Latin America Scores Vary on Transparency International Corruption Index

 
Transparency International, an organization with chapters in more than 70 countries, recently published its 2000 Corruption Perceptions Index. The list ranks 90 countries based on surveys of the business community, risk analysts and the general public to measure their perceptions of the level of corruption of government officials and political leaders. The 2000 index is a composite of 16 surveys carried out since 1998 by eight independent institutions. Only those countries covered in at least three of the surveys were included in the final results.

Transparency International defines corruption as the abuse of public functions for private benefit. The surveys featured questions about the bribing of public officials and the practice of giving or receiving bribes for government contracts.

The index showed a range of results for Latin America. According to the rankings (in which a higher score indicates a greater level of perceived corruption), Chile performed the best in the region, at number 18. Next best was Costa Rica, at number 30. Much further down on the list were Mexico (59), Colombia (60), Bolivia (71), Venezuela (73) and Ecuador (74).

Transparency International's executive director, Jeremy Pope, acknowledged that the index should be interpreted with caution. The country that scores lowest is not necessarily the most corrupt in the world, he noted. "First of all, of the more than 200 sovereign nations in the world, the Corruption Perceptions Index only lists 90, because Transparency International does not have enough reliable data for all of them. Second, the index is based on surveys that are snapshots in time and merely reflect people's opinions," he explained. He recommended reviewing detailed information about the sources used on Transparency International's web page (www.transparency.org).

Peter Eigen, the organization's president, also pointed out some the positive developments reflected in the index. Exporting countries, he claimed, are more likely to have passed legislation making it a crime for companies to bribe foreign officials. Indeed, Transparency International maintains that corruption is not only a matter of public servants who accept bribes. Foreign and domestic companies are also at fault for offering such payoffs. To make this point, the organization has published a Bribe Payers' Survey and detailed results of surveys of perceptions of bribe payments.

One of Transparency International's goals in publishing its rankings is raising public awareness of the problem of corruption. "Public pressure is critical for success, and in surveys and electoral campaigns we see that the public in a growing number of countries is growing ever more intolerant of leaders who abuse their public function for private benefit," Eigen stated.

Eigen expressed hope that the 2000 Corruption Perceptions Index will "remind everyone that we can't afford to be complacent in the battle against corruption. We all want improvement, but it can only come about slowly if the enemy is endemic corruption," he said. "Perceptions of the level of corruption do not change much from year to year. Positive results will only come from tireless and consistent efforts over many years."