"Campaigns and movements targeting corruption often face decentralized targets rather than an identifiable dictator or external government, and can be found both in undemocratic and democratic systems. Graft and abuse are manifested in a systemic manner rather than a hodgepodge collection of illicit transactions. Consequently, this research brings to light new applications of civil resistance beyond the more commonly known cases against occupations, such as the Indian independence movement, and authoritarian regimes from Chile to Poland. It also expands our understanding about the dynamics of how people collectively wield nonviolent power for the common good. The focus of this research is on citizen agency: what civic actors and regular people—organized together and exerting their collective power—are doing to curb corruption as they define and experience it. Hence, the analytical framework is based on the skills, strategies, objectives, and demands of such initiatives, rather than on the phenomenon of corruption itself, which has been judiciously studied for more than two decades by scholars and practitioners from the anticorruption and development realms. I selected cases that met the following criteria: they were “popular” initiatives. They were civilian-based, involved grassroots participation, and were led and implemented by individuals from the civic realm, rather than governments or external actors, such as donors, development institutions, and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs); they were nonviolent. They did not threaten or use violence to further their aims; they involved some degree of organization and planning, which varied depending on the scope—objectives, geographical range, duration—of the civic initiative; multiple nonviolent actions were employed (thus, instances of one-off demonstrations or spontaneous protests were not considered); objectives and demands were articulated; the civic initiative was sustained over a period of time." (Introduction, pages 2-3)
1 Corruption, People, and Power, 7
2 Approaches to Curbing Corruption, 25
3 Blacklisting Corrupt Candidates: Korea, 37
4 Digital Resistance for Clean Politicians: Brazil, 67
5 Citizens Protect an Anticorruption Commission: Indonesia, 89
6 Nonviolent Resistance Against the Mafia: Italy, 115
7 A Citizen Pillar Against Corruption: India, 137
8 Community Monitoring for Postwar Transformation: Afghanistan, 169
9 Curbing Police Corruption Through Engagement and Disruption: Uganda, 187
10 Highlights from Five Cases: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Turkey, 203
11 What We Have Learned, 243
12 The International Dimension, 261
Appendix: Nonviolent Tactics Used in the Twelve Cases, 295