Corruption Perceptions Index 2019 - Executive Summary

Recommendations Governments must promote the separation of powers, strengthen judicial independence and preserve checks and balances. For democracy to be effective against corruption, governments must ensure that elections are free and fair. Preventing and sanctioning vote-buying and misinformation campaigns are essential to rebuilding trust in government and ensuring that citizens can use their vote to punish corrupt politicians. To end corruption and restore trust in politics, it is imperative to prevent opportunities for political corruption and to foster the integrity of political systems. Transparency International recommends: Governments should protect civil liberties and political rights, including freedom of speech, expression and association. Governments should engage civil society and protect citizens, activists, whistleblowers and journalists in monitoring and exposing corruption. In order to prevent excessive money and influence in politics, governments should improve and properly enforce campaign finance regulations. Political parties should also disclose their sources of income, assets and loans, and governments should empower oversight agencies with stronger mandates and appropriate resources. Governments should promote open and meaningful access to decision-making and consult a wider range of groups, beyond well-resourced lobbyists and a few private interests. Lobbying activities should be public and easily accessible. Governments should reduce the risk of undue influence in policy-making by tightening controls over financial and other interests of government officials. Governments should also address “revolving doors”, establish cooling-off periods for former officials and ensure rules are properly enforced and sanctioned. Governments should create mechanisms to ensure that service delivery and public resource allocation are not driven by personal connections or are biased towards special interest groups at the expense of the overall public good. REINFORCE CHECKS AND BALANCES STRENGTHEN ELECTORAL INTEGRITY EMPOWER CITIZENS CONTROL POLITICAL FINANCING REGULATE LOBBYING ACTIVITIES MANAGE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST TACKLE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT $ CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2019 5