
16
28
22
154
Congo, Democratic Republic of
22
5
15
29
21
157
Burundi
21
5
17
25
19
157
Zimbabwe
21
8
14
28
20
157
Myanmar
21
6
15
27
15
160
Venezuela
20
7
16
24
19
160
Eritrea
20
4
2
38
25
160
Cambodia
20
7
15
25
22
163
Guinea Bissau
19
4
15
23
25
163
Haiti
19
5
14
24
19
163
Chad
19
5
13
25
19
163
Equatorial Guinea
19
3
15
23
20
167
Yemen
18
6
14
22
23
168
Uzbekistan
17
6
14
20
17
168
Syria
17
4
11
23
26
168
Turkmenistan
17
3
12
22
17
171
Iraq
16
4
12
20
18
172
Libya
15
6
10
20
21
173
South Sudan
14
3
11
17
0
174
Sudan
11
6
5
17
13
175
North Korea
8
3
2
14
8
175
Afghanistan
8
3
3
13
8
175
Somalia
8
4
5
11
8

The scale has changed slightly from the 2011 Index, which used a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean). This is what I used in my earlier post. Yet, when I compare the two Indexes, it is apparent that many nations have for the most part remained in very similar places relative to one another.

The 2013 Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 to 100. The report notes that no country has a perfect score, but that two-thirds of the countries score below 50. This indicates, according to the authors of the Index, a serious, worldwide corruption problem. The tentacles of corruption can be found everywhere in the world.

This annual Index measures only the perceived level of public sector corruption. It does not include other more private forms of corruption, but these, I suggest, are often closely correlated with public sector corruption.

The Nordic countries, together with New Zealand and Singapore, occupy the top five spots on the 2013 list. North Korea, Afghanistan and Somalia share the last place. Russia is 128th on this list with a score of 28, which is rather dismal. It indicates that corruption is pervasive in that country.

That is hardly surprising. I lived in Russia for seven years, and taught philosophy and political science at Moscow State University. What was true then is still true: corruption, and more corruption.

The Sochi Olympic Games cost about $51 billion, which is more than four times the original estimate when Sochi was awarded the Games seven years ago. Corruption is the primary reason for these cost overruns. It is also the reason why not all the structures, especially some hotels, were not finished on time.


Corruption has contributed to the security problem that the Sochi Games are experiencing. The Russian government has not been able to deal effectively with dissidenta, except in typically heavy-handed fashion. This is especially true of terrorist groups that resort to violence. If the government had used the money wasted through corruption more usefully these groups might never have arisen. Instead, their needs could have been achieved through non-violent means.

A poll by the Levada research group found 47 percent of Russians believed the cost of hosting the Games has soared because funds have been embezzled or mismanaged. Only 22 percent said they believed officials or businessmen responsible for pilfering funds would be brought to justice after the Olympics, and 17 percent said they thought that Russia had bid for the Games mainly to boost Putin's image.

The Russian Olympic Organizing Committee, under the instruction of  President Vladimir Putin, awarded many of the contracts for the Olympic buildings and infrastructure to Putin's friends, most of whom had been his associates from his days in the KGB. 


It is estimated that at least 20% of all these contracts were kick backs. This is massive corruption. If the pattern in many other countries also holds true in Russia, everyone in the food chain right up to the very top took their cut of that amount. As I noted in my post a few years ago, corruption can take structural forms. This is what makes it so difficult to eradicate.

My focus on the Sochi Games is because of the way they help to illustrate both the endemic nature and the extent of corruption in Russia. A handful of people have become scandalously rich indeed, while the majority of the population have not benefited from the largess that was disbursed so freely in the run-up to the Games.

Russia has many needs, but these cannot be met while corruption bleeds off the money that could help to alleviate these needs. Corruption can and does destroy nations. Russia is one example, but there are many more. And the forces that drive corruption are very powerful.


The same thing is happening in many other countries around the globe, as the Index shows. When two-third of the countries in the world have a score below 50%, the world is in bad shape. Corruption is endemic not only in Russia but also in much of the world.

Even the United States has no reason to boast when it comes to corruption: it shares 19th place on the Index with Uruguay. A score of 73 is nothing to be proud of. Canada fares a little better, but not much: it ties with Australia with a score of 81 for 9th place. Transparency International may group Canada among the least corrupt countries, but it is still far from perfect.

The fact that no nation has a perfect score indicates that corruption can be found all over the globe. Sadly, no nation is immune from this disease. The only thing that differs is the degree and extent of corruption.


Corruption indeed has to stop, but it will not, not as long as there are greedy people in the world. The problem is made worse when you realize that corruption has achieved structural proportions in many countries. In other words, the structures of a particular society make it almost impossible to eradicate. I give examples of this in my earlier post on corruption.

Although much of the world may not want to hear the word, corruption is a sin that is deeply rooted in many individuals and societies. All of us share that sin to varying degrees. Few of us may be corrupt, but when we condone corruption in any way, we contribute to its persistence. We are all guilty. All of us are also affected by corruption, whether we like it or not. Thus it is important that we keep ourselves aware of the extent of corruption in the world. Corruption persists everywhere, but efforts must be made to stop it.

From my own religious perspective, corruption will persist until Jesus Christ returns and ushers in a new earth where sin is no more, and neither is death. Then corruption too will end. But that event still lies in the future. We must all wait until that day.

The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, in its own words, "serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions."

                  

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