Policy Brief (2021): Building Political Will to Combat Corruption

In this policy brief, published by the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy, Marcia Grimes (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Oksana Huss (Bologna University, Italy & DUAG member) and Ksenia Ivanyshyn (Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre (ACREC), Ukraine) review academic and policy perspectives on political will in anti-corruption efforts.

The importance of political will for the success of anti-corruption reforms is widely cited, but knowledge gaps remain regarding why political will arises (or fails to do so). This policy brief summarizes the academic literature on political will to combat corruption and identifies key strategies and questions that may help policy actors to better measure, analyze but also to mobilize anti-corruption political will.