No.5, 2015

The Role of Political Power in the Construction of Anti-corruption Systems in Developing Countries—An Analysis Based on India’s Anti-corruption Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act

(Abstract)

Xiao Bin and Huang Yinghong

Current anti-corruption theories take “state centrism” and “market centrism” together with governance and good governance as their main research approach. In terms of theory, these are based on the West’s free democratic system, but in terms of analysis they are handicapped by the logic of distinguishing between the public and the private realm, and so have difficulty grasping the unique experience of developing countries. The process whereby India drew up the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act (for inquiring into allegations of corruption against public functionaries) from 2010 on shows that the anticorruption campaign in developing countries can take an alternative path—that of a “tripartite composite” anti-corruption model. Under this model, the government, the elite, and the masses constitute the three main anticorruption bodies. They form complex multidimensional relationships premised on observing bottom-line regulations and using benign interaction based on a dynamic equilibrium to advance the construction of anticorruption institutions. Generalizing from their experience and summing up the theory of the “tripartite composite” anti-corruption model not only helps us explore new strategies for fighting corruption, but is also of great significance for understanding the unique relationship between state and society in developing countries and exploring the mechanisms of political power in these countries’ institutional construction.