A growing number of people believe that corruption is getting worse around the globe, new data from Transparency International claims. More than 50 percent of people surveyed about corruption believe that it is getting worse, the latest Global Corruption Barometer report indicated.
The survey, which polled 114,000 people in over 100 countries, contained a variety of questions designed to illustrate local perceptions of corruption. The results were incredibly revealing. In the last year alone, over 27 percent of applicants paid bribes to public officials in exchange for services and access to institutions.
Over two thirds of applicants that were asked to pay bribes, whether to officials or to private parties, refused. While the survey indicated an increase in corruption in almost all countries, one aspect of its results was remarkably positive: almost 90 percent of applicants indicated that they would ‘act out’ against corruption.
Government corruption was highlighted as the most common concern amongst the survey’s applicants, with 51 countries pointing to political parties as ‘most corrupt’ when quizzed on local sources of corruption. Other corruption hotbeds include the police and the judiciary, which frequently demanded bribes from the public.
Corruption has played a major role in anti-government movements over the past year, with the ongoing protests in Brazil largely sparked by what the public sees as government incompetence and corruption. Many Brazilians believe that tax money allegedly spent to prepare for the Olympic Games has been lost to corruption.
Aside from financial bribery, other issues included abuse of personal relationships, which is seen as a major force in political parties and institutions. Respondents also expressed concerns that lobbyists and special interest groups were the driving force behind government corruption.
With people from over 100 countries openly discussions corruption, Transparency International’s survey indicates that corruption is truly a problem that affects every part of the world.
