Tag Archives | NIS

Corruption Perceptions Index 2012: Life at the top

By on 29 November 2012 in Accountability, Europe and Central Asia, Politics and government

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2012, coming out on Wednesday, once again ranks the Nordic countries among the “most clean” when it comes to public sector corruption. As discussed in a previous post, such good results stem from political will, open government and robust legislation and mechanisms for holding politicians and civil servants to account. [...]

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TI Portugal Summer School: A lesson on integrity

By on 25 September 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, Measurement and Research, People power, Politics and government, Private sector

You might have seen Portugal on the news recently. Just over a week ago, an estimated million people (in a country of roughly 10 million) took to the streets protesting new austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. Talk of instability in the governing coalition amid increased public anger damaged the country’s reputation [...]

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EU: Bulgaria and Romania fail the corruption test again

By on 19 July 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Politics and government

Over the past months, the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), has been exasperated with Bulgaria’s failure to put corrupt senior officials and crime bosses behind bars. Meanwhile in neighbouring Romania, trouble has been brewing since a major political turf fight has taken centre stage. The timing couldn’t have been worse. [...]

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Ireland: Political leaders need to tackle fundamental governance gaps which enable corruption and undermine our economic stability

By on 6 June 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Private sector

It is no coincidence that countries suffering most from the European debt crisis also have major problems with corruption. While international indicators suggest that corruption is less pervasive in Ireland than, say, Greece or Spain, its ravaging impact on public finances is just as tangible. Corruption has played a starring role in our home-grown crisis. [...]

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Greece: corruption and the crisis

By on 6 June 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Financial Markets, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Private sector

Last month, Greeks went to the polls after two years of ceaseless crisis. After a vote that showed their frustration with the old regime and their desire for change, the question now should be how to tackle the rampant corruption that has driven a wedge between a people and their leaders. One answer is transparency. [...]

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Corruption in Greece – a crisis of values

By on 3 April 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, Financial Markets

Everyone at the moment is interested in the situation in Greece – the impact of the financial crisis, why it ever happened and the future of the country.  One way to understand it is to talk to the Greeks themselves, of course. We visited Greece for the launch of their important study ‘National Integrity Systems’ [...]

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A Hazy Awakening – Corruption risks capturing Hungary

By on 15 March 2012 in Europe and Central Asia, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Private sector

In the picture of Hungary painted by Transparency International Hungary’s report on the country’s institutions last week, the colours would be quite blunt, with opaque areas in grey representing shady figures and institutions bound together very closely. In less artistic terms, it seems that nowadays private interests prevail over public interests, and Hungarians have just [...]

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What makes New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and others “cleaner” than most countries?

By on 7 December 2011 in Measurement and Research

Marie Chêne, Senior Research Coordinator at Transparency International, looks at the countries that are ranked highest in the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index. New Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Sweden have been consistently ranked at the top of the Corruption Perceptions Index and are perceived to be the least corrupt of all the countries surveyed. They are [...]

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Sri Lanka: engaging people in the fight against corruption

By on 14 November 2011 in Asia Pacific, Measurement and Research, People power

In post-conflict Sri Lanka, gains in security and safety during the past 18 months following the declared end to the war with the Tamil Tigers, have not been accompanied by advances in governance and transparency. New laws have not been enacted and entrenched attitudes towards corruption remain unaddressed. This is the finding of a new [...]

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