Corruption, Justice and Legitimacy Program

The Corruption, Justice and Legitimacy Program (CJL) is a research-to-practice initiative committed to improving the effectiveness of anti-corruption programming in contexts of endemic corruption. We are a Besa Global program. Originally working as practitioner-scholars in conflict settings, we saw traditional anti-corruption efforts being replicated, regardless of context or evidence of effectiveness. We believe these traditional strategies for combatting corruption, largely derived from Western contexts, do not align with the problem in contexts of endemic corruption. This mismatch was partially derived from corruption analysis that focused on risks or assessing the degree of corruption, instead of exploring what was driving and enabling corrupt patterns of behavior. Only with the latter can nuanced, context-sensitive theories of change be designed. CJL's current projects include: 1. Corruption as a System: integrating systems analysis into anti-corruption programming 2. Social Norms and Corruption: exploring how social norms affect corruption 3. Corruption and Peacebuilding: leveraging peacebuilding approaches in anti-corruption efforts. 4. Corruption in Fragile States Blog: changing the conversation. We engage with practitioners, policymakers, and academics across sectors and regions, all with the goal of unlocking the barriers to development caused by corrupt patterns of behavior.