part two corruption assessments photos by adam rogers/uncdf

Part TwoCorruption Assessments

Photos by Adam Rogers/UNCDF

Module 10 Systemic corruption diagnostics


Take a poll:

•Which of the countries represented have anti-corruption strategies or national policies?

• In any cases, were these strategies informed by a systemic analysis of corruption?

Activity 1 Pros and cons of systemic analysis


When is a (national) systemic analysis of corruption appropriate?

• 7 minutes



Systemic corruption diagnostics: approaches that comprehensively analyze corruption risks, and AC capacities across the governance systems of a country.

• UNCAC Article 5 “coordinated AC policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity, transparency and accountability”

implies a need for more systemic corruption assessments

to help determine strategic priorities?



When is it appropriate?

• helps with strategic priority setting - a key factor in successful anti-corruption strategies

• stand alone AC interventions that don’t take into account corruption dynamics are unsustainable, and damaging

• but in some countries, where corruption is known to be concentrated in a sector, it can have a narrower focus, or may not even be necessary

•incremental approaches may be better

• having a strategy doesn’t mean doing everything at once!

Activity 2 Systemic corruption diagnostics


What type of information does this kind of research reveal?

How might you obtain information about administrative corruption in a country? About state capture?

• 15 minutes

Mini-lecture: Political economy studies


Whereas other assessment approaches look at performance political economy approaches ask why performance is good or bad. Recommendations can come out of this.

Political economy analysis “Is concerned with the interaction of political and economic processes in society: the distribution of power and wealth between different groups and individuals; and the processes that create, sustain and transform these relationships over time.” (Le Billion, 2000)

Why has direct support of institutions failed to generate the expected results?



Looks at: • political •economic •cultural dimensions of policymaking

Goes beyond performance assessment provides in-depth analysis of factors explaining the success and failure of AC reforms

Example: DfID Drivers of Change, SIDA’s Power Analysis



The scope varies:• e.g. World Bank fieldwork• Others desk studies and local consultants

Normally it involves• Mapping of stakeholders: their influence on policy processes and support or opposition to reform•Analysis of the broad political context: history of state formation, sources of revenue, social & economic structures, local formal and informal institutions•Risk assessment: impact of reforms on various groups of society

Mini-lecture: Surveys


National surveys: important part of the toolbox for diagnosing pervasiveness, degree, impact of corruption and identifying priorities for reform.

• baseline + repeating over time show progress• implementation by local NGOs give voice• publishing results generate public awareness and debate

Mini-lecture: Surveys


1. Public extent of petty corruption•encounters with bribery demand situations•Reveals: incidence, prevalence, frequency, cost, size, severity of non payment of bribes• TI’s Kenya Bribery Survey, DIAL governance module

2. Private sector impact of corruption, extent to which firms pay to influence and shape laws

• how business environment affects them• knowledge of “unofficial payments”•E.g. Business Environment and Enterprise Survey (BEEPS) produces an index of state capture



3. Public officials state capture and administrative corruption

• bribery demand situations witnessed

• perception of corruption in sectors, and upper and lower ranks of government

• opinion on most common forms of corruption, motivations, and solutions for managing

Some approaches, e.g. WB Governance and AC (GAC) Diagnostics methodology, combine all 3 types

Activity 2 Systemic corruption diagnostics


To what extent can this type of research contribute to a national debate about corruption in your country?

Has political economy analysis contributed to the understanding of corruption in your country or within a specific sector/institution? If not, could it be useful?

part two corruption assessments photos by adam rogers/uncdf

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