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transparency

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 8 months ago

 

 see also:  corruption

 

 

MapLight — shedding light on politicians and their special interests

 

Maplight.org, is a Berkeley, Calif.’ company that opens the kimono on politicians, their financial ties with interest groups, and how they vote on bills in U.S Congress or state senate.

 

The site creates an extraordinary transparency not seen anywhere else. For example, it shows in great detail that several large corporations donated money to Rep. Kevin Brady around the time of his supporting vote of a free-trade agreement with Oman. On the day before the vote, someone associated with Lyondell Chemical gave him $1,000. Lyondell, Coca Cola and Dow Chemical are all shown as supporters of the bill. Such supporters gave twice as much money to politicians who supported the bill than they did to those who voted against.

 

So what’s driving founder Dan Newman, given that this company is a non-profit? It can’t be money. His answer: Politicians tend to be chosen according to how effective they can raise funds, which means many problems — whether healthcare, technology policy, or global warming — aren’t getting solved. “When I tried to explain campaign contributions are causing this, I was waving my hands too much,” he said. “We created Maplight to show people specifically how issues they care about are connected with campaign dollars.”

 

There are lots of other features. You can select individual politicians, and see what money is going to them, categorized not merely by company, but by interest group industry category (oil, transportation, etc). That’s because Maplight tags each donation according to which industry it comes from, not merely the company. Maplight tracks each congressional bill, and tracks which organizations have opposed or supported it. It also lets you sort by interest group, and shows which bills they’ve donated money to.

 

 

read more... from venture beat...

 

 

 

Transparency Index

Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index which ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials. This index indicates the views of national and international business people and analysts about the levels of corruption in each country.  The highest (and best) level of transparency is indicated by the number, 1.  The lower (and worse) levels of transparency are indicated by higher numbers -- 100 and above.

   
Country
Rank
Country
1 Finland
Iceland
New Zealand
4 Denmark
5 Singapore
6 Sweden
7 Switzerland
8 Norway
9 Australia
Netherlands
11 Austria
Luxembourg
United Kingdom
14 Canada
15 Hong Kong
16 Germany
17 Japan
18 France
Ireland
20 Belgium
Chile
United States of America
23 Spain
24 Barbados
Estonia
26 Macao
Portugal
26 Portugal
28 Malta
Slovenia
Uruguay
31 United Arab Emirates
32 Bhutan
Qatar
34 Israel
Taiwan
36 Bahrain
37 Botswana
Cyprus
39 Oman
40 Jordan
41 Hungary
42 Mauritius
South Korea
44 Malaysia
45 Italy
46 Czech Republic
Kuwait
Lithuania
49 Latvia
Slovakia
51 South Africa
Tunisia
53 Dominica
54 Greece
55 Costa Rica
Namibia
57 Bulgaria
59 Colombia
60 Turkey
61 Poland
Jamaica
63 Lebanon
Seychelles
Thailand
66 Belize
Cuba
Grenada
69 Croatia
70 Brazil
China
Egypt
Ghana
India
Mexico
Peru
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
79 Burkina Faso
Lesotho
Moldova
Morocco
Trinidad and Tobago
84 Algeria
Madagascar
Mauritania
Panama
Romania
Sri Lanka
90 Gabon
Serbia
Suriname
93 Argentina
Armenia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Eritrea
Syria
Tanzania
99 Dominican Republic
Georgia
Mali
Mongolia
Mozambique
Ukraine
105 Bolivia
Iran
Libya
Macedonia
Malawi
Uganda
111 Albania
Guatemala
Kazakhstan
Laos
Nicaragua
Paraguay
East Timor
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
121 Benin
Gambia
Guyana
Honduras
Nepal
Philippines
Russia
Rwanda
Swaziland
130 Azerbaijan
Burundi
Central African Republic
Ethiopia
Indonesia
Papua New Guinea
Togo
Zimbabwe
138 Cameroon
Ecuador
Niger
Venezuela
 
142 Angola
Congo, RC
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Nigeria
Pakistan
Sierra Leone
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
151 Belarus
Cambodia
Cote d'Ivoire
Equatorial Guinea
Uzbekistan
156 Bangladesh
Chad
Congo, DRC
Sudan
160 Guinea
Iraq
Myanmar (Burma)
163 Haiti
   

Source:  This material is derived from the 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International. Last updated in 2007. 

 

 

 

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