Corruption, Politics and Development

In 1997, the World Bank announced a strategy to help its borrowers combat corruption, despite earlier claims that work of this kin violated the Bank's non-political mandate. Despite many attempts to reshape corruption as an economic issue rather than a political one, the non-political mandate has never been satisfactorily addressed. Heather Marquette argues that the Bank should focus in its strengths and avoid the more controversial components of its anti-corruption programme, which threaten its credibility.

Autorentext

HEATHER MARQUETTE is Lecturer in Governance in the International Development Department, University of Birmingham. She has worked as a consultant to donors on corruption issues and has published in Third World Quarterly; Crime Law & Social Change; and Journal of Development Studies. Previously, she taught in the Department of Politics, University of Durham.

Zusammenfassung
In 1997, the World Bank announced a strategy to combat corruption, despite earlier claims that its non-political mandate forbade this work. Despite many attempts to reshape corruption into a purely economic issue, it has never satisfactorily addressed this mandate. Instead, the Bank has become increasingly politicised as it moves from traditional public sector reform work to community empowerment and civil society. The Bank has sought to mainstream this work into all of its projects, resulting in a programme that is overly complex and threatens the Bank's overall capacity. However, there is much good work being done - in procurement, internal ethics, public sector reform and bringing international attention to corruption. This book argues that the Bank should focus on its strengths and avoid the more controversial and ineffective components of its anti-corruption programme, which threaten the credibility of the institution as a whole.

Inhalt

Introduction The Emergence of a Development Agency, 1944-1981 The Path to the World Bank's Anti-Corruption Programme, 1981-1997 The World Bank's Anti-Corruption Programme The Significance of Comparative Advantage in Donor Work on Corruption Conclusion