The UK, the commonwealth and corruption: Assessing the potential for joined-up development assistance

Commonwealth and Comparative Politics

Volumn 43, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 102-128

  Doig, Alan ^a   Marquette, Heather ^b  

^a University of Teesside   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CORRUPTION; DEVELOPMENT AID;

EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 20644435562     PISSN: 14662043     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14662040500054537     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Botswana; Bangladesh (part complete); Canada; Ghana; Trinidad and Tobago. The other countries were: Argentina; Brazil; Bulgaria; Colombia; Fiji; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Lithuania; Mexico; Mongolia; Nepal; Netherlands; Senegal; Republic of Korea.
2. Australia; Bangladesh (full version); Caribbean composite [Antigua-Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines]; India; Jamaica; Kenya; Malawi; New Zealand; Nigeria; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; South Africa; Sri Lanka; The Gambia; Uganda; United Kingdom; Zambia; Zimbabwe.
3. For the first set of studies, the Dutch government funded TI to assess the National Integrity System - a holistic approach to addressing corruption - in practice. TI worked with the Centre for Fraud Management Studies, Liverpool Business School, (CFMS) to deliver the project, based on a report to reflect a set of Terms of Reference and a Questionnaire, and undertaken under agreed protocols. The work involved two phases: (i) the preparation of reports from 18 countries, chosen to give a mix of regions and developmental paths; and (ii) the preparation of an overview report. This first set of studies were published at the Global Forum II conference, The Hague in 2001, and are currently available on the TI website. For the second set of studies, DfID funded TI for a study of Commonwealth countries in 2002. This was undertaken by the Centre's successor, the Fraud Management Studies Unit, Teesside Business School. The terms of reference were slightly expanded to capture more data but the process has remained the same. The second set of country studies are being published on the TI website. For both sets the preference was for the local TI chapter to undertake the research; where there was no chapter a university or equivalent research institute was approached (on occasion, the local chapter also asked such an institution to undertake the work on its behalf). The reports were considered against the Terms of Reference and other material before editing for publication. This article draws in part on both sets of country studies. The authors have also undertaken a series of open structure interviews in the various agencies based in the UK that are discussed in the article. The presentation of the information, and the interpretation of that information, is solely the responsibility of the authors who would like to thank those interviewed for their time and material as well as for comments on drafts, albeit not all of them may agree with our findings.
4. DfID, Eliminating World Poverty (London: TSO, 1997), 30.
5. DfID, Anti-Corruption Strategy Progress Report No 3; July 2001-July 2002 (London: DfID internal document 2002).
6. Their first meeting was held at the Utstein Abbey in western Norway on 25-26 July 1999, hence the name.
7. Utstein Joint Statement on anti-corruption: The International Development Ministers.' statement following the 2000 Maastricht conference. Accessible on: www. u4.no.
8. NORAD, Annual Report 2001 (Olso: NORAD, 2001), 18.
9. World Bank, Reforming Public Institutions & Strengthening Governance' (Washington: World Bank, 2000), 19.
10. Development Assistance Committee (DAC), Synthesis of Lessons Learned of Donor Practices in Fighting Corruption (Paris: OECD, 2003), 18.
11. DAC, Synthesis of Lessons Learned, 7-8.
12. USAID; Handbook for Fighting Corruption (Washington: Centre for Democracy and Governance, 1999), 1.
13. G. Crawford, 'Evaluating European Union Promotion of Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance: Towards a Participatory Approach', Journal of International Development, 14/6 (2002), 922.
14. Crawford, 'Evaluating European Union Promotion', 922.
15. DAC, Synthesis of Lessons Learned, 17.
16. P. Langseth, R. Stapenhurst and J. Pope, The Role of A National Integrity System in Fighting Corruption (Washington: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank, 1997), 22, 23.
17. J. Pope, The TI Source Book (Berlin: Transparency International, 1997), 5-6.
18. Transparency International, Canada Country Study (Berlin: Transparency International, 2001), 17. Accessed at www.transparency.org. This, and all subsequent page references to the individual country studies, relate to the PDF files on the website.
19. DAC, Synthesis of Lessons Learned, 51.
20. C. Lancaster, Aid to Africa (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 59.
21. S. Devarajan, D. Dollar and T. Holmgren (eds.), Aid and Reform in Africa: Lessons from Ten Case Studies (Washington: The World Bank, 2001), 6.
22. DAC, Synthesis of Lessons Learned, 51.
23. Transparency International, Uganda Country Study (Berlin: Transparency International, 2003), 95-6.
24. Transparency International, Zambia Country Study (Berlin: Transparency International, 2003), 71.
25. Transparency International, Bangladesh Country Study (Berlin: Transparency International, 2003), 49.
26. Transparency International, Jamaica Country Study (Berlin: Transparency International, 2003), 48.
27. The Audit Inspectorate, part of the Audit Commission, audits the bulk of local government and the National Health Service.
28. Pers. comm. with NAO member of staff.
29. Eurocustoms is a not-for-profit consortium of the EU Customs Administrations, set up by the EU Member States as a response to the growing need for technical assistance in Eastern Europe. The Member States - and those of the European Free Trade Association - provide customs staff on secondment to support its work as project managers or technical experts. Eurocustoms is based in Paris, in offices provided by French Customs and, for legal and accounting reasons, is incorporated as a not-for-profit body under French law, supervised by a Board chaired by the Director-General of French Customs. EU Member States set Eurocustoms' policy at the annual meeting of Directors-General.
30. Pers. comm. with HMC&E staff member.
31. Commonwealth Secretariat, Strategic Plan, 2004/5-2007/8 (London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2004), 3.
32. Ibid., 3, 5.
33. Commonwealth Secretariat website: www.thecommonwealth.org/what we do.
34. Pers. comm. with Commonwealth Secretariat staff member.
35. Commonwealth Expert Group on Good Governance and the Elimination of Corruption, Fighting Corruption: Promoting Good Governance (London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2000).
36. For proposals on the Commonwealth as a group to promote anti-corruption work, including reform plans and the establishment of a Commonwealth Good Governance Commission see K. Ford and S. Katwala, Reinventing the Commonwealth (London: The Foreign Policy Centre, 1999).
37. The consequential Declaration was made at the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Durban in 1999.
38. Pers. comm. with Group member.
39. Report of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Development and Democracy (London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2003), 13, 24, 26; 52.
40. C. Short, Combating Corruption, Promoting Development (Speech given at the Royal Institute of International Affairs Conference on Corruption as a Threat to World Trade and Investment, London, 19 March 1999).
41. In 2003, the DfID Governance Department was disbanded with responsibility for anti-corruption work being incorporated into the work of the various country or regional divisions, although some central responsibility for anti-corruption work within DfID continues to rest in Policy Division.
42. Pers. comm. with DfID staff member.
43. I b i d.
44. See P. Mason, 'Improving Co-operation between Development Agencies, Governments and Civil Society', ADB/OECD Conference on Combatting Corruption in the Asia-Pacific Region (Seoul, 2000).
45. DfID, DfID Anti-Corruption Strategy: Summary of Activities (London: DfID Governance Department, mimeo, 2001).
46. Pers. comm. with DfID staff member.
47. Utstein, Joint Statement on Anti-Corruption (undated). Accessed www.U4.no.
48. J. Helland, Utstein Partners' Anti-corruption Policies (Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2002), 13.
49. H. Mathisen, Fighting the Utstein Way - Status and Challenges (Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2003), 15, 16, 17.
50. DAC, Synthesis of Lessons Learned, 51.