Around the world systemic corruption and social inequality reinforce each other, leading to popular disenchantment with political establishments and providing a fertile ground for the rise of populist politicians, says a pressure group against corruption.
Transparency International (TI) has brought out its annual, 176-country, Corruption Perceptions Index, for 2016. Most, 69 per cent of those countries scored below 50, on a scale from zero (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). This year more countries declined in the index than improved, showing the need for urgent action. The UK is scored as 81, the same as in 2015, a rise on the previous few years, implying that the UK has become less corrupt. It’s joint tenth in the world with Germany and Luxembourg. Next come Australia and Ireland.
Corruption and inequality feed off each other, creating a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth, TI says. As the Panama Papers showed, it is still far too easy for the rich and powerful to exploit the opaqueness of the global financial system to enrich themselves at the expense of the public good, according to TI.
José Ugaz, Chair of TI, said: “In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity. We do not have the luxury of time. Corruption needs to be fought with urgency, so that the lives of people across the world improve.”
Brazil’s score on the index, for example, has significantly declined compared to five years ago as one corruption scandal after another involving top politicians and businesspeople was uncovered, TI says. Yet the country has shown this year that through the work of independent law enforcement bodies it is possible to hold to account those previously considered untouchable.
Ugaz said: “In countries with populist or autocratic leaders, we often see democracies in decline and a disturbing pattern of attempts to crack down on civil society, limit press freedom, and weaken the independence of the judiciary. Instead of tackling crony capitalism, those leaders usually install even worse forms of corrupt systems. Only where there is freedom of expression, transparency in all political processes and strong democratic institutions, can civil society and the media hold those in power to account and corruption be fought successfully.”
Denmark and New Zealand perform best with scores of 90, closely followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88). Somalia is bottom, for the tenth year running. Visit www.transparency.org/cpi.
