Civil Society

Editors' Picks (18): Implementing Financial Disclosure in Local Government: Content, Scope and Standardisation According to Transparency International, "disclosure is to politics what financial statements are to business". How effective is the financial disclosure regime in South Africa, and what can be done to strengthen this potentially powerful tool? This policy brief is produced by the Governance and Corruption Division of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). It is an output of a project which aims to manage and detect conflicts of interest in public life, thereby promoting transparency and accountability in South Africa. Read More...
Posted by Shireen at Apr 16, 2012 12:00 AM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Local Government, Political Corruption, Public Financial Management, Africa, Access to Information, Empirical Data Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, Single Country Analysis, Private Sector (General)

Comments (0); Corruption in Developing Countries The past 10-15 years have seen an increase in anticorruption initiatives that are based on the belief that corruption may be reduced if proper incentives are implemented and focused towards politicians, bureaucrats, and civil society. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the UN convention against corruption, strengthening World Bank Group engagement on governance and anti-corruption, and increased enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In this article, Olken and Pande compare the findings of different studies in order to evaluate the validity of this belief. This includes a comparison of corruption measurement tools, efficiency costs, and ideas to curb corruption. Read More...
Posted by Andrew P Guth at Apr 10, 2012 12:00 AM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Political Corruption, Transition Countries, Global, Access to Information, Anti-Corruption Institutions, Audit, Law Enforcement, Self-regulation, Comparative Analysis

Comments (0); The Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Policy. What Has Worked, What Hasn’t, and What We Don’t Know The conclusions of this study constitute an important contribution to a much needed discussion on the elements of a successful anti-corruption policy. Crucially, the study shows that in order to be effective, successful anti-corruption monitoring programmes have to meet two important requirements: firstly, they must be implemented by a party who seeks to reduce corruption, and secondly, they must be combined with a financial or non-financial incentive programme. In addition, the above study provides a set of concrete recommendations for improving the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies that can be applied by both international and domestic policy makers. Read More...
Posted by Patrycja Szarek-Mason at Mar 01, 2012 12:00 AM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Local Government, Media, Procurement, Global, Anti-Corruption Institutions, Anti-Corruption Laws, Qualitative Analysis, Comparative Analysis

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Datasets (6): Global Right to Information Rating The Right to Information (RTI) rating, which covers 89 countries around the world, was developed by Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy. The central idea behind the RTI Rating is to provide RTI advocates, reformers, legislators and others with a reliable tool for assessing the overall strength of the legal framework in their country for RTI. The Rating also indicates the strengths and weaknesses of the legal framework in seven different categories, namely: Right of Access, Scope, Requesting Procedures, Exceptions and Refusals, Appeals, Sanctions and Protections, and Promotional Measures. There are a total of 61 Indicators, each with a range of possible scores which in most cases is 0-2, for a possible total of 150 points. The Indicators are drawn from a wide range of international standards on the right to information, as well as comparative study of numerous right to information laws from around the world. A standardised scoring tool, based on the Indicators, was developed to ensure that the points under each Indicator were allocated consistently across different countries. The scoring tool was then applied to each of the 89 countries with right to information laws around the world by researchers at CLD and AIE. The analysis shows vast room for improvement: two thirds of countries (64%) scored in the middle range, between 60 and 100 points out of 150. Typical weaknesses were the limited scope, over-broad exceptions regimes, shortcomings in oversight and appeals mechanisms, and lack of legal requirements to promote awareness of the public's right of access to information. Please see link for more details. Read More...
Posted by Farzana Nawaz at Jan 10, 2012 03:55 PM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Global, Access to Information, Anti-Corruption Laws, Empirical Data Analysis, Qualitative Analysis

Comments (0); 2011 Aid Transparency Index The 2011 pilot Aid Transparency Index collects for the first time primary data on aid transparency levels, with help from civil society organisations (CSOs) in 34 countries. The Index assesses the availability of specific information items at organisational, country and activity level for 58 donor organisations, including bilateral and multilateral donors, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and private foundations. It then ranks these donors by assigning scores for whether specific aid information was published combined with an organisational level assessment of whether the donor is participating in the International Aid Transparency Initiative and whether they have a Freedom of Information law (or equivalent disclosure policy). Read More...
Posted by Farzana Nawaz at Nov 15, 2011 02:25 PM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Developement Assistance, Global, Access to Information, Empirical Data Analysis, Comparative Analysis

Comments (0); 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance the Ibrahim Index is the most comprehensive collection of quantitative data that provides an annual assessment of governance performance in every African country. It compiles 86 indicators grouped into 14 sub-categories and four overarching categories to measure the effective delivery of public goods and services to African citizens. Topics covered by the index include: Rule of law, accountability, personal safety, participation, gender, human rights, public management, infrastructure, education and health. Read More...
Posted by Farzana Nawaz at Nov 08, 2011 03:42 PM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Elections, Environment, Gender, Human Rights, Judiciary, Organised Crime, Political Corruption, Public Financial Management, Security, Service Delivery, Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Anti-Corruption Institutions, Anti-Corruption Laws, Empirical Data Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, Private Sector (General), Education, Health, Construction

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Courses (2): Fighting Corruption in Developing Countries: What can donors do? (Sciences Po) Developed by Bathylle Missika at Sciences Po, this course provides an overview of the fight against corruption in developing countries, mainly from the perspective of bilateral and multilateral donors’ efforts. The discussions are framed within the broader context of governance efforts in developing countries. The course looks into the many aspects of corruption (administrative vs. political corruption), the actors involved (UN, OECD, Transparency International, etc.), their strategies and tools to address this issue through Official Development Assistance (ODA). It also looks at the politics of the anti-corruption “business”. Read More...
Posted by Farzana Nawaz at Jan 25, 2011 03:50 PM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Developement Assistance, Political Corruption, Poverty, Anti-Corruption Institutions, Anti-Corruption Laws, Asset Recovery, Conventions, Empirical Data Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, Comparative Analysis

Comments (0); Crime, Corruption and Democracy (Georgetown University) This course explores the dynamics of crime and corruption and their relationships with the creation and maintenance of democracy. The focus is less on law enforcement and justice administration than on assessing the significance of crime and corruption with respect to how both new and established democracies operate. It considers political institutions and processes as well as civic culture and civil society as determinants of criminal-political dynamics. Students write a mid-term and take-home final exam and a term paper. Read More...
Posted by Farzana Nawaz at Oct 03, 2010 06:20 PM | Permalink
Categories: Civil Society, Organised Crime, Political Corruption, Education

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