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ABSTRACTThere is currently a myth in the making: that women are less corrupt than men. Recently some aid donors have cited statistical evidence that countries with larger numbers of women in politics and in the workforce have lower levels of corruption. That this finding can be explained by the fact that there are more women in politics and the workforce in liberal democracies that are anyway less corrupt than poorer less liberal regimes does not detract from the eagerness with which some development actors are seizing upon the potential role women might play in fighting corruption. The myth of women's incorruptibility is not, of course, new. It is grounded in essentialist notions of women's higher moral nature and an assumed propensity to bring this to bear on public life, and particularly on the conduct of politics. After demonstrating that some of the recent studies about gender and corruption record perceptions about propensities to engage in corrupt behaviour, this contribution suggests rather that the gendered nature of access to politics and public life shapes opportunities for corruption. In addition, corruption can be experienced differently by women and men, which has implications for anti‐corruption strategies. A gendered analysis of corruption is in fact a useful entry‐point to the examination of the gendered nature of accountability failures, and of gender‐specific gaps in current attempts to promote good governance.

This article develops a conceptual framework to indicate the type of resistance reform efforts may stimulate, and the factors shaping perceptions of risk involved in pursuing reform. It provides tools for identifying the room for manoeuvre by political elites, in terms of the extent that formal and informal institutions will accommodate change, and the chances of a positive response to reform from elites and civil society. It considers the incentives that drive politicians when weighing up reform options, the institutions that shape those incentives, and the impact that institutions, particularly informal ones, can have on the reform process. Rather than concentrate on the internal processes and mechanisms of institutions, however - as has perhaps too often been the case - the connections between state and society and the way these impact on reform are examined. Adapted from the source document.