CORRUPTION: The Most, The Least, By Country, and The Most By State

cor·rup·tion

[kuh-ruhp-shuhn] Show IPA

noun

1.

the act of corrupting or state of being corrupt.

2.

moral perversion; depravity.

3.

perversion of integrity.

4.

corrupt or dishonest proceedings.

5.

bribery.

The World's Most Corrupt Nations, 2012

According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International, Somalia, North Korea, and Afghanistan are perceived to be the most corrupt, Finland, Denmark, and New Zealand are perceived to be the world's least corrupt countries. For a list of the least corrupt nations, see World's Least Corrupt Countries. The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. The scores range from 100 (squeaky clean) to zero (highly corrupt). A score of 50 is the number Transparency International considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do not have a serious corruption problem. In the 2012 survey, two-thirds of countries scored below 50.

Country rank	Country	2012 CPI Score
1.	Somalia	8
	North Korea	8
	Afghanistan	8
4.	Sudan	13
5.	Myanmar	15
6.	Uzbekistan	17
	Turkmenistan	17
8.	Iraq	18
9.	Venezuela	19
	Haiti	19
	Chad	19
	Burundi	19
13.	Zimbabwe	20
	Equatorial Guinea	20
15.	Libya	21
	Laos	21
	Congo, Democratic Republic of	21
18.	Tajikistan	22
	Cambodia	22
	Angola	22

Source: Transparency International, 2011. Web: www.transparency.org .

Read more: The World's Most Corrupt Nations, 2012 | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/most-corrupt-countries.html#ixzz2c3L1ugcm

The World's Least Corrupt Nations, 2012

According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International, Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand are perceived to be the world's least corrupt countries, and Somalia, North Korea, and Afghanistan are perceived to be the most corrupt. For a list of the most corrupt nations, see World's Most Corrupt Countries. The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. The scores range from 100 (squeaky clean) to zero (highly corrupt). A score of 50 is the number Transparency International considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do not have a serious corruption problem. In the 2012 survey, two-thirds of countries scored below 50.

Country rank	Country	2012 CPI Score
1.	Denmark	90
	Finland	90
	New Zealand	90
4.	Sweden	88
5.	Singapore	87
6.	Switzerland	86
7.	Australia	85
	Norway	85
9.	Netherlands	84
	Canada	84
11.	Iceland	82
12.	Luxembourg	80
13.	Germany	79
14.	Hong Kong	77
	Barbados	76
16.	Belgium	75
17.	Japan	74
	United Kingdom	74
19.	United States	73
20.	Chile	72

Source: Transparency International, 2012. Web: www.transparency.org .

Read more: The World's Least Corrupt Nations, 2012 | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/least-corrupt-countries.html#ixzz2c3LFZBJE

What's Your State's Grade?

Open records laws with hundreds of exemptions. Budget decisions made behind closed doors. Ethics panels that haven’t met in years.

Those are among the examples of corruption risk we found in the State Integrity Investigation, an unprecedented examination of America’s state capitols. The bottom line? Not a single state earned an A grade in the year-long investigation. Half the states earned D’s or F’s. Find out what your state is doing right and wrong.  See your state’s report card.

50 states and no winners

Some states are making progress toward cleaning up their capitols. Yet many states’ anti-corruption laws are riddled with loopholes or barely enforced. Read an article on the Investigation's findings by Caitlin Ginley of the Center for Public Integrity.

         Source: http://www.stateintegrity.org/

Want to research on your own? Try: http://cmrji.com/index.html
                                                                  http://www.stateintegrity.org/your_state
                                                                http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results