Engaging Citizens Against Corruption in Asia: Approaches, Results, and Lessons

This paper provides readers with the basic idea of how demand for good governance (DFGG) strategies, in particular social accountability (SA) strategies, can be employed to help citizens demand greater responsiveness from authorities and thereby enhance citizens’ living conditions. Empowering Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to demand good governance through increased transparency, a higher degree of qualitative participation and the capacity to exert greater accountability from service providers, makes a difference in the effectiveness and impact of public service delivery. Fighting corruption at the grass-roots level thus becomes a two-fold priority: The empowerment of civil society is an end by itself in accountable and open societies. It allows citizens to make choices and determine the direction of community, state or even national development policy as a whole. Second, citizen empowerment geared toward demanding good governance using social accountability tools is effective in lowering corruption and holding service providers accountable. The impact of these initiatives guarantees citizens efficient and effective service delivery that improves their quality of life directly and instantaneously—preventing misery, economic distress and loss of life. The paper details four basic strategies how citizens around the world work together to express their demand for good governance and achieve greater responsiveness of local service providers through the “short route of accountability”. Each strategy is followed by a list of examples and describes the tools most commonly used when pursuing any one strategy. Most anti-corruption projects follow more than one strategy within a given intervention. Chapter nine follows the results chain, describing how each strategic element builds on the former until citizens have successfully experienced greater responsiveness of authorities and thus broaden their own expectations of what can rightfully be expected from public service providers. Chapter 12 lays out the overall political conditions and parameters necessary to make demand for good governance measures work. 56 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 57 58 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 59 60 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS THEMATIC SESSION: ANALYZING CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPING ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGIES Author: Dr. Gopakumar K. Thampi Abstract: Civil society-led anti corruption interventions have scaled up considerably over the last decade, leading to an unprecedented level of proliferation of toolkits and methodologies available for replication. More often than not, there is a tendency to blindly replicate successful models and approaches without paying attention to context and institutional factors. This paper responds to the growing need of practitioners to take a step back and consider or re-consider their approach toward diagnosing and implementing anti corruption programs. The paper however does not prescribe any one “perfect” solution. Rather, the author introduces an analytical framework consisting of five distinct steps to analyze, diagnose, map and assess ongoing or envisioned projects, encouraging practitioners to consider the overall environment and strategic parameters that underlie a specific instance of corruption. This approach will enable project managers to logically tailor their project towards achieving specific and the best possible impact. The paper bridges the divide between theory and practice by laying out what type of tools may best work on what level of intervention, suggesting to not just follow any one toolkit or framework of analysis, but thinking “politically” about how the anti-corruption agenda can be best strengthened and taken forward though soundly construed projects at the grass-root level. Civil society-led anti corruption interventions have scaled up considerably over the last decade, leading to an unprecedented level of proliferation of toolkits and methodologies available for replication. More often than not, there is a tendency to blindly replicate successful models and approaches without paying attention to context and institutional factors. This paper responds to the growing need of practitioners to take a step back and consider or re-consider their approach toward diagnosing and implementing anti corruption programs. The paper however does not prescribe any one “perfect” solution. Rather, the author introduces an analytical framework consisting of five distinct steps to analyze, diagnose, map and assess ongoing or envisioned projects, encouraging practitioners to consider the overall environment and strategic parameters that underlie a specific instance of corruption. This approach will enable project managers to logically tailor their project towards achieving specific and the best possible impact. The paper bridges the divide between theory and practice by laying out what type of tools may best work on what level of intervention, suggesting to not just follow any one toolkit or framework of analysis, but thinking “politically” about how the anti-corruption agenda can be best strengthened and taken forward though soundly construed projects at the grass-root level. ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 61 62 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 63 64 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 65 66 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 67 68 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 69 70 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 71 THEMATIC SESSION: ENGAGEMENT OF MEDIA IN ANTI-CORRUPTION PROJECTS Author: Mr. Sumir Lal Abstract: The fight against corruption needs to be fought on several fronts. Institutional reform—legislation and oversight—is one, but it will not be successful if it is not embedded in a broad change of culture. Corrupt practices are often embedded in institutional practices and every-day lives and are perceived as fixed and uncontestable. Citizens are not aware of their rights, are cynical about governments’ propensity to abuse power, fear repercussions, or are simply not aware that corruption is a social, economic, and political problem. The media—traditional mass media as well as new technologies—can play a vital role in unveiling corruption, framing corruption as public problem, suggesting solutions, and generally empower citizens to fight corruption. Media are watchdogs, agenda setters, and gatekeepers that can monitor the quality of governance, frame the discussion about corruption, and lend voice to a wide range of perspectives and arguments. By doing so, media coverage influences norms and cultures, which in turn can influence policy-making and legislative reform. Examples from India and the Philippines, among other places, show that media effects the range from public awareness of corruption to massive protests against the abuse of power. Those in the international community whose work is dedicated to the fight against corruption need to be aware of the power of the media to aid this fight and need to know how to utilize its potential. This paper provides an overview over the basic principles of media effects and illustrates these with a few case studies before presenting specific techniques of involving the media in the fight against grand corruption and every-day corruption. The fight against corruption needs to be fought on several fronts. Institutional reform—legislation and oversight—is one, but it will not be successful if it is not embedded in a broad change of culture. Corrupt practices are often embedded in institutional practices and every-day lives and are perceived as fixed and uncontestable. Citizens are not aware of their rights, are cynical about governments’ propensity to abuse power, fear repercussions, or are simply not aware that corruption is a social, economic, and political problem. The media—traditional mass media as well as new technologies—can play a vital role in unveiling corruption, framing corruption as public problem, suggesting solutions, and generally empower citizens to fight corruption. Media are watchdogs, agenda setters, and gatekeepers that can monitor the quality of governance, frame the discussion about corruption, and lend voice to a wide range of perspectives and arguments. By doing so, media coverage influences norms and cultures, which in turn can influence policy-making and legislative reform. Examples from India and the Philippines, among other places, show that media effects the range from public awareness of corruption to massive protests against the abuse of power. Those in the international community whose work is dedicated to the fight against corruption need to be aware of the power of the media to aid this fight and need to know how to utilize its potential. This paper provides an overview over the basic principles of media effects and illustrates these with a few case studies before presenting specific techniques of involving the media in the fight against grand corruption and every-day corruption. 72 ENGAGING CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ASIA: APPROACHES, RESULTS, AND LESSONS ExPERT PRESENTATIONS 73 Legislative change and institutional oversight are important cornerstones in the fight against corruption. However, no law will change society if it does not become part of a country’s culture, if it does not have an effect on people’s everyday lives. Corruption is not a legal issue alone. Corruption is also an issue of society, of culture. In order to fight corruption, we need to change the culture that enables corruption. Corrupt practices are of