This paper describes a new approach to assist politicians, leaders and managers develop better strategies to reduce corruption. The Sector Focus & Reformulation Approach, or SFRA, is applicable in both developed and developing country environments. The situation that SFRA responds to is this: I am responsible for delivering policies/services/products. My team and I know the issues, the politics and the context, but we know little about reducing the damaging impact of corruption on our operations. Help us to understand how we should analyse the problem, what reform approaches to consider, and how we then formulate a good strategy.

In a recent paper on rethinking corruption, Heywood (2017, 47) concluded that, without greater analytic sophistication and depth, ‘it will remain
difficult to develop interventions that have an impact on the lived reality of specific instances of actual corrupt practices, as opposed to generic observations about which places are more corrupt than others.’ In this paper we move from rethinking corruption to ‘rethinking corruption reform’. We start by challenging the current infantilisation of the word ‘strategy’ through an analysis of how good strategy is defined, taught and formulated in the domains of the military, business and politics. This brings us to new conclusions about how those seeking to reduce corruption can conceive and execute better, more effective reform strategies.

Pyman, M. Tackling defence corruption with a ‘whole sector’ approach; a history of TI’s efforts; Working paper

Journal of Curbing Corruption 2018

Leung Cheuk Ki. Loud thunder with tiny raindrops? A literature review of China’s anticorruption measures

This literature review, supplemented by interviews with Chinese scholars, follows the evolution of thinking in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) about corruption, from the toleration of corruption among the outstanding national leaders at the time of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China to understanding corruption as a force de-legitimising the CCP. The main reform measures are described, together with current criticism of them.

Dunne, W. The effectiveness of police ‘internal affairs departments’ in limiting corruption in police services – a literature review

This review presents an analysis of English-language literature on the available knowledge about models of corruption investigation within the policing sector, particularly the role and effectiveness of Internal Affairs Units (IAUs) and Professional Standards Units (PSUs). It examines literature on both the organisation models and the experience from police services in the USA, UK, Australia, Slovenia, Israel and Zimbabwe.

Bennett, H and Pyman, M. Corruption in Iran. Experience, perception, and reform efforts – A literature review

This paper reviews Farsi academic and media sources on corruption and anti-corruption policies in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It identifies several trends in the literature which suggest that corruption is generally seen as an issue of concern for governance in Iran, most notably in the security forces and judiciary. Scholars observe that several Iranian administrations have passed legislation aimed at reducing corruption, but some are critical about its effectiveness. The report concludes that a culture of fear around criticising senior government figures and officials has led to a lack of detailed research into the nature of corruption in Iran.

Pyman, M, Eastwood S, Hungerford J and Elliott J.  Analysing the anti-corruption approaches of the 26 top-ranked countries: an opportunity for a new generation of strategies

In this analysis, we extended our initial work (see Ref below) to cover the anti-corruption approaches of countries ranked at the top of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016. The 26 countries we have reviewed, in rank order, are: Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, UK, Australia, Iceland, Belgium, Hong Kong, Austria, USA, Ireland, Japan, Uruguay, Estonia, France, Bahamas, Chile and United Arab Emirates. What we found was, at first sight, unexpected. Only three of the 26 countries have published national anti-corruption strategies; Estonia in 2013, Finland in March 2017 and the UK in December 2017. We found that the more recent Finnish and UK strategies have more of a focus on international anti-corruption efforts, reflecting how much international anti- corruption has advanced in the last five years. The UK strategy was notably comprehensive, being more specific on what the strategy was designed to achieve – namely to reduce corruption risks to national security, to raise trust in UK institutions, and to help economic prosperity. It also highlighted anti-corruption initiatives in high-risk sectors, notably borders, prisons, police and defence. In relation to the other 23 countries, we could find no demonstrable reason for the lack of formal strategies. (Report published by the Institute of Statecraft and Norton Rose Fulbright)

Pyman, M, Eastwood S, Hungerford J, and Elliott J.  Research comparing 41 national anti-corruption strategies. Insights and guidance for leaders