ABSTRACT
Evidence suggests that many anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) in the world are failures, at least if assessed in terms of fulfilling their formal goal – corruption prevention. Studying the experiences of the few successful agencies helps provide a useful template, but by no means for a wholesale transfer, of best practices for new or struggling agencies. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is widely regarded as a successful model. Its success illustrates how an ACA becomes highly valued by the public, what challenges it must overcome, what qualities are necessary for its success and, once institutionalised, how it may contribute to good governance. There are two major ideal-type approaches to corruption prevention. The value-based approach assumes that if such values as trust, honesty, transparency, accountability and integrity are widely held, corruption will be minimised. The compliance-based approach focuses on the deterrent effect of anti-corruption laws and regulations and assumes that effective enforcement will reduce corruption. ACAs tend toward compliance-based approaches because they are often set up with the principal aim of enforcing the law. However, the experience of the ICAC indicates that the mix of the value-based and compliance-based strategies works best for the successful institutionalisation of ACAs.
