Government Corruption and the Threat to Democracy

Transparency International, a non-partisan global movement that has a vision in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption, has recently released the most recent version of its annual Corruptions Perceptions Index for 2018.  This index ranks 180 nations by the perceived level of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople that deal in each nation.  Given that high levels of government corruption are often accompanied by a poor quality of life and threatened democracy, this measure is an important aspect of life around the world.

Let's open by looking at this video which gives you some background on this years Corruption Perceptions Index or CPI:

The 2018 CPI draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption with scores ranging from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).   In 2018, more than two-thirds of the 180 nations in the study scored below 50 with the average for all 180 nations being 43.  

Here is a map showing the scores for all nations in the study:

The top ten nations (least corrupt) and their respective scores are as follows:

Denmark - 88

New Zealand - 87

Finland - 85

Singapore - 85

Sweden - 85

Switzerland - 85

Norway - 84

Netherlands - 82

Canada - 81

Luxembourg - 81

The bottom six nations (most corrupt) and their respective scores are as follows:

Libya - 17

Afghanistan - 16

Equatorial Guinea - 16

Guinea Bissau - 16

Sudan - 16

North Korea - 14

Yemen - 14

South Sudan - 13

Syria - 13

Somalia - 10

As a whole, the highest scoring region is Western Europe and the European Union with an average score of 66.  The lowest scoring region is Sub-Saharan Africa with an average score of 32.  Over the last seven years, only 20 nations have improved their CPI scores and 16 nations have seen significant decreases in their CPI scores 

There is an interesting relationship between CPI scores and the degree of democracy as measure by Freedom House in each of the 180 nations; there are no democracies that score below 50 and very few autocratic countries that score higher than 50 as shown on this graphic with every dot represents a nation's CPI score:

Government corruption is something that you are highly unlikely to hear about from your elected representative no matter what nation you are from.  High levels of corruption slowly chips away at democracy to produce a reality where democratic institutions are completely undermined and citizens experience declining civil rights.

What is rather surprising is how poorly the United States fared in this analysis.  The authors of the study scored the United States at 71, putting them in 22nd place, just ahead of the United Arab Emirates and down from 16th place in 2015.  The U.S. CPI score in 2018 is a drop of 4 points since 2017 and is the lowest score that the U.S. has garnered over the past 7 years.  The authors attribute this drop to leadership styles that involve the following tactics:

1.) an undermining of free and independent media, especially when coverage challenges leaders’ messaging

2.) a silencing and control of civil society and international organisations

3.) an increase in voter suppression and disenfranchisement

4.) an increase in anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-indigenous and racist language

5.) a rise in public promises for simplistic and “strong hand” approaches to solving deep-rooted and complex societal problems, including corruption

6.) an interference with or blunt use of national institutions to weaken the system of checks and balances and increase executive power

7.) an increase in conflicts of interest and private influence 

Let's look at the scores of some other nations that we see in the media on a regular basis:

Germany - score of 80 - 11th place (tie)

United Kingdom - score of 80 - 11th place (tie)

Japan - score of 73 - 18th place (3 place tie)

Israel - score of 61 - 34th place

Saudi Arabia - score of 49 - 58th place (tie)

Cuba - score of 47 - 61st place (tie)

India - score of 41 - 78th place (five place tie)

China - score of 49 - 87th place

Iran - score of 28 - 138th place (6 place tie)

Russia - score of 28 - 138th place (6 place tie)

Iraq - score of 18 - 168th place (tie)

Venezuela - score of 18 - 168th place (tie)

I find it rather interesting that nations that have been subjected to America's nation rebuilding and rebranding exercises (i.e. Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan) score among the lowest of all nations in the study, indicating that very little has been accomplished when military intervention is measured in terms of reduced government corruption. 

As we can see from this analysis by Transparency International, government corruption is a widespread problem outside of Europe and Canada.  With the close relationship between high levels of government corruption and lack of democratic freedoms, many of us, particularly in the United States, should be concerned that our basic rights as members of what was once a relatively untarnished society are under threat.  We need look no further than the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee to see the source of at least one aspect of political corruption in the United States.

The Relationship Between Government Corruption and Failed Nation-Building

Transparency International has come out with its latest Corruption Perceptions Index (2015), shedding light on the global problem of governments that abuse their power, encourage bribery and use secret deals to enrich themselves.  It is quite an interesting exercise to look through the list of the most corrupt nations/governments in the world and see how many of them have a close association with the Western-based nation-building plans.

Transparency International scores each nation on a 100 point Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scale with the highest level of perceived corruption scoring a 0 and the lowest level of perceived corruption scoring a 100.  Data to calculate the CPI is taken from a selection of sources that provide perceptions of business people and other experts of the level of corruption in the public sector of each nation.  Sources used to calculate the CPI must be quantifiable, must use a reliable and valid methodology which scores multiple nations on the same scale, must be performed repeatedly by a credible organization and must allow for a variation of scores so that corruption levels between countries are distinguishable.  For a country to be included in the Transparency International evaluation, a minimum of three different sources must be used to assess that nation.   

Here is a map showing the rankings for each of the nations in the study with the least corrupt nations coloured light yellow and the most corrupt nations coloured dark red:

Note that all countries have some level of perceived public sector corruption and that 68 percent of nations in the world have a serious corruption problem.  It is also surprising to note that half of the G20 nations, the world's largest economies, have a serious corruption problem, including India, China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico.

Now, let's focus on the world's most corrupt nations.  Here is a table showing the ten most corrupt nations in 2015 along with their scores from 2012 to 2014:

It's interesting to note that three nations, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, have all been the "beneficiaries" of Western/American-based nation-building exercises over the past decade and a half.  As well, U.S. involvement in the newly minted South Sudan which voted to secede from Sudan in 2011, Sudan itself and Somalia have certainly not made any positive impact on the level of perceived government corruption.

Let's focus on Iraq for a moment, the biggest nation-building project undertaken by the Coalition of the Willing.  Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pledged to put an end to the nation's endemic corruption.  On August 9, 2015, he announced unprecedented reforms which included the cancellation of some of the most senior positions in Iraq's government including the posts of Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President in an attempt to put an end to the sectarian quota system.  This was largely done to quiet the civil protests which took place across Iraq by citizens angered at the government's inability to provide basic services like electricity since the collapse of the Hussein regime in 2003.  

Here are Abadi's proposed reforms:

"1. Complete and instant waning of security personnel for ALL high officials, and redirecting all security personnel to the Ministry of Defense to be trained and defend the country on the forefront.

2. Rescinding all exclusivity (in terms of treatment, priority, etc.) allocated to high government positions, including retired personnel.

3. A ban on the application of a quota system on high positions in Ministries, Independent Commissions, advisors, etc. The PM will form a committee to oversee the sacking of unqualified personnel, and their replacement on the basis of merit.

4. Condensing and merging ministries and institutions to raise qualification and efficiency standards, as well as cost reduction.

5. Dissolving the positions of Deputies to the President, and to the Prime Minister immediately.

6. Revisiting old and current corruption cases under the supervision of a High Commission to fight corruption, comprised of experts, as well as appointing judges to oversee these cases known for their untainted integrity.

7. A call to the Cabinet of Ministers, then Parliament, to approve these measures, in order for the Prime Minister to respond to the people's demands made through the Marja'iya [the High Religious Establishment in Najaf]."

It is a sad commentary on the failure of the Iraqi nation rebuilding exercise that it has taken 13 years to rebuild the federal government so that it has any hope of providing the most basic services to its own people and that the nation, allegedly rebuilt on the Western model of democracy, is still considered one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

With several of the world's most corrupt governments being among the nations that have recently experienced outside intervention by the world's developed economies, one would almost think that there was a relationship developing between conflict and corruption.