Corruption in the United States

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Corruption in the United States is the act of government officials abusing their political powers for private gain, typically through bribery or other methods.

Corruption in the United States is a growing problem across many areas, particularly in the political sphere. In 2020, Transparency International ranked the United States as the 25th-least-corrupt country (of 180 countries ranked),[1] falling from 18th since 2016.[2] This ranking places the United States between Bhutan (24) and Chile (26) on corrupt practices in government and other institutions. In 2019, Transparency International stated that the United States is "experiencing threats to its system of checks and balances", along with an "erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power".[3]

Overview[]

In 2019 Stephen Walt argued that the United States is more corrupt than its own citizens realize pointing to causes of the Great Recession, the failure of the Boeing 737 MAX which was grounded worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020 which was said was partly caused by the FAA's relationship with Boeing, and the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal as examples. Walt argues that these examples show that corruption is a growing problem in the United States and in the longer term threaten the country's soft power.[4]

In 2020 a Vox article argued that the U.S. was a major contributor to global kleptocracy, becoming one of the largest offshore financial centers in the world, with the U.S. state of Delaware becoming the largest provider of anonymous shell corporations.[5] Though in January 2021 anonymous shell companies were effectively banned via a provision in the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.[6] Vox also noted that the United States is also a tax haven as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act make it so that foreign governments had to reveal American accounts abroad, though they made it so the US was also under no compunction, legal or otherwise, to share information on non-Americans opening up accounts in the US. In 2020 U.S. ranked second in the Financial Secrecy Index behind only the Cayman Islands.[7] In 2016 one estimate placed the total offshore wealth in the US at $800 billion.[8]

US topics related to corruption[]

Convictions of government officials[]

Scandals and crimes[]

  • List of federal political scandals in the United States
  • List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
  • List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes
  • Political scandals in the United States by state or territory
  • State and local political sex scandals in the United States
  • List of American state and local politicians convicted of crimes
  • Corruption in the US federal judiciary. See the section "In the USA" and subsection "Notable judges involved in misconduct allegations" in Judicial misconduct.

See also[]

  • Political corruption
  • Crime in the United States

References[]

  1. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2020". transparency.org. Corruption Perception Index. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  2. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2016". Transparency International. January 25, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  3. ^ "Americas: Weakening Democracy and Rise in Populism Hinder Anti-corruption Efforts". Transparency International. January 29, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  4. ^ Walt, Stephen M. "The US is a lot more corrupt than Americans realize, and the problem goes much deeper than Trump". Business Insider. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  5. ^ Michel, Casey (February 3, 2020). "How the US became the center of global kleptocracy". Vox. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  6. ^ Kirby, Jen (December 21, 2020). "The US has made its biggest anti-money-laundering changes in years". Vox. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  7. ^ "View 2020 results". fsi.taxjustice.net. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  8. ^ Scannell, Kara; Houlder, Vanessa (May 8, 2016). "US tax havens: The new Switzerland". www.ft.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.

Further reading[]

External links[]

. Alternative sight


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