Many anti-corruption interventions treat corruption as a technical problem instead of a political and social problem. They focus on building capacity and raising awareness instead of addressing how corruption is socially, politically, and economically embedded in certain contexts. This reflections piece, based on research carried out by the International Republican Institute’s Evaluation and Research team, seeks to address this gap, with a specific focus on challenges that practitioners face in developing research- or evidence-informed programs. In support of its anti-corruption programs, IRI conducted fieldwork in the capital cities of Bangladesh, Ecuador, and the Maldives to explore the ways in which local communities in non-western contexts use corruption as a strategy to access public benefits that they would otherwise not receive. Through interviews with ordinary citizens, local government officials, and members of civil society, IRI’s research focused on identifying the nature of bargains, exchanges, promises, and patronage that are required to access public services. In doing so, this research illustrates specifically how these daily processes and experiences of corruption are produced, reproduced, and validated in each context. It points to the need for broadening our understanding of corruption from ‘technically illegal’ transactions to systemic abuse of power and everyday violations of trust.
