Reading the yearly analyses of the perceptions that in general [knowledgeable] people have about the prevalence of corruption in countries they happen to know, is a disappointing exercise. Not because of the fact that so few countries are considered to be relatively ‘clean’, as well as because the methodology used to make the final rankings that are widely published is so weak, not to say faulty and untrustworthy. Have a look for yourself at the analysis made of the results as published in ten consecutive years from 1995-2005. The result showing that – also in general – rich countries are relatively considered to be cleaner than poor countries should have been an indicator for the CPI-researchers not to be satisfied with their results, and should have forced them to be more critical about the chosen research methodology.

http://www.partos.nl/uploaded_files/Ten%20years%20of%20Corruption%20(Perceptions)%20Indices.pdf

Ten years of Corruption (Perceptions) Indices

as established by Prof. Dr. Johann Graf Lambsdorff (University of Passau) and yearly published by Transparency International in the years 1995-2005

METHODS – RESULTS – WHAT NEXT? An analysis. What went right, what wrong?

What can be done to improve this tool?

By Dr. Michel van Hulten, Individual Member of Transparency International

31 January 2007, 86 pp, ISBN 978-90-811048-2-1

Nieuwsbrief