17th IACC

In Europe and the US polls indicate 70% of the population consider political parties and national congresses to be corrupt. TI’s Global Corruption Barometer suggests that this is surprisingly close to opinion polled across the developing world. Are these perceptions recording the same thing or is corruption different in the ‘north’ and the ‘south’?

Two recent books by authors close to TI explore these questions.

• Laurence Cockcroft and Anne-Christine Wegener in ‘Unmasked : Corruption in the West’ lay bare the structures of corruption with which voters are concerned in Europe and the US - an issue given far too little attention in the current debate on populist politics. ‘Unmasked’ examines corruption in political finance, lobbying, multinational companies, the judiciary and the police, environmental regulation, and sport. It also shows how the financial crisis can be ascribed in part to corruption and identifies the offshore sector as the fulcrum in which the fruits of corruption and corporate tax evasion are held in ways which governments in the north have been complicit. This a unique analysis of corruption in Europe and America showing how far the west has to go to clean its own house – while the world is watching. These issues will be presented and debated in this session.

• Frank Vogl’s ‘Waging War on Corruption – Inside The Movement Fighting The Abuse of Power’ is a well-established analysis of the impact of corruption in the south, the progress made in addressing it over the least 25 years, TI’s roles, and crucial key challenges. In a new Afterword, the author stresses that the time has come for more attention to the crucial issue of enforcing the important anti-corruption conventions, laws and top summit pledges. The paperback edition with additional material has just been published.