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This dissertation looks at the use of digital technologies in anti-corruption. It thereby responds to the increasing prominence of the fight against corruption as a research topic, and issue to address for activists and politicians around the world, as well as the ever-growing impact of digitalisation on governance. It answers the research question in what way and how effectively information and communication technology contribute to the control of corruption.
In its first part, this dissertation provides an overview of the past twenty years of academic publications on the use and the effectiveness of digital technologies in anti-corruption. I structure the available literature according to its level of analysis, looking at theoretical and large-n studies compared to case specific and qualitative work. I also structure it according to the mechanism that is linking different technologies to a better control of corruption, namely e-government access, upward transparency, downward transparency and mobilisation. In doing so, it highlights gaps in the literature and open questions to research. Subsequently, I am zooming in on the role of civil society in its use of digital technologies, arguing that digital technologies are a tool that can support the role of civil society in controlling corruption. This argument builds on anti-corruption theories and thus lays the groundwork for testing it in two different settings.
First, I provide evidence from a global, quantitative dataset, using marginal effects analysis to provide evidence for a positive correlation of civil society capacity, access to information and communication technology and better control of corruption. Second, I analyse a case study, looking at the use of e-procurement in Ukraine since 2014. I am testing if different civil society capacities in Ukrainian regions had an impact on corruption risks measured in Ukrainian tenders. While the quantitative data analysis gives clear, positive results concerning the relationship described above, the case study on Ukraine does not offer conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of civil society capacity and ICT access in the fight against corruption. The dissertation concludes by calling for future research into this relationship, especially by using data on public procurement.
Following the increasing attention the topic received over the last years, this paper is looking at the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in public administration and, in particular at its most prominent example: Blockchain technology. While offering a gentle introduction to the topic, the paper establishes an overview of the attributes and potential use cases of DLT in the context of public administration and bureaucracies. As a technology establishing a decentralised, high-trust data management system, DLT has potential to be used for the storage of administrative data and for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative data management. While potential uses are wide-ranging, this paper offers a simple typology of these. Furthermore, it offers a critical view of the challenges and drawbacks that the technology currently poses to public officials looking at using DLT in their processes. Ultimately, this paper takes the view that DLT can be a potentially valuable tool for public administrations to make use of, but the drawbacks and difficulties associated with this technology are often not discussed or acknowledged as often or as thoroughly as needed, giving a false picture of how easy it would be for governments to use this technology successfully.
In 2018, the number of global internet users surpassed four billion, with almost 3.2 billion users using social media. Anti-corruption agendas across actors increasingly reflect these developments. National agencies and donors are including information and communication technology (ICT) in their anti-corruption strategies. Civil society actors are embracing digital tools and using them for advocacy and citizen mobilisation. Open data makes governments more transparent and make data accessible to both investigative journalists and activists. Encryption-based whistleblowing tools promise less harm to potential whistleblowers. Crowdsourcing tools gather citizen feedback on public services. Social media help spread news and coordinate citizen action against corruption. Most recently, blockchain technology promises a more accountable and secure data infrastructure. While the potential of digital technologies in anti-corruption is great, the evidence is less clear cut. Like many anti- corruption tools before, ICT holds a promise it cannot necessarily keep.
This paper establishes a state of the art on what we know about ICT in anti-corruption. It links theoretical literature to the limited empirical findings on this specific issue and considers academic literature, as well as research published as reports. It will provide a review of quantitative studies, as well as comparative studies and single case studies focussing on context-specific ICT uses. In doing so, the paper will not only establish what we know so far, but also identify gaps in literature to establish a call for a future research agenda. It will call for continued efforts to assess the effectiveness of ICT tools in anti-corruption.