Partisan politics and closed-source technology collude to leave American democracy in questionable hands. Many election reform activists are voicing deep concerns about electronic voting machines being used in the next presidential election. Election reform activists (here, here) ask whether the political leanings of the companies developing the new electronic voting machines will have anything to…
DetailsGlobal Integrity’s Ritu Sarin reflects on the pessimistic state of India’s citizens towards anti-corruption efforts, despite an international conventional wisdom that says corruption is on the retreat. Reporter’s Notebook: India India, which boasts of being the world’s third-largest economy, is a country of contradictions. That remains true of the manner in which it continues to…
DetailsIn a summer of record-breaking oil profits, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer introduced the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act (S. 3389), which mandates companies disclose payments to foreign governments for oil, gas and minerals. It is companion legislation to the bill of the same name in the House of Representatives. The “publish what you pay” concept…
DetailsChina’s culture of shunkouliu (“slippery jingles”) offer a rare — and witty — outlet for political frustrations. Perry Link and Kate Zhou describe the shunkouliu in their book Popular China: Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society. Invented by Chinese farmers, and once devoted to simple lessons of earth and toil, the medium mutated in the…
DetailsThe U.S. Justice Department takes a stab at the question of who will watch the watchmen. Their answer: we will, but only after journalists exposed a series of interlocking scandals and weeks of non-stop political opposition drives the Attorney General out of his post. Justice today published a report detailing interference (.pdf) in Justice hiring…
DetailsThe Global Integrity Report comprises about 15,000 local, peer-reviewed assessments every year, all of which is available to public scrutiny. A few of our readers take the time to dig into this raw data and challenge our results. Here’s what that process looks like from the inside. The short version is this: we benefit tremendously…
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