Transparency international has come out with its annual survey results of perceptions of corruption around the world. The country where I served in the Peace Corps, Benin, is ranked 118th, among the lowest of the non-war-torn countries and similar to its position on the World Bank’s per capita income index. It’s interesting that citizens of the places with the least wealth to go around often have the highest perception that the wealth is not getting where it needs to be. In Benin, I recall, there is a general expectation that if someone gets access to wealth or power, it is that person’s obligation to pass some of it on to the family and village, regardless of where that money or time is allotted to be spent. If you are working with the Germans to build a highway, you’d better make darn sure that some of those bags of cement make it back home. Otherwise, don’t set foot in your village again. If the project runs out of cement before the highway is finished, well, that’s just too bad. In a contest between personal relationships and “the greater good,” the personal will nearly always win.

This image is from www.transparency.com, where you can see the full table and download the map.

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