On Monday, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) officially released its Open Budget Index 2008, an evaluation of the public availability of eight key documents that serve as benchmarks in national-level budget processes. In presenting the index, Warren Krafchik, IBP’s Director, emphasized that assessing budget transparency is more than an academic exercise; budgets have a direct…
DetailsJohn Ackerman, our co-lead researcher in Mexico for the Global Integrity Report: 2007, analyzes the longevity of the Mexican government in relation to the heavy and increasing drug influence in the country. In his piece published in the Guardian last week, Ackerman argues that the Mexican government must better address the rise in drug-related crime…
DetailsThis space is host to public reactions to the Global Integrity Report. While comments are lightly moderated to filter out spam and flames, we encourage critical feedback and skepticism. To comment privately, you can reach Nathaniel Heller, the director of Global Integrity at info@globalintegrity.org. We do read (and usually respond to) every word of feedback…
DetailsAs reported in this article on Slate, the answer can be found in Somalia… kind of. Just in time for an African Union conference, an “election committee” of Somali MPs is currently meeting outside the Somalian border, in Djibouti’s Kempinski Hotel. They are reviewing a stack of fresh applications, some just arriving in the past…
DetailsAlive in Baghdad, a project of citizen journalists, runs video and written features on daily life in Iraq. They’ve posted a story this week on the Ministry of Health’s inability to provide proper oversight of pharmacies. According to the report, licensing regulations are not enforced by the Ministry and counterfeit drugs have flooded the market.…
DetailsThis morning, Freedom House released its annual Freedom in the World index with the headline that freedom has “retreated for a third year.” As part of the event, panelists Thomas Carothers, Larry Diamond, Jackson Diehl and Joshua Muravchik debated the regional implications of this global trend and the possible applications of Freedom House’s findings to…
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