The U.S. Has Slipped out of the Top 20 Countries in a Worldwide Corruption Index

[OnlinePoker]

Source: Time

The U.S. has plummeted in an annual corruption index, falling out of the top 20 countries for the first time since 2011, watchdog Transparency International said in a new report that links the global erosion of democracy and tidal wave of autocrats to an uptick in graft.

“Corruption chips away at democracy to produce a vicious cycle, where corruption undermines democratic institutions and, in turn, weak institutions are less able to control corruption,” said Patricia Moreira, managing director of Transparency International (TI).

The Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks 180 countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, found overall that the failure to control corruption is contributing to a “crisis of democracy around the world.”

Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. slipped four points to 71 on a 0-100 scale, the lowest score its registered in seven years.

Read more: http://time.com/5515195/united-states-slips-corruption-index/?utm_source=reddit.com

[Yosemito]

1. Horrible article

Does a low score mean low corruption or high corruption?

[riversedge]

7. the closer to a score of 100 means the ** least corruption. I have posted a better-different article

in GD that explains it better.---with a title that is Accurate!!


https://www.newsweek.com/trump-corruption-america-index-2018-1308983

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211745602


"The less corrupt a country’s public sector is, the closer its index figure is to 100. The index uses a number of surveys and assessments of corruption by other reputable researchers to reach its figures. "............................

[Farmer-Rick]

2. As far as I can tell the smaller the number the worse corruption they have.

So, slipping down to a smaller number means our corruption has gotten worse. That's a bit confusing, unless you look at it as the bigger the number the more democracy you have.

Anyway, corruption and capitalism travel hand in hand. Corruption is just a feature of capitalism...

[EX500rider]

8. "Corruption is just a feature of capitalism.."

What economic system do you think the least corrupt countries use exactly?

The most corrupt nations (usually Syria/13, South Sudan/13 and Somalia/10) have a rating of under 15 while of the least corrupt (New Zealand and Denmark) are over 85. The current Iraq score is 18 (same as 2017) compared to 41 (40) for Turkey, 49 (49) for Saudi Arabia, 49 (48) for Jordan, 28 (28) for Lebanon, 28 (30) for Iran, 70 (71) for the UAE (United Arab Emirates), 61 (62) for Israel, 16 (15) for Afghanistan, 33 (32) for Pakistan, 41 (40) for India, 28 (29) for Russia, 39 (41) for China, 14 (17) for North Korea, 73 (73) for Japan and 72 (75) for the United States.

[Farmer-Rick]

11. Well of course they all are based on capitalism

That's why no nation has a score of 100.

Not to deny that corruption can be found in any economic system, but in capitalism it is a distinct business advantage. Breaking the law, bribery and manipulation gives business a distinct advantage over other similar businesses. Since capitalism encourages competition, it is more distinctly advantages for capitalism. Any leg up is a plus.

Not to say feudalism and slavery weren't corrupt. But they were so frequently combined with capitalism, that the cause of particular types of corruption are hard to determine.

When, if, we evolve out of capitalism, like we did feudalism and slavery, then maybe we can get a country that scores 100.

[EX500rider]

12. There are communist & socialist countries on the list...they don't score well at all.

1st you have to know the definition of the 2:

Socialism is where the govt owns the means of production.
Communism is where the govt owns everything.

North Korea, communist, is ranked 176 out of 180, so bottom of the list, very corrupt
Cuba, also communist, ranked 61, not so great
Venezuela, socialist, 168, also bottom of the list

What is this economic system you think will be corruption free, 'cause it ain't those 2 types.

https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018

[Farmer-Rick]

13. Ok, now I'm confused. Isn't it a 0 to 100 scale?

It say it is. So how do you get 180 or 160?

Are you talking ranking or scoring?

There is a difference between socialism and communism. Communism is communal ownership of everything with everyone having a say. In Socialism the government owns only the means of production, plans economic output and everyone is entitled to the output equally.

Aside from that, there really isn't any true socialist or communist countries. They have features of those economic systems but all of them deal with capitalism even if it's just trough foreign trade. North Korea calls itself socialist and at one time it even called itself communist, but it is really feudalism. He doesn't call himself king but he has all the trappings of a feudal lord.

Cuba calls its party communist and then the country socialist but it is more a totalitarian government with some trappings of socialism. The people never get a say in the every day functions of factories, corporations or businesses owned by the government. The government owning the means of production is not the only feature of socialism as using capital to make more capital is Not the only feature of captalism.

So, if or when, a country attempts a true communist or socialist economy, it shall be interesting.

[EX500rider]

14. Those were rankings with 1 being best.

That's what always get said about socialist and communists govts, "They aren't doing it right!"
And "everyone having a say" just isn't going to work in countries with populations in the millions.

But the fact remains that the N Korea and Cuban govt have control over everything which IS communism and Venz owns the main part of the means of production (oil in their case) so they are socialists. And yet they are nowhere near corruption free, so what is this system you think will be?

[MontanaMama]

3. The state of our government

confirms this.

[djacq]

4. This is not who we are.

France is one point less corrupt than the U.S.

UAE is one point more corrupt than the U.S.

Says a lot.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. And a lot of the blame lies solely at the feet of one person and group, rump, ...

his cronies, and his enablers (the republicans and their fellow Russian bosses). Not in the least bit concerned as proven repeatedly by their passage of a tax cut that most of the benefits (83%) went to the top 1%ers and/or donors. Don't care if they shut down government since it's probably the only one entity that has really enough in resources to go after these corrupt persons/entities.

When the 2020 presidential campaigns start kicking off into high gear, we must remember this, that our opponents are corrupt, liars, and worse. Thus, we must be prepared to roll up our sleeves and literally clean house by kicking these thoroughly corrupt people out of office. Hammer them relentlessly on their corruption. Go after them in court if they are truly guilty of crimes of corruption and grift. Don't rest until they ALL are in jail.

No more 'Mr./Mrs. Nice Guy/Nice Gal' mentality. It's time to take back what was ours but stolen. Sure we'll get a little dirty (or worse) but I'm sick and tired of the constant lies, the ridiculous actions and steps of this admin., and the sickening lack of oversight by the repub-controlled Senate (neutered obviously, how embarrassing). I am waiting and watching our House of Reps to see what steps they are undertaking to overcome the excesses of this admin. and rump.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. States admired by Trump and deplorables are getting worse, of course

Exemplifying this trend, the CPI scores for Hungary and Turkey decreased by eight and nine points respectively over the last five years. At the same time, Turkey was downgraded from ‘partly free’ to ‘not free’, while Hungary registered its lowest score for political rights since the fall of communism in 1989. These ratings reflect the deterioration of rule of law and democratic institutions, as well as a rapidly shrinking space for civil society and independent media, in those countries.
...
With a score of 71, the United States lost four points since last year, dropping out of the top 20 countries on the CPI for the first time since 2011. The low score comes at a time when the US is experiencing threats to its system of checks and balances as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power.

Brazil dropped two points since last year to 35, also earning its lowest CPI score in seven years. Alongside promises to end corruption, the country’s new president has made it clear that he will rule with a strong hand, threatening many of the democratic milestones achieved by the country.

https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/corruption_perceptions_index_2018

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. And that's just how Trump likes it.

He's generally done business that way.

[oldsoftie]

10. I thought trump was gonna fix all that?