Link to article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-slips-6-spots-to-86th-rank-on-corruption-index/articleshow/80533471.cms
India’s ranking on the Corruption Perception Index-2020 dropped from 80 to 86. The index is released annually by Transparency International and ranks each country by levels of public sector corruption, the abuse of public office for private gain, on a scale of zero to 100. Zero signifies the highest level of corruption while 100 is the least. India’s score is 40, decreasing one point from 2019. The global average score is 43, and the average score in the Asia-Pacific region is 45. Denmark and New Zealand are at the top of the list with scores of 88, while Somalia and South Sudan are at the very bottom, with scores of 12 each.
In India, anti-corruption efforts focus mainly on big-ticket graft and malfeasance; however, petty corruption hurts the common people more and allegedly needs more attention.
This article is important because it shows how corruption is more common in countries least equipped to handle Covid-19. The pandemic isn’t only a health and economic crisis, but a corruption crisis as well. In the past year, most of the international system has struggled to tackle corruption successfully; despite some progress, more than two-thirds of countries scored below 50. Covid-19 has enhanced the importance of a strong government because as governments around the world have to play a bigger role in the economy to combat the pandemic, the opportunity for corruption has increased.
This article relates to what we’ve learned in class because Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index is an example of the realist perspective. Theoretically, human nature is selfish and the nature of the international system is nature. This explains why most countries fail to tackle corruption effectively and why an index thanks ranking countries on misconduct exists. States will do what it takes to maintain their survival and increase their power, even lying and being fraudulent to their people. Corruption costs both money and lives. International collaboration is the only way to defeat it; however, according to realists, a state can never be sure of another state’s intentions, which makes it difficult to solve the high levels of corruption apparent in our world.