Argentines: Govt Isn’t Fighting Corruption Effectively

An overwhelming majority of Argentines feel their government is failing to effectively combat corruption, according to a survey released recently by Transparency International.

The survey indicates that a whopping 81% of Argentines believe the government’s effort to fight corruption is “ineffective.” That figure, which is up significantly from 50% just two years ago, doesn’t bode well for the Kirchner administration as it heads into the June 28 congressional election.

Just 2% of Argentines surveyed said the government is “very effective” at combating corruption.

But while the news isn’t good for the Kirchners, it isn’t necessarily good for any other particular political party. Argentines have little faith in the integrity of political parties, with 38% of the population saying such parties are the sector most affected by corruption. Only 1% of those polled said the legislative branch is “not at all corrupt” while 46% of people said it is “extremely corrupt.”

“Political parties appear to be the institution seen as the most corrupt in the country and this shouldn’t surprise anyone,” Delia Ferreira Rubio, president of Poder Ciudadano, Transparency International’s local chapter, said in a statement. “This perception is on of the factors causing the crisis of confidence in the parties and the distance between society and its political leaders.”

Surprisingly or not, just 4% of Argentines reported paying a bribe (or knowing anyone in their household who had paid one) within the past year. The country where bribes appear to be most common was Cambodia, where 47% of people surveyed said they or someone in their household paid a bribe within the past year.

The cleanest country, as usual, was Denmark, where just 1% said they or someone in their house paid a bribe. In the U.S. and Canada the answer was 2% while it was 3% in the UK and 30% in Bolivia, the highest in the Latin American region (results weren’t given for Brazil).

The region where bribes were reportedly most common was the Middle East (40%) while it was 10% in Latin America. North America had the lowest percentage at 2% while Europe stood at 5%.

TI’s survey in Argentina was conducted by Gallop. It was carried out on 1,000 people from November 20-26, 2008.

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