Populism, Wrong Medicine Against Corruption, Inequality

These reforms, adds TI, must include the disclosure through public registries of who owns companies as well as sanctions for professional enablers who are complicit in moving corrupt money flows across borders.

The Results

TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 covers perceptions of public sector corruption in 176 countries. Click here for the full index.

Denmark and New Zealand performed best with scores of 90, closely followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88). Although no country is free of corruption, the countries at the top share characteristics of open government, press freedom, civil liberties and independent judicial systems, according to TI.

For the tenth year running, Somalia is the worst performer on the index, this year scoring only 10. South Sudan is second to the bottom with a score of 11, followed by North Korea (12) and Syria (13). Countries at the bottom of the index are characterised by widespread impunity for corruption, poor governance and weak institutions.

Countries in troubled regions, particularly in the Middle East, have seen the most substantial drops this year. Qatar is the biggest decliner compared to the 2015 index with a drop of 10 scores.

“The FIFA scandals, the investigations into the decision to host the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar and reports of human rights abuses for migrant workers have clearly affected the perception of the country,” said Ugaz.

TI’s Finn Heinrich commented that with the launch of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 just five days after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President, it’s timely to look at the links between populism, socio-economic malaise and the anti-corruption agenda.

“Indeed, Trump and many other populist leaders regularly make a connection between a ‘corrupt elite’ interested only in enriching themselves and their (rich) supporters and the marginalisation of ‘working people’.”

Is there evidence to back this up? Heinrich asks, and answers “Yes. Corruption and social inequality are indeed closely related and provide a source for popular discontent. Yet, the track record of populist leaders in tackling this problem is dismal; they use the corruption-inequality message to drum up support but have no intention of tackling the problem seriously.”

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• Inequality and Its Discontents
• Increasing Economic Inequality Not Inevitable

*This article was published in IPS. Go to Original. 2017 Human Wrongs Watch