Journal of International Development

J. Int. Dev. 22, 150–151 (2010)

BOOK REVIEW

Corruption andDevelopment: The Anti-Corruption Campaigns is a collection of papers delivered at aconference held in Manchester in 2005, the same year that the United Nations Anti-CorruptionConvention came into force. In the lead-up to the UN agreement, and subsequently, there were anumber of anti-corruption conventions signed around the world. As donor-countries, multi-lateralinstitutions, non-governmental organisations and international financial institutions began to sing themantra ‘corruption is bad for development,’ consequently anti-corruption programmes becameintegral elements of any long-term country development strategy.What ties the essays together in thisbook is an intent to awaken donors to realize that anti-corruption campaigns are not a good, in and ofthemselves, by examining their deficiencies. The experts call for the need to refine, retool andimprove future anti-corruption efforts with lessons learned from the past.

Corruption and Development is written in hopes that development practitioners will put theirrecommendations into practice and anyone in the development field—academics, students andspecialists—should be compelled to read and evangelise their message. Taken together, the papersoffer five characteristics of a successful anti-corruption campaign:

(1) O

Cop

wnership: The people of the country must shape the effort with the knowledge that they, notmerely the government, donor-countries or multi-lateral organisations, will benefit.

(2) F

ocus: Specific and modest programmes work better than broad-sweeping measures. (3) L eadership: The leadership must come from the national government. (4) C apacity: The state must have the ability to follow-through reflected in an effective technical and

judicial infrastructure for the detection and prosecution of corruption.

(5) C ontext: Consider the people, politics, economy, history and culture of the country in the design

and implementation.

Corruption and Development opens with references to the argument that spearheads the currentback-lash—that corruption is a necessary evil, a stage of development and in waging puritanical anti-corruption campaigns, the Western World is forgetful of the role that corruption played (or rather,plays) in its own development. In fact, this form of moralistic imperialism might even hinderdevelopment. The Editor, Sarah Bracking does not defend, but acknowledges the polemic. Clearly, allthe papers value the anti-corruption movement, but some echo the back-lashers in one respect—calling donors to recognise their complicity in perpetrating corruption in those instances when geo-strategic reasons dominate and they ignore rather than high-light a problem; when conditionality ofincreased marketisation is imposed without regard for its side-effects; and when their own privatesector become agents of corruption for the sake of profits and suffer no condemnation within thedonor countries or among the international financial institutions.

The authors, an inter-disciplinary mix of academics and experts drawn from political science,economics, anthropology, government and multi-lateral organisations, reject the standard definitionof corruption—‘the abuse of public office for private economic gain’—as too narrow. They stressthat corruption is not only a matter for governments, but is grounded in the society, politics,economics, history and culture of a country and a series of case studies proves their point.

FromMalawi we learn that while progress in accountability is evident, the corruption scandals areused as a tool in personal political campaigns. The over-politicisation of the anti-corruption effort hasdetracted from the design and implementation of a cross-party policy for transparency in government.Anti-corruption programmes can become pawns in a larger political game. Carlos Santiso, recountingthe Latin American experience observes the benefits of technical assistance to state oversightinstitutions. However, while injections of fiscal professionalism are worthwhile, well-trainedaccountants, working on new computers, in a recently inaugurated watch-dog agency cannot succeed

yright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Book Review 151

in a vacuum. Therefore, donors must take into account the surrounding reality of party systems,electoral laws, the legislature and politics in the design and provision of support.

The case of the Philippines and Nigeria teach us that the strategic integration of corruption in theeconomy, over decades of undemocratic government, can overpower single anti-corruptioninitiatives. Embedding efforts inside a long process of genuine democratisation throughout thesystem is key. While this may seem overwhelming Edna Estifania A. Co points to the Philippines, inits recovery from the Marcos dictatorship, as a model of gradual and persistent institutional overhaul.But even in democracies, an anti-corruption effort can flounder and be easily overpowered by politicsof personalities, networks and parties. The experience of Jamaica and Mozambique show that cronynetworks and an impregnable party system that crushes competition has left themmore powerful thanstate institutions. In these countries, an institutionalised-focussed anti-corruption initiative is set-upto fail, even before it has begun.

Ed Brown, Jonathan Cloke and Jose Luis Rocha observed that in Nicaragua in the 1990s, theaccelerated privatisation and liberalisation efforts imposed by the IFIs only increased corruption.Anti-corruption reforms were dealt with separately from the reality of the economy. They make anaggressive call for IFIs to recognise their own role in hindering or helping anti-corruption efforts andnot delude themselves into separating economics from politics. The same issues faced by Nicaraguain its transition to capitalised economy were magnified among the Post-Communist countries.Among them, seven appear on Transparency International’s list of the 30 most corrupt countries.Marketisation, combined with the clientelism nurtured by Communism, have proven to be fertilegrounds for corruption.

The unique form of feminism lately espoused by donors—that women are more enterprising, moredependable in repaying loans, and perhaps even more trustworthy is examined in Ghana. Does agender sensitive approach work? Namawu Alhassan Alolo contends that when faced withopportunities for corruption, women are no better. Gender studies should be introduced into anti-corruption analysis, but they are perhaps only one component in a broad strategy.

The conclusion is that anti-corruption efforts face a long-road ahead. Their success will lie inlocally owned efforts that hinge on a comprehensive democratisation of target countries. Moreover,donors should not only look to the countries, but to themselves to ensure that they are part of thesolution, not the problem. Finally, the experts all agree, context, context, context—a successfulcampaign must be ‘bespoke’—tailored to the situation, the people, the history, the economy, theculture and most importantly, the politics of the country.

TERRY TRACYIndependent Researcher

Cambridge, UK

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/jid.1531

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Int. Dev. 22, 150–151 (2010)

DOI: 10.1002/jid