Foreign Policy’s blog, The Cable, reports that the perpetually shafted Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor is maybe getting kicked out of the US State Department’s main building and sent across the street, cutting access to senior State officials. Office remodeling is cited as the reason, but once moved, it’ll be tough to reclaim…
DetailsAdmittedly, I am not a fan of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) (and similar perceptions-based indices), the limitations of which are discussed at length in our book, A Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption. I was going to rant about a very public abuse of the CPI last week, then got distracted by actual work……
DetailsOn Monday, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) officially released its Open Budget Index 2008, an evaluation of the public availability of eight key documents that serve as benchmarks in national-level budget processes. In presenting the index, Warren Krafchik, IBP’s Director, emphasized that assessing budget transparency is more than an academic exercise; budgets have a direct…
DetailsJohn Ackerman, our co-lead researcher in Mexico for the Global Integrity Report: 2007, analyzes the longevity of the Mexican government in relation to the heavy and increasing drug influence in the country. In his piece published in the Guardian last week, Ackerman argues that the Mexican government must better address the rise in drug-related crime…
DetailsThis space is host to public reactions to the Global Integrity Report. While comments are lightly moderated to filter out spam and flames, we encourage critical feedback and skepticism. To comment privately, you can reach Nathaniel Heller, the director of Global Integrity at [email protected]. We do read (and usually respond to) every word of feedback…
DetailsAs reported in this article on Slate, the answer can be found in Somalia… kind of. Just in time for an African Union conference, an “election committee” of Somali MPs is currently meeting outside the Somalian border, in Djibouti’s Kempinski Hotel. They are reviewing a stack of fresh applications, some just arriving in the past…
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