But cultural differences between countries undermine the legitimacy of such rankings – which are, after all, based on surveys of the public. What Obama was doing was a common enough practice in the United States (though one might expect better from an orator of his ability); it was not so in India, where such a technique is, indeed, regarded as reprehensible.
非政府组织“透明国际”会对各国的腐败程度进行排名，世界银行偶尔也会这样做，而媒体也会不断引用这些数据来说明某些国家的腐败程度。但各国之间的文化差异影响了这些排名的合理性——毕竟这些排名都是依据对公众的调查。奥巴马的行为在美国司空见惯（倘若他真的拥有演说才能的话，这会令人感觉更好）；但这种做法在印度可行不通，因为使用这类技术是会遭人白眼的。