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ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:32:17 | version 1.43.00
IN FOCUS 26 akzente 2/15 Clear insights: sometimes, a rough impression is enough. 34%of Americans think their education system is cor- rupt or even very corrupt. Source: Global Corrup- tion Report: Education, published by Transparency International. countries. Transparency, on the other hand, has certainly increased all over the world in recent years. In many coun- tries, civil society structures have become well-established, even in countries with a question mark over their demo- cratic decision-making processes. The internet, satellite TV and global interconnectedness make it more difficult for authoritarian leaders to suppress information about corruption or bad governance. In the West, too, there are many areas where trans- parency is urgently needed. One lesson learned from the financial crisis – which began with the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank in the US in 2008, with devastating effects that reverberated around the world – is that the major banks in Europe and North America lacked transparency. In developing and emerging countries, too, economic transparency is always a work in progress: supply chains, product components and corpo rate decision-making are often obscure. Admittedly, some things initially work better if they are hidden from sight, but sooner or later, whatever has been concealed will come to light. However, there are limits to transparency. Too much of it can generate a flood of information that obscures the message. It is also an expensive undertaking. Business representatives often complain about the heavy financial and administrative costs resulting from companies’ nu- merous reporting obligations. And simply demanding more transparency as a reflex response whenever abuses occur can overwhelm the individuals and organisations responsible for creating this transparency, as well as those whom this flood of information is intended to en- lighten. However, societies’ value systems and attitudes towards transparency change over time, resulting in greater clarity on where transparency should begin – and where it should end, bearing in mind its potentially harmful consequences. The boundary is fluid and it changes over time. Ultimately, transparency is a judge- ment call. www.giz.de/good-governance www.giz.de/anti-corruption www.giz.de/extractives