Corruption has long been identified as a governance challenge, yet it took states until the 1990s to adopt binding agreements combating it. While the rapid spread of anti-corruption treaties appears to mark a global consensus, a closer look reveals that not all regional and international organizations move on similar trajectories. This book seeks to explain similarities and differences between international anti-corruption agreements. In this volume Lohaus develops a comprehensive analytical framework to compare international agreements in the areas of prevention, criminalization, jurisdiction, domestic enforcement and international cooperation. Outcomes range from narrow enforcement cooperation to broad commitments that often lack follow-up mechanisms. Lohaus argues that agreements vary because they are designed to signal anti-corruption commitment to different audiences. To demonstrate such different approaches to anti-corruption, he draws on two starkly different cases, the Organization of American States and the African Union. Contributing to debates on decision-making in international organizations, this work showcases how global governance is shaped by processes of diffusion that involve state and non-state actors. The book highlights challenges as well as chances linked to the patchwork of international rules. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of IR theory, global governance, international organizations and regionalism.
Author(s): Mathis Lohaus
Series: Global Institutions
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 196
City: London and New York
Introduction
The arrival of anti-corruption on the global agenda
Comparing the scope and legal design of agreements
The argument in brief: diffusion and signaling motives
Why study anti-corruption agreements?
Chapter outline
Notes
1. The argument: Diffusion and signaling motives
The diffusion of international agreements
Agency in international organizations
Signaling motives as a scope condition
The effects of different audiences
Alternative explanations
Conclusion
Notes
2. International anti-corruption agreements in comparison
Mapping the global landscape of anti-corruption
Summary: first movers, laggards, outliers
Comparing the scope and legal design of the agreements
How do ideas spread? Evidence of diffusion processes
Conclusion
Notes
3. Organization of American States: Activist governments and domestic reference models
History, design, and implementation
Motivations and drivers
Tracing the drafts over time
Evidence of diffusion
Conclusion
Notes
4. African Union: Development cooperation, non-state actors, and external reference models
History, design, and implementation
Motives and drivers
Tracing the drafts over time
Evidence of diffusion
Conclusion
Notes
5. Conclusion: Lessons to draw from the global patchwork
Enforcement, compromises, and illusionary giants
Signaling motives as scope conditions
Anti-corruption as an instance of diffusion
Implications and contribution to the literature
Outlook: can these agreements be effective?
Notes
List of anti-corruption documents
Additional data on scope conditions
List of interviews
Bibliography
Index
