Tag Archives | United States

Ditching Integrity: US college sports in crisis

Before the American Civil War (1861-65), every state in the Confederacy had stringent laws forbidding anyone to teach slaves reading and writing. In North Carolina, it was a crime to distribute books or pamphlets to slaves. After emancipation, and well into the mid-20th century, schools remained segregated in both the North and South either by […]

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How whistleblowing on surveillance can reform the system

The Edward Snowden case is not the first in which the exposure of surveillance activities by the United States government led to a public debate about questions of security and privacy. In 1970, former US Army intelligence officers Christopher Pyle and Ralph Stein disclosed how the army was investigating the political activities of American citizens […]

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Whistleblowers: regulators of last resort

Over the past half-century, national governments have developed complex regulatory structures to oversee public health, banking, utilities, food safety, communications, transportation and other industries. By the 1980s, however, the United States and United Kingdom began pushing the policy pendulum in the other direction – deregulating industries sector by sector. Through international organisations, governments around the […]

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Leaks, press freedom and state surveillance: is this our fight?

Ever since the Wikileaks debate came to the fore, I have been wondering to what extent we, as Transparency International, should be taking a stand on the issue of Wikileaks, and what that stand should be. On the one hand we stand for transparency, principally because we are an anti-corruption organisation and transparency is one […]

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Seeing is believing: looking through the walls

What do fast food restaurants in the US and Hong Kong, factories in Germany and police stations in Tbilisi, Georgia have in common and how does this relate to tackling corruption? The answer is glass: all these buildings use glass as a way to emphasise the transparency of what’s going on inside. They are experimenting […]

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Iraq’s corruption legacy

$800 million. That’s the staggering amount of money said to be unlawfully transferred out of Iraq every week. Last month marked the ten year anniversary of the start of the occupation of Iraq by coalition forces. The aftermath of war and occupation has been ravaging well after the withdrawal of foreign troops. The US Special […]

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Is there enough transparency at US universities?

As university tuition costs increase and the job market remains weak, with many college graduates unemployed or underemployed, the choice of university for young US adults becomes increasingly a financial one. And to make a good financial choice, one needs good information. Consider these facts: even after controlling for inflation, between 1980 and 2010 the […]

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‘Putting in a good word’: the most acceptable form of corruption?

Have you ever ‘put in a good word’ at your workplace for a family member or friend? Or asked such a favour from your nearest and dearest? And how about ‘mates rates’? Ever been able to get something quicker or cheaper because of a powerful associate? What harm does nepotism and cronyism do? The parents […]

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Year of the whistleblower?

Whistleblowers and the people and organisations that support them have been making waves  and making news for decades. Finally, they’re making laws. Over the past two years, many countries throughout the world have passed new or strengthened existing laws to protect whistleblowers from retaliation, and to help ensure that their efforts to disclosure corruption, fraud and other […]

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The Americas: Economies grow, democracies shrink. What does corruption have to do with it?

Lea el texto en Español aquí For the Americas, 2012 was largely a positive year in many ways. As important economic and social indicators show an improvement, there is a sense of optimism throughout the region, especially in Latin America. While the United States’ presidential campaign, which polarised ideas and citizens earlier this year, focused […]

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