Political Corruption According to the

Political Corruption According to the 2005 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), one of the most corrupt nations in the world is Haiti; conversely, one of the least corrupt nations is Norway.

What makes one corrupt, while the other is honest and forthright? What are the ingredients socially and politically that contribute to the stew of corruption? How do the political structures of these two countries differ, in terms of the standard of living, economic system, and education? This paper examines those issues and reviews the solvency in each nation and its relationship / linkage to political corruption.

Who does the rankings as far as political corruption around the world? How do they come up with their data? The group called Transparency International ("the coalition against corruption") offers a comprehensive Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on an annual basis, and is among the respected groups on an international level.

It should be noted that the CPI is actually based on "...the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians." There is no empirical formula for doing the math on political corruption, albeit, Transparency International compiles, from bona fide surveys, the "misuse of public power for private benefit." Those surveys include "bribe-taking by public officials in public procurement," prosecutions in political-related court cases, among other instances of wrongdoing by politicians and other people in government.

Transparency International (TI) asserts that "corruption is a major cause of poverty as well as a barrier to overcoming it" (Eigen 2005). "The two scourges feed off each other," TI chairman Peter Eigen explains. In fact, TI research shows that more than two-thirds of the 159 nations they survey through the CPI are swamped in "serious levels of corruption." The score of "3" or less on the CPI scale indicates "rampant" corruption.

And the poverty link to corruption becomes a far more serious obstacle to a nation's potential to pull itself up by the bootstraps because "foreign investment is lower in countries perceived to be corrupt" and without a steady source of capital a struggling country will continue to struggle, CPI's data indicate. HAITI: When it comes to poverty and corruption going hand in hand to keep a society in difficulty, Haiti is a case in point. Haiti is ranked the 155th most corrupt nation out of 159 on the CPI.

According to the CIA's World Factbook, Haiti has many things working against it from a geographical, economic, and environmental standpoint; it lies "in the middle of the hurricane belt" and is hit by "severe storms" from June through October. Haiti is also subject to flooding, earthquakes, and "periodic droughts," the CIA data explains. Moreover, Haiti suffers from "extensive deforestation" and what forests are left are being cut at a rapid pace (uses as fuel for poor families).

There are "inadequate supplies of potable water" and soil erosion (due to deforestation) is rampant. Life is rough in Haiti; the infant morality rate reflects that out of ever 1,000 births, 78.01 male babies die and 65.1 female babies die. Life expectancy is just 53.23 years, and an estimated 280,000 people have AIDs (5.6% of the population).

Only 52.9% of Haitians can read and write, which is an indication that a country is not only very poor and generally uneducated, but that the most citizens are not able to read newspapers to stay abreast of the government's activities - good, bad or negligent activities. An uninformed public in many instances can lead to abuse by political and governmental individuals.

Haiti has been "plagued by political violence" for most of its existence, the CIA World Factbook explains, although a democratically elected president (Rene Preval) was put in office in May, 2006, with promises of prosperity and hope for economic improvement; and the International Monetary Fund's infusing of capital helped provide a 1.8% growth in Haiti's economy in 2006 (the rate of inflation in Haiti is 14.4%).

Still, the CIA report shows that 80% of the population in Haiti lives "under the poverty line" and 54% of Haitians live in "abject poverty." Over two-thirds of Haitians depend on agriculture (small subsistence farms), which is vulnerable to violent storms and erosion (deforestation). Haiti struggles economically due to "higher inflation than similar low-income countries, a lack of investment, and a severe trade deficit," the CIA reports. Per capital annual income in Haiti is estimated at $1,800.

Even the labor force (3.6 million workers) is shaky, as "more than two-thirds" of Haiti's workers have no "formal jobs." Haitian's main exports include coffee, oils, cocoa, mangoes and some manufactured goods - over 80% of which goes to the U.S. Another export identified with Haiti is cocaine, which enters the country from Columbia and is transported to Europe and the U.S.; "traffickers favor Haiti for illicit financial transactions," the CIA reports.

There are about 8,000 United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti to "maintain civil order" and put down "civil unrest." Journalist Amy Bracken writes that "due to the dismal economy, rising prices and ongoing environmental degradation, rural parents are pushed into "blindly casting their children off into indentured servitude" (Bracken, 2006). Some children between five and 17 years of age are actually sold into slavery, to work "unpaid" in other families' homes for food and shelter.

They are called "restaveks" (child slaves), and the estimates of how many range upwards of 8.2% of all children in that age group. With poverty this severe, political corruption can and does occur in Haiti. NORWAY: Norway is ranked #8 on the CPI, behind Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland.

The CIA World Factbook records that in the 1960s, Norway discovered oil and gas in its offshore waters, which was a welcome addition to its list of plentiful natural resources (iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, titanium, pyrites, nickel, fish, timber and hydropower). Whereas in Haiti natural disasters come in the form of powerful hurricanes, in Norway there are far less destructive "rockslides" and "avalanches," the CIA explains. Also, as far as trade, Norway has the advantage of being "adjacent to sea lanes and air routes" in the North Atlantic region.

The infant mortality rate in Norway is only 3.67 deaths per 1,000 births; the life expectancy is 79.54 years (compared with 53 years in Haiti), and 100% of Norwegians can read and write. That educational fact alone sheds light on how well the population is prepared to keep track.