Corruption

I paid a bribe: How some citizens are fighting corruption from the bottom up

How can policy-makers most effectively tackle corruption? The question is hardly new and over the years it’s one that many have given plenty of thought to. Building up a consensus on what works and why it works has proven difficult, and this has perhaps contributed to the enthusiasm for a novel, and democratic, frontline in an ancient fight.

We know that increased transparency tends to make it harder for the corrupt to do their thing; we know that clear lines of accountability make it more difficult to either shirk responsibility or simply operate under the radar. We know that societies where people are trusted to “do the right thing” tend to show lower perceived levels of corruption. But when policy-makers go looking for specific lessons to draw, the toolbox can still be disappointingly bare.