In the 2016 presidential elections, Americans sent a clear signal that they were frustrated with the status quo in Washington. The outsized role of lobbyists and the skyrocketing costs of campaigns have left large numbers of Americans wondering whether the political class serves special interests more than the public interest. It is no wonder that the campaign slogans “Drain the swamp!” and “The system is rigged!” echoed so deeply with the electorate.
But it is one thing to call out a problem, such as the power of corporate interests in policy making, and quite another to find solutions that make sense for the majority of Americans. We aim to work with progressive, moderate, libertarian, and conservative voices to understand how Americans are affected by corruption, which we define as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.
TI in the US aims to give voice to diverse people across the nation’s political, social, and geographic divides. We will generate a place where Americans who want transparent and accountable government—clean government—can come together and find answers. TI in the US believes that to shift the emphasis from special interests to the public interest, we must first start with clean and accountable government.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 | Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 | Transparency International
The US faces a wide range of domestic challenges related to the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, which is Transparency International’s definition of corruption.
In May of last year, 43 governments and six international organisations met in London for the Anti-Corruption Summit, issuing a bold Global Declaration Against Corruption and making 648 commitments.
What do you do when assets stolen from a country’s state coffers by corrupt individuals have been recovered and can now be returned to the country - but the government is still controlled by corrupt people? That’s the case of Uzbekistan, one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It scores just 21 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, indicating rampant corruption in the public sector.
With the launch of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 just five days after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President, it’s timely to look at the links between populism, socio-economic malaise and the anti-corruption agenda. Indeed, Trump and many other populist leaders regularly make a connection between a “corrupt elite” interested only in enriching themselves and their (rich) supporters and the marginalisation of “working people”.