2014 Global Corruption Level map is out, and I am surprised where the USA stands on it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Link, below has color coded map and also an interactive table of rankings, can be searched via several parameters.
You can click on countries on the map and see where they rank.

I AM surprised at the results...what about you?

Based on expert opinion from around the world, the Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide,
and it paints an alarming picture.
Not one single country gets a perfect score and more than two-thirds score below 50, on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results

[Eudaimonic]

1. Why are you suprised?

I can't think of the last time I heard an allegation that someone had to bribe a public official to get something done. No doubt the occasional kickback occurs, but that occurs everywhere from the North Pole to the South.

[truebluegreen]

3. Really? You think the US government isn't corrupt?

Do you want to talk about actual corruption, or perceived corruption? What do you think lobbyists do, and why do you think that public opinion has a "near zero" effect on what happens in Washington? If this isn't a corrupted democracy, what would you call it?

http://mic.com/articles/87719/princeton-concludes-what-kind-of-government-america-really-has-and-it-s-not-a-democracy

fyi, that study is based on data from 1980 to 2000, and I really doubt anyone can make the case that the situation has improved.

[Recursion]

12. Compared to a lot of places? Good lord, no. You can get a document without bribing someone

Teachers don't shake down students for money. You don't have to pay police officers a "spot fine" whenever they decide to pull you over. You can be at least reasonably sure that a license granted by the government yesterday will be honored today.

[canoeist52]

2. These are "perceived levels".

Actual corruption is impossible to measure without world investigation.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. "Based on expert opinion from around the world"

I do not doubt that most people would agree, based on years of news and articles, based on facts, that Mexico has earned its ranking.

In the same light, based on news and articles based on facts, and whistle blowers, the US has earned a pretty high ranking if only for
banking corruption and fraud, wide spread police corruption, more than a few stolen elections, plus all the ways we have helped overthrow Democratic governments over the world for decades.
That's MY opinion, based on facts, and looks like many others agree, based on my reading of DU for the many years.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Which major country that had a worse ranking would you say is better than the USA?

France is put as slightly more corrupt, I see - but that has had several high level corruption scandals:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_scandals_in_the_Paris_region
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-13/leaks-raise-fresh-sarkozy-corruption-allegations/5592620
http://fortune.com/2014/08/27/imf-head-lagarde-under-investigation-over-2008-scandal/
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/nov/13/france.oilandpetrol
etc.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. If a country has a worst ranking than the USA,

why would I say it was better?

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. If it has a worse ranking, then the site's 'experts' think it's worse, but not necessarily you

Your point was, I thought, that they had let the USA off lightly. So I wondered which country (that we might have an idea about) you would move the USA below.

[hack89]

5. Not surprised at all

But then my travels have shown me what really corrupt countries are like. I have never had to bribe a government official to obtain basic services - that U.S. not the case in many parts of the world.

[Igel]

9. Seems about right.

I'd probably have put the US a bit higher, but at high enough levels there's bound to be some.

Part of it is perspective.

[canoeist52]

10. Of related interest

"Study: Corporate Bribery and Corruption Grease the Gears of Global Capitalism

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that large multinational corporations, led by top managers, are behind majority of documented bribery cases
by
Sarah Lazare, staff writer"
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/02/study-corporate-bribery-and-corruption-grease-gears-global-capitalism


And if you want to read the full report;
http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/governance/oecd-foreign-bribery-report_9789264226616-en#page24


Also More about Frank Vogl, co-founder of Transparency International;

"In 1981, Frank was appointed chief spokesman and Director of Information & Public Affairs at the World Bank - the largest global economic development institution. He served in this post, traveling the world and lecturing extensively on economic issues, until 1990. Then, together with his wife Emily Vogl, he established Vogl Communciations Inc, a public relations firm specializing in finance and economics, which has advised many of the world's financial services firms, including the Institute of International Finance - the association of the largest banks. "
http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=1046

[Takket]

11. that rating is sort of misleading.....

if corruption is essentially your leaders breaking the law, then no we aren't that corrupt. the US has taken the far more insidious approach of making things that should be illegal, legal. Citizens United for instance. we basically legalized corporate brainwashing of the populace.

if you were to show me a chart displaying a rating for the morality of our laws and public officials, I would expect our rating on said chart to have plummeted, pretty much since Reagan started to destroy the middle class.

[Recursion]

13. Corruption in the US really just isn't comparable to corruption in the developing world

At least on the level of an individual's interaction with it.

Imagine if every -- and I mean every single -- interaction you had with any public employee always involved money changing hands if you wanted absolutely anything to happen. That's how about two-thirds of the world lives.