Report: Global Corruption Uptick Due to 'Weakening Justice Systems'

Facts

• Global corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2023 on Tuesday. The report, which shows 23 countries falling to their worst-ever rating, claimed that the fight against government corruption is losing steam due to 'Weakening justice systems that reduce the accountability of public officials.'¹
• The Index measures 180 countries on a scale of zero to 100, with 100 being the least corrupt. TI said that in 2023, Denmark was the least corrupt country in the world, with an unchanged score of 90; it was followed by Finland (87), New Zealand (85), Norway (84), and Singapore (83) to round off the top five.²
• The three lowest-ranked countries in Western Europe and the EU were Hungary (42), Romania (46) and Bulgaria (45). Meanwhile, among some of the high-ranking countries, Austria (71), Luxembourg (78), Sweden (82), and the UK (71) all declined significantly. Poland (54) has seen a seven-point decline over the past decade, with Greece dropping to an all-time low of 49.³
• The UK, which dropped from the 18th rank in 2022 to a joint 20th last year, has seen its score decrease by two points since 2022 and nine points since 2018 — making it the worst five-year decline of any Western European country. TI blamed the UK's 2023 drop in part on its scandal around awarding personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.⁴
• The US' score of 69 was unchanged, placing it in 24th place. Meanwhile, on the lower end, Somalia had the weakest score of 11, with South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela each with 13. TI said the Asia-Pacific region saw 'little to no meaningful progress,' Latin American and the Caribbean countries are dealing with 'opacity and undue influence' on their justice systems, and Arab nations hit an all-time low average of 34.⁵
• With a global average score of 43 for the 12th consecutive year, over 66% of countries had a score below 50. There were also only eight countries that saw their scores improve — including Vietnam, Ireland, South Korea, and the Maldives.¹

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Transparency, ³Euronews, ⁴The Guardian and ⁵Associated Press.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. As authoritarianism grows around the world, anti-corruption mechanisms are dwindling. This is shown especially in Central Asia — a canary in the global corruption coal mine — where democracy has been on the decline, and police, prosecutors, and courts are prevented from holding the powerful to account. If anti-corruption mechanisms are not put in place, this culture of impunity for the powerful will only worsen.
• Narrative B, as provided by VerfassungsBlog. A report of newfound corruption in Europe should come as no surprise. Since the 1990s, the EU has endured corrupt election supervision systems and pay-for-play sanctions policies, among other scandals. To say Europe and Western powers have only recently become corrupt is an absolute understatement — all too often actors from these countries are the ones facilitating corruption in the Global South.

Predictions