Group Names Global Hotspots for Corruption

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LUKE BURBANK, host:

I've never actually had the nerve to do it, but I've always wanted to do that thing where you walk into a super fancy restaurant, and the maitre d' is like, oh, we don't have any table, sir, and then you coolly slip him a 50.

ALISON STEWART, host:

Oh.

BURBANK: And they go, right this way, sir. I never actually know what the right moment would be to do that, or if they would be super offended in that.

STEWART: The golden handshake.

BURBANK: I also rarely have $50. But that would be maybe kind of a fun time to do something like that. A time that would not be so fun to have to give somebody a bribe, maybe when you're dealing with your doctor who's trying to get medical care for your kid. Or a police officer who's investigating a crime. It might involve you or someone else.

A report released today says those kinds of bribes are the reality for many people from places like Kosovo to Cameroon. Transparency International released its Global Corruption Barometer today. It tracks instances of bribery and dirty dealings in 60 countries.

With us now is Transparency International's director of policy and research, Robin Hoddess.

Hi, Robin.

Ms. ROBIN HODDESS (Director of Policy and Research, Transparency International): Hi. Good morning.

BURBANK: Good morning to you. You're in Berlin, right?

Ms. HODDESS: That's right.

BURBANK: Well, thanks for coming on the show.

How did you guys get this data? Did you just ask people if they'd been forced to give bribes?

Ms. HODDESS: Well, we went out in the 60 countries via Gallup International, who run a survey called the Voice of the People survey. And we got a representative sample in 60 countries, and we asked people about, you know, what are your views of corruption? What do you think your government's doing? Are they doing enough? And, have you had to bribe in the last year?

BURBANK: And what did you find? Where is the worst place for this kind of stuff?

Ms. HODDESS: Well, it differs. I mean, of course, one has to understand what's going on in the country, what other problems the countries faced. But we do have a sense of optimists and pessimists, and where bribery is highest around the world. I mean, on average, about one in 10 people around the world had to pay a bribe last year. But nearly double that were actually asked for a bribe.

And there are parts of the world, like the U.S. and Western Europe, where daily life bribery isn't that common. But nevertheless, people aren't that optimistic about where things are going. In fact, there's some great sense of pessimism in countries like the U.K. or even the U.S. about, you know, what corruption's going to look like three years from now.

BURBANK: Well that may be - for the U.S. and Western Europe - somewhat of an academic question. But for people that are actually forking over money to try to get basic services, where does that seem to be happening with the most regularity?

Ms. HODDESS: Well, the countries where the citizens - the people report most often that they have to pay bribes are, unfortunately, the countries we look at in Africa, in Southeast Asia, in Southeast Europe.

BURBANK: Not to be callous, but is there a certain - if you look at it from an economic standpoint, I mean, do these bribes - are they just kind of an informal consumption tax? Like, you might not pay any tax if you live in Cameroon to, you know, keep the roads working. But then, you know, you got to bribe that guy to get driving down that street. I mean, does this have some kind of basic economic function?

Ms. HODDESS: Well, we don't think so, because bribery like that ends up undermining the long-term economic development. We look it more like as a regressive tax. If you're the poorest in society - and that's who we see actually get asked most often for bribes and who must often pay bribes - this really undermines what kind of take home pay you have. It undermines your ability, as you said, to send your kids to school or to get basic things people come to take for granted, like what should be free medical services.

BURBANK: Who are people paying bribes to? Is it the police?

Ms. HODDESS: Yeah. Unfortunately, police who, in a sense, are out there to protect us and keep the justice system working are identified around the world as the institution that's most corruptible.

BURBANK: Is there - I mean, how would - let's say that a government in one of these countries even cared about this issue and wanted to change it. Is there any way it could really get changed?

Ms. HODDESS: Well, we certainly hope so. I mean, Transparency International is active in nearly a hundred countries. And, you know, again, in a country, the chapter that we work - will work with a government or other organizations, private sector. Business is often very much a part of trying to solve the problem, because, again, they're the ones who supply bribery. And we're looking for systemic ways to change things. But one has to understand what the problem is in that country, and then one has to hit it on the head and go for reform.

BURBANK: Can reform work? I mean, you hope it'll work, but the question is can it work?

Ms. HODDESS: Well, I mean, we see things working. We see that in lots of instances, the right legal framework is coming in. And this is just the beginning, of course, but, you know, getting the right laws in place so that enforcement can happen so that there could be oversight - there are changes. And there are countries where, over time, say in a country like Colombia, the public is reacting more positively to the efforts the government's making, and the legal framework has improved. And even the way that it's perceived around the world in terms of the fight against corruption has improved.

BURBANK: Robin Hoddess, director of policy and research at Transparency International.

Thank you, Robin.

Ms. HODDESS: Thanks.

STEWART: My friends, there's a man hot on the trail of the Yeti. His name is Josh Gates. Some people say that's no Yeti footprint you found. Other people, quite excited about this discovery. He's coming up next.

BURBANK: Also next up, the best song in the world today. What could it be? We'll have it for you, just around the corner on THE BRYANT PARK PROJECT from NPR News.

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