405 - ACGC - A New Guide for Anti-Corruption Messaging in the Real World

Democracy That Delivers

Our episode today focuses on anti-corruption messaging: what messaging has looked like in the past, the challenges and risks it poses, and novel approaches that could yield better results. Holly Sandalow, Program Officer at CIPE’s Anti-Corruption & Governance Center, sits down with Caryn Peiffer, Associate Professor in International Public Policy and Governance at the University of Bristol, and Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham, who have authored the new How-to Guide to Anti-Corruption Messaging in partnership with CIPE and with support from the National Democratic Institute.

Anti-corruption campaigns have been a staple of both foreign aid programming and civil society over the last 30 years, and there is often an element of awareness-raising that involves producing messages about the harm that corruption can do. There is growing concern, however, that anti-corruption messages may be ineffective—or even do more harm than good—in part because they are not being tailored, targeted and tested to make sure they have the desired effect.

Drawing upon their own research and studies by fellow academics about the impacts & efficacy of anti-corruption messaging, Peiffer and Cheeseman discuss the risks of deploying messages that have not been rigorously tailored, targeted, and tested. Listen in to hear what ideas they have for crafting more effective messaging campaigns.