Question

1. Visit Transparency International’s website. Are there any countries that surprise you in terms of their perceived corruption? Pick 3 countries you are interested in. Is their relative order what you expected? Explain.

Answer 1

Corruption demoralises government and weakens the whole endeavour of policy formulation and its implementation. It diminishes services and causes fiscal stress, but most of all it undermines trust and corrodes legitimate community expectations. Corruption takes many forms and is found in many contexts. This is different to corruption, where a personal benefit, other than one's salary is received. The benefit might not always be in cash. It could involve favours, holidays, sexual services, inappropriate hospitality or preferment for oneself or one's family (child being admitted to prestigious college when they do not meet admission standards).

Three countries are:

United states

Afganistan

India

United states:- Corruption in the United States is the act of government officials abusing their political powers for private gain, typically through bribery or other methods.Corruption does not represent a significant business risk for foreign investors in the US. The US offers a competitive market and abundant business opportunities; however, companies should be prepared to deal with bureaucracy due to the decentralized structure and business activities governed by federal, state, county and municipal laws. Business costs are increased by extensive anti-corruption legislation and tough requirements for compliance and internal controls.  Money laundering, abuse of office, extortion and commercial bribery are prohibited by law. Companies should be aware that the US government actively and effectively enforces the established anti-corruption legislative framework.

The corruption in U.S. health care is a reality. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that $98 billion were lost to fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid in 2011 alone.The coronavirus crisis comes at a time when U.S. citizens are already wary that the pharmaceutical industry may not have patients’ best interests at heart

The American Anti-Corruption Act (AACA), sometimes shortened to Anti-Corruption Act, is a piece of model legislation designed to limit the influence of money in American politics by overhauling lobbying, transparency, and campaign finance laws. It was crafted in 2011 "by former Federal Election Commission chairman Trevor Potter in consultation with dozens of strategists, democracy reform leaders and constitutional attorneys from across the political spectrum," and is supported by reform organizations such as Represent.Us, which advocate for the passage of local, state, and federal laws modeled after the AACA.

The United States is the 23 least corrupt nation out of 180 countries, according to the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.

Afganistan:- Corruption in Afghanistan is a widespread and growing problem in Afghan society.According to the World Bank, Afghan traditions of patronage have resulted in a constant tampering of merit-based appointments to public positions, presidential staff, member in Parliament, military commanders, and any position relating to political influence—all of which has resulted in massive corruption.

Public sector corruption refers to the misuse of public power or position with an expectation of undue private gain or advantage (for self or others). It may include: bribery. embezzlement.

In Afghanistan today, corruption most often takes the form of demanding and offering bribes, both in the private and public sectors and on large and small scales. There are also many other major forms of corruption, including nepotism, graft, and illegal land transfers. Afghans said corruption was their "third biggest problem (21%) after insecurity (35%) and unemployment (23%)." In 2010 and 2011, they said corruption was their second most important reason for feeling pessimistic about Afghanistan (16% in 2011 and 27% in 2010). In 2011, they identified administrative corruption as the government's second most important failure (25%). This marked an improvement over 2010, when the figure was 30%

Afghanistan is the 173 least corrupt nation out of 180 countries, according to the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.

India: The causes of corruption in India include excessive regulations, complicated tax and licensing systems, numerous government departments with opaque bureaucracy and discretionary powers, monopoly of government controlled institutions on certain goods and services delivery, and the lack of transparent laws and processes.

Due to lack of proper management and poor organization, respective departments are malfunctioning. This leads to coordination and control failure among the departments and levels of the organization. This uncontrolled and unsupervised administration leads to corruption.

Lack of moral values taught in the early years of childhood could lead to corrupt children because children imitate their parents. If the parents are corrupt, then it is most likely that the child will also become corrupt.

Elections: As India’s election polls closed May 23, 2019, candidates spent a total 600 billion rupees ($8.7 billion) on publicity, logistics and, in some cases, distribution of cash for votes. Yet, the Election Commission ordered that each candidate not exceed 7 million rupees.

In the private sector, employees gets the final call on deciding the salary and the benefits of employment. He has complete autonomy and has no pressure from the government. Due to this reason, many employers pay less for more work, which is a classic example of the capitalist mode of production.

corruption in India is an issue that adversely affects it's economy of central, state and local governmnet agencies. Not only has it held the economy back from reaching new heights, but rampant corruption has stunted the country's development. India continues to be among the most scorrpt countries in the world.

-India has been ranked at 81st place out of 180 countries on a ‘Corruption Perception Index’, in a list released by Transparency International.

India’s ranking is worse than those of China and Bhutan but better than those of Pakistan and Bangladesh.