F1GD 5840 - Understanding and Combatting Corruption

***UPDATED for 2025/26***

Experience demonstrates that designing an effective anti-corruption strategy requires an understanding of the structural forces that make corruption pervasive in certain societies. Accordingly, the course will begin by examining the various “enabling environments” that often give rise to systemic corruption (e.g. natural resource economies and post-conflict societies). The Course will then explore how to design an effective anti-corruption strategy at both the domestic and international levels, relying on several case studies. As will be seen, while there is a consensus on the need to develop a holistic approach that goes beyond criminalization, the key challenge is a political one: unless the domestic conditions for reform are in place, meaningful progress will be difficult. The Course will be interdisciplinary, focusing on the legal, political, economic and national security dimensions of this highly complex problem.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will gain an understanding of those crimes that the international community generally recognizes constitute corruption and will also learn why there continues to be some controversy regarding definitional issues.
• Students will gain insight into the political and economic circumstances that give rise to systemic corruption and the debilitating impact that this problem can have on society.
• Students will learn about the key elements of the most relevant anti-corruption conventions and international best practices. They will have sufficient knowledge to discuss in depth both the efficacy and limitations of these instruments, taking into the importance of the domestic political environment.
• Students’ understanding of the above issues will be enhanced by an in-depth study of country-specific corruption reform efforts, including those that have been undertaken in the context of IMF-supported programs.

Professional Skills

Students will develop the skill of navigating the key international conventions and principles that are regularly applied in a professional context, including the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.

Through the assessment process (see below), students will develop the ability to write short memoranda that distill key concepts, a skill that is of critical importance in their professional careers.

None

Since it is a Seminar, active student participation in each class will be of critical importance.

Individual feedback will be provided with respect to each of the three essays that form part of the assessment.

90% of grade will be based on three short essays (1600 words each) distributed evenly during the semester. These essays will assess the extent to which the students have understood the key themes of the course and will also assess the ability of students to distill key concepts in a clear and concise manner.

10% of the grade will be based on class participation.

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 5 hours a week /60 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 84 hours a semester (three short essays, evenly spaced during the semester – see below)