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"The fight against corruption is now a core part of development policy and practice. Some call these efforts a'war on corruption'. What does this so-called'war' mean for developing countries? And how do international perspectives on corruption relate to local and national concerns? This book examines the relevance of anti-corruption discourse in Papua New Guinea (PNG), one of the most culturally rich and'corrupt' countries on earth. Despite increased international, national and local efforts to address corruption over the past two decades, many fear that levels of corruption continue to rise largely unabated. Some believe that the mismatch between international, national and local assumptions regarding the nature of corruption and how it should be addressed is at the heart of the issue. International anti-corruption initiatives stress'zero-tolerance' and try to strengthen formal state-based institutions. However, many people in PNG are more concerned about maintaining social relationships than following state laws and rules. This book critically examines the implications of the anti-corruption agenda and the collision of international, national and local perspectives. In doing so it provides a diagnostic on international assumptions about corruption and how it should be fought in developing countries, offering surprising and important lessons. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of Development Studies, Geography, Political Studies and Economics, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in development."--Provided by publisher

By examining Australia's response to political corruption in Papua New Guinea (PNG) – Australia's closest neighbor, ex-colony and now largest recipient of Australian aid – the chapter highlights how donors can fail to live up to their policy rhetoric on anticorruption. This failure, it is argued, is a product of the broader diplomatic relationship between Australia and PNG. This results in a tension between donors' stated goals (anticorruption) and the political realities within which donors operate. It shows that the way that donors negotiate this tension can be central to the effectiveness of their anticorruption efforts, particularly when it comes to political corruption. In the case of PNG, it is argued that political corruption is best fought by those willing to take political risks – risks that donor agencies are often poorly positioned to make.

The fight against corruption is now a core part of development policy and practice. Some call these efforts a 'war on corruption'. What does this so-called 'war' mean for developing countries? And how do international perspectives on corruption relate to local and national concerns? This book examines the relevance of anti-corruption discourse in Papua New Guinea (PNG), one of the most culturally rich and 'corrupt' countries on earth. Despite increased international, national and local efforts to address corruption over the past two decades, many fear that levels of corruption continue to rise largely unabated. Some believe that the mismatch between international, national and local assumptions regarding the nature of corruption and how it should be addressed is at the heart of the issue. International anti-corruption initiatives stress 'zero-tolerance' and try to strengthen formal state-based institutions. However, many people in PNG are more concerned about maintaining social relationships than following state laws and rules. This book critically examines the implications of the anti-corruption agenda and the collision of international, national and local perspectives. In doing so it provides a diagnostic on international assumptions about corruption and how it should be fought in developing countries, offering surprising and important lessons. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of Development Studies, Geography, Political Studies and Economics, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in development.

To understand why quality of government (QoG) varies, scholars have drawn on two theoretical approaches: principal-agent and collective action theories. The literature tends to bifurcate these two theories, and focuses on the national scale and the structural conditions under which collective action and principal-agent problems arise. This article highlights how principal-agent relationships and collective action problems shape the implementation of decentralisation policy in two subnational governments in Papua New Guinea. It is argued that pathways to QoG are contextual, and determined by both principal-agent and collective action relationships. In the case of PNG, these relations are shaped by history, culture and the agency of elites and citizens. ; This work was supported by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australian Government.

Introduction -- Alternative and mainstream views on corruption in the land of the unexpected -- Findings on the nature of corruption in PNG -- The nation's guardians : national anti-corruption organisations views on corruption -- Integrity warriors : international anti-corruption agencies' views on corruption -- The (anti-)politics of anti-corruption -- Conclusions : appraising anti-corruption efforts in a weak state

Decentralisation is a key reform in the fight against corruption, particularly in developing countries. However, both scholarship and policy often fails to account for the social-spatial relations that can determine the success of decentralisation reform. This article argues that this is a critical oversight that limits our understanding of the effectiveness of decentralisation reform to address corruption. It is grounded in fieldwork conducted with 136 public servants in four subnational administrations across Papua New Guinea. Reflecting on the impact of decentralisation reform, respondents described how elites were able to direct subnational resources – sometimes for their own personal gain – by reaching across space to control subnational affairs. Anti-corruption measures were largely ineffective because they were unable to reach out to anti-corruption organisations with adequate resources and political power. These findings suggest that topological approaches to understanding power relations – approaches that stress the importance of reach across space – could help scholars and policy makers reimagine the potential for decentralisation reform to address corruption.