Survey Says … Hawaii Is Corrupt!
Reporters across the country were asked about their perceptions of corruption in government. The Aloha State did not fare well.
Here鈥檚 something you probably don鈥檛 want to hear: Hawaii is the only state in which both legislative and executive branches are perceived to be very corrupt.
That line comes directly from newly released results from a 鈥鈥 of more than 250 reporters from across the country, many of whom cover state government and politics.
(Full disclosure: I was one of the reporters who participated in the survey.)
The ongoing study, which was conducted through the Harvard Law School鈥檚 , measures two types of corruption 鈥斅爈egal and illegal.
These are the definitions:
Illegal corruption: The private gains in the form of cash or gifts by a government official in exchange for providing specific benefits to private individuals or groups.
Legal corruption: The political gains in the form of campaign contributions or endorsements by a government official in exchange for providing specific benefits to private individuals or groups, be it by explicit or implicit understanding.
Hawaii did not rank well, according to the latest findings, which measured reporters鈥 perceptions of corruption in 2013.
The survey found that reporters believed that both types of corruption 鈥 legal and illegal 鈥 were 鈥渧ery common鈥 in the executive and legislative branches.
The judicial branch, on the other hand, fared well with the perceived level of corruption as being 鈥渟lightly common.鈥
A previous survey of reporters wasn鈥檛 as dire, as both the perception of legal and illegal corruption ranged from “not common at all” to “moderately common.”聽
You can see those results .
