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This is the World Bank's blog on governance and anti-corruption. It aims at providing a space for debate and knowledge sharing on this critical field of development. | Learn more...

August 2008

Jamaican gold medals per million inhabitants in Beijing

2.23
The number of gold medals for Jamaica per million inhabitants that they won at the Beijing Olympics, compared with 0.12 gold medals (per million) for the US, and 0.04 for China.
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Who won the Beijing Olympic Medal Race?

Submitted by Kaufmann on Wed, 2008-08-27 13:41

 
There is such an obsession with rankings.  And being at the top in medal standings seems so important to so many.   So much so that larger issues got overlooked during the Olympics. 

And in spite of such obsession, nobody seems to get the medal ranking race straight.  Who really won?  Hard to tell, for unsuspecting reasons.  Lets see.

For starters, the media in the US tends to show us tables which rank countries according to the total medal count.  That puts the US at the top, having accumulated 110 gold, silver and bronze medals, against 100 medals for China.

 Officially, the IOC tries not to officially rank countries, but their tables list countries ranked by their number of gold medals (see Sydney and Athens’ results).  Following this criterion, as it is common in the much of the rest of the world, China comes out clearly on top, with a total of 51 gold medals, against only 36 for the US.

The Stat

50%
Share of Beijing Olympics medals received by developing countries. Athletes from 63 emerging and developing nations collected 477 medals.

Building Good Governance from Local Traditions: Botswana’s Former President on Diamonds and the Fight against Corruption

Submitted by Boris on Tue, 2008-08-26 10:24

It’s an impressive, almost blinding sight: a big pile of sparkling diamonds, hundreds of precious stones piled up in front of the President as if they were pebbles. The head of state grabs a handful. The glitter reflects in his eyes as he looks at them, millions of dollars worth. 

Fighting Bribery in Public Procurement in Asia and the Pacific

Submitted by Alfredo on Thu, 2008-08-21 22:49

 

 Corruption in public procurement is a very sensitive issue, not only because it squanders scarce and valuable resources, but also because when bribing is systematic it shatters the confidence that people have in their governments.

The ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia Pacific recently published “Fighting Bribery in Public Procurement in Asia and the Pacific,” a seminar compilation about the experiences by experts.  Some options discussed for that region:
 

Olympics first athlete disqualified due to drug use

40
years ago the Olympics were held in Mexico, which witnessed for the first time an athlete disqualified due to drug use...a Swede pentathlonist, who tested positive for excessive alcohol...

Olympics marching order

80
years ago, when the Olympics were held in Amsterdam: Greece marched first and Holland last during the opening ceremony. Ever since then: Greece always marches first; the host country last.

Countries with governance deterioration and no improvements

45
The number of countries around the world that in recent times have experienced a highly significant (90% confidence) improvement in at least one of the six dimensions of the Worlwide Governance Indicators, and have had no deteriorations in any other.

Eyes Wide Open? Olympics, Netizens and Web Governance

Submitted by Kaufmann on Fri, 2008-08-15 08:46
A week has elapsed since the opening of the Olympics. China (along a few other countries), is showing that they are also a world athletic power to reckon with. But I was also making the point in my previous blog entries that the Olympics (or the August lull…) should not give license to governance going on leave for a while… So I brought up Russia vs. Georgia, Pakistan vs. Taleban at the Afghan border, Zimbabwe leader vs. his people, and likewise in Darfur. And in the last blog entry here I only very briefly mentioned China’s internet censorship issues during the Games.
 
The complex internet censorship by the authorities in China, dubbed by many as the “Great Firewall”, seems to be more aptly be characterized as “Net Nanny”, according to blogging and cites by Rebecca MacKinnon, a founder of Global Voices and expert on internet and blogging censorship issues (also  here).                                                                                                                                

Beijing Olympics and Governance: Eyes partially open?

Submitted by Kaufmann on Wed, 2008-08-13 17:20
The Russian invasion of Georgia, the leadership and human rights crises in Zimbabwe and Darfur, the coup in Mauritania, and even corruption in sports were some of the disparate problems touched in my last blog entry -- challenges which did not get any better over the past few days while medals continue to accumulate in Beijing. 
 
And I was not even trying to be exhaustive, so I did not mention other troubled spots right now, such as the hundreds killed in the ongoing and growing Pakistan-Taliban conflict in the Afghan border. Given how dire these current conflicts are, I was making a case for keeping our eyes wide open around the world, rejecting the notion that good governance can take a holiday at the time of the Olympics.