22. (tie) Saint Lucia 25. (tie) Ireland Countries are ranked on
"perception" of corruption because statistical collection of
illegal activities "are deliberately hidden and only come to
light through scandals, investigations and prosecutions," the
Transparency Index web site says. "Capturing perceptions of
corruption of those in a position to offer assessments of public
sector corruption is the most reliable method of comparing
relative corruption levels across countries." Countries were
assessed on a sliding scale ranging from 0 for "highly corrupt"
to 100 for "very clean." "While no country scored a perfect
score, the majority of countries scored below 50, indicating a
serious corruption problem," said Huguette Labelle, the chair of
Transparency International, in a news release. "This translates
into human suffering with poor families being extorted for
bribes to see doctors or to get access to clean drinking water."
"Equally damaging is the failure of basic services such as
education or public infrastructu