Transparency International first published its CPI in 1995 as part of its diagnostic and monitoring work. This powerful and often controversial tool continues to attract the world media's attention in order to raise the standard of the global debate on corruption and put the issue on the front pages of newspapers in countries where reform is needed.
Bribery is a two-way street.
We can blame those who take bribes, but we must not forget that there are also those, equally involved, who pay bribes. Tools which shed light on all factes of corruption will go a long a way in helping us devise solutions to it. The impact of the CPI now reaches far beyond the awareness-raising goal it had hoped to achieve at its inception. In many countries of the South, the CPI has served the constructive purpose of stimulating public debate on corruption, acting as a catalyst for change and meaningful reforms. Many of the world's poorest nations are perceived as being among the world's most corrupt and the CPI has been instrumental in drawing attention to this link.