Transparency International
Transparency International is a prominent international nongovernmental nonprofit organization dedicated to combating corruption across the globe. Founded in 1993 by Peter Eigen in Berlin, the organization aims to eliminate both governmental and civil corruption by exposing corrupt practices, advocating for the prosecution of offenders, and establishing anti-corruption standards. Transparency International is well-known for its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, which evaluates and ranks countries based on perceived levels of corruption in their governments, highlighting the connection between corruption, poverty, and human rights abuses.
Operating in over one hundred countries, the organization collaborates with various stakeholders, including governments, businesses, and community groups, to promote transparency and implement effective anti-corruption policies. It maintains a politically nonpartisan stance and emphasizes the importance of independence in its initiatives, ensuring that its funding sources do not influence its policies. While some nations, like Denmark and Finland, consistently rank among the least corrupt, Transparency International asserts that no country is entirely free from corruption. Through its efforts, the organization seeks to raise awareness of corruption's detrimental effects and foster a more equitable and transparent global society.
Transparency International
Transparency International is an international nongovernmental nonprofit organization that works to eliminate both government and civil corruption in every country around the world. Founded in 1993, Transparency International works to expose corruption, calls for the prosecution of corrupt individuals and organizations, and creates anti-corruption standards for all countries to follow. The organization also publishes its annual Corruption Perceptions Index to rank countries based on their level of government corruption. Transparency International argues government corruption is positively linked with poverty and human rights violations in affected countries.
Overview
Peter Eigen founded Transparency International in 1993. Born in 1938 in Augsburg, Germany, Eigen obtained degrees in law and economics before taking a job with the World Bank in Washington, DC. The World Bank provides monetary loans to nations for the building of infrastructure in the hope that such projects will help eliminate poverty.
During his tenure with the World Bank, Eigen witnessed systemic government corruption in the countries the bank was trying to help. He believed this corruption was sabotaging the work he was doing to improve the lives of people in Kenya and other developing countries. For example, Eigen knew that politicians in these nations were taking bribes and then officially classifying them as business expenses. This troubled him because the bribes originated from the World Bank's loans.
Eigen then left the World Bank after twenty-five years. In 1993, he and several associates founded Transparency International in Berlin, Germany. The international nonprofit had one overarching goal: to end public- and private-sector corruption around the world. The organization would do this by collaborating with individuals from many nations to devise international anti-corruption regulations, bring legal cases against corrupt government and business leaders, support anti-corruption political campaigns, and publish information about its efforts around the world.
Transparency International does all this through its physical presence in more than one hundred countries. The organization teams with allies in governments, businesses, and citizenries to create policies that combat corruption by calling for institutional transparency. Transparency International styled itself as transparent by remaining politically nonpartisan and independent in determining its initiatives. The organization also clearly stated the origins of its funding and claimed none of its donors contributed to the creation of its anti-corruption policies.
In 1995, Transparency International started publishing its Corruption Perceptions Index. This annual list ranks countries based on the level of corruption in their governments, according to Transparency International's research. The index's purpose is to call international attention to the issue of government corruption, which, the organization asserts, is linked to societal inequality and poverty.
Countries that consistently rank among the least corrupt in the 2020s included Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, Singapore, and Switzerland. Nations ranked as the most corrupt were located mostly in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. They included countries such as South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Venezuela had also joined the list. However, Transparency International claimed that no country in the world was free of government corruption.
Bibliography
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Carozza, Dick. "Chipping Away at Corruption." Fraud Magazine, May/June 2014, www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4294982416. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
Kuper, Andrew. Democracy beyond Borders: Justice and Representation in Global Institutions. Oxford UP, 2004, pp. 183–84.
"Peter Eigen, Transparency International." Deutsche Welle, 17 Nov. 2014, www.dw.com/en/peter-eigen-transparency-international/a-17315329. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
Ritzer, George, and Paul Dean. Globalization: A Basic Text. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2015, p. 428.
“2023 Corruption Perceptions Index: Weakening Justice Systems Leave Corruption Unchecked.” Transparency International, 30 Jan. 2024, www.transparency.org/en/press/cpi2023-corruption-perceptions-index-weakening-justice-systems-leave-corruption-unchecked. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
“What We Do.” Transparency International, www.transparency.org/en/what-we-do. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.