First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations

Most familiar anti-corruption strategies require sound state, social, and political institutions, and a minimal level of trust, both in government and among citizens. The absence of all or most of those assets is in part what defines fragility. Another key attribute is an 'expectations trap...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Johnston, Michael
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2012
Subjects:	World Development Report 2011
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9046

id	okr-10986-9046
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-90462021-04-23T14:02:44Z First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations Johnston, Michael World Development Report 2011 Most familiar anti-corruption strategies require sound state, social, and political institutions, and a minimal level of trust, both in government and among citizens. The absence of all or most of those assets is in part what defines fragility. Another key attribute is an 'expectations trap', in which citizens expect very little of government and government demands very little of citizens, as long as they stay out of the way; in those situations fragility can become a persistent situation. Using the Stresses-Capabilities-Expectations framework, this paper analyzes the possibilities and risks of reform in fragile situations. Reformers should be aware of contrasts among kinds of corruption problems, and of the potential benefits of 'halfway' reform outcomes. The first priority ('Do no harm') means avoiding premature or poorly-thought-out reforms that can do more harm than good--notably, steps that overwhelm a society's capacity to absorb aid and put it to effective use, and that risk pushing fragile situations and societies into particular kinds of corruption that are severely disruptive. The second imperative ('Build trust') is essential if complex collective-action problems are to be minimized, and if reform is to draw broad-based support. A first step toward greater trust is to provide basic services--particularly those in which broad segments of society share a stake--in credible and demonstrable ways. Then, gradual but balanced enhancements to participation (a variety of stress) and institutions can build opposition to corruption, in a climate of growing trust. Reform in the end involves rebalancing stresses and capabilities so that expectations can change in positive ways. The best ways to demonstrate and assess anti-corruption progress is to examine kinds of behavior, in civil society as well as in politics and the economy, that reflect improving climates of expectations and trust. 2012-06-26T15:35:11Z 2012-06-26T15:35:11Z 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9046 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Africa Europe and Central Asia East Asia and Pacific
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	World Development Report 2011
spellingShingle	World Development Report 2011 Johnston, Michael First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations
geographic_facet	Africa Europe and Central Asia East Asia and Pacific
description	Most familiar anti-corruption strategies require sound state, social, and political institutions, and a minimal level of trust, both in government and among citizens. The absence of all or most of those assets is in part what defines fragility. Another key attribute is an 'expectations trap', in which citizens expect very little of government and government demands very little of citizens, as long as they stay out of the way; in those situations fragility can become a persistent situation. Using the Stresses-Capabilities-Expectations framework, this paper analyzes the possibilities and risks of reform in fragile situations. Reformers should be aware of contrasts among kinds of corruption problems, and of the potential benefits of 'halfway' reform outcomes. The first priority ('Do no harm') means avoiding premature or poorly-thought-out reforms that can do more harm than good--notably, steps that overwhelm a society's capacity to absorb aid and put it to effective use, and that risk pushing fragile situations and societies into particular kinds of corruption that are severely disruptive. The second imperative ('Build trust') is essential if complex collective-action problems are to be minimized, and if reform is to draw broad-based support. A first step toward greater trust is to provide basic services--particularly those in which broad segments of society share a stake--in credible and demonstrable ways. Then, gradual but balanced enhancements to participation (a variety of stress) and institutions can build opposition to corruption, in a climate of growing trust. Reform in the end involves rebalancing stresses and capabilities so that expectations can change in positive ways. The best ways to demonstrate and assess anti-corruption progress is to examine kinds of behavior, in civil society as well as in politics and the economy, that reflect improving climates of expectations and trust.
author	Johnston, Michael
author_facet	Johnston, Michael
author_sort	Johnston, Michael
title	First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations
title_short	First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations
title_full	First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations
title_fullStr	First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations
title_full_unstemmed	First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations
title_sort	first do no harm - then, build trust : anti-corruption strategies in fragile situations
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9046
_version_	1764408257817870336

First Do No Harm - Then, Build Trust : Anti-Corruption Strategies in Fragile Situations

Similar Items