Globalisation, Transnationalism & Development Colloquium: The Authority of Peer Reviews among States in the Global Governance of Corruption
Speaker: Hortense Jongen, Political Science, FASoS
When: Wednesday 11 October, 15.30-17.00
Where: Spiegelzaal Soiron building – Grote Gracht 80-82, Maastricht University
Abstract
This research examines the instrument of peer review among states, which is widely used by international organizations to monitor state compliance with international anticorruption norms. Despite their prominence in the anticorruption regime, little is known about the conditions under which these instruments bear significance in the global fight against corruption. This article addresses this gap, by considering the authority that three peer review mechanisms in the battle against corruption carry: the OECD Working Group on Bribery, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption, and the Implementation Review Mechanism of the UN Convention against Corruption. Authority is conceptualized as a social relation between the institution carrying authority (the peer review) and the intended audience (mostly states). Drawing upon original survey data and expert interviews, the findings reveal that the three peer review mechanisms hold different degrees of authority. The article subsequently provides several explanations for the observed variation in authority, by looking at the membership sizes and compositions of the peer reviews, their institutional designs, and the types of officials that are involved in the review process.
Hortense Jongen is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and recently defended her PhD. Her research focuses on the authority of peer reviews in the field of anti-corruption, and is part of the NWO-funded project: “No carrots, no sticks: how do peer reviews among states acquire authority in global governance?” Hortense’s other research interests include global governance, EU external relations and the international fight against terrorism and its financing.
Upcoming GTD colloquia:
• Wednesday 8, November 2017: Ana Rodriguez (War Child Holland)
• Wednesday 6, December 2017: Assaf Dahdah (Aix-Marseille University )
• Wednesday 24, January 2018: Sara Kinsbergen (Nijmegen University)
• Wednesday 21, February 2018: Mathias Czaika (University of Oxford)
• Wednesday 14, March 2018: Ruben Gonzalez (Leiden University)
