Political Settlements and the Search for Feasible Anti-Corruption Strategies

Prof. Mushtaq Khan gave a seminar at the Center of African Economies on 24 May 2018 about the new Anti-Corruption Evidence (SOAS-ACE) research programme that he is heading.
By: Lindsay Whitfield


The SOAS-ACE programme aims to provide theory and evidence for feasible and impactful anti-corruption approaches in developing countries, in contexts where standard anti-corruption approaches have achieved very little success.

The new approach begins with the observation that the political settlements in developing countries are such that powerful interests in these societies do not actually support the general enforcmenent of a rule of law.

However at a sectoral level there are many opportunities where some powerful interests may have incentives to behave more productively and in more rule-following ways in their own interest with appropriate policies and incentives. The SOAS-ACE programme follows a number of strategies to identify these opportunities across important sectors in particular countries. It is initially focusing on Nigeria, Tanzania and Bangladesh.

The powerpoint slides from the presentation (pdf)

More details are available on the ACE programme website: ​https://ace.soas.ac.uk.