Can "Bureaucratic" Control of Local Politicians Reduce Corruption and Capture?

This proposal seeks funding to support a two-year pilot study of local governance in Bénin. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring by bureaucratic actors in reducing political corruption. The proposed intervention, what we call “bureaucratic” monitoring, utilizes quarterly information sessions involving civil servants to monitor corrupt behavior by local political elites—the Mayor and Municipal Council. Our study is based on a sample of 40 municipalities in Bénin, which will be tracked through the 2-year pilot phase. A mid-term evaluation to be conducted at the end of 2015, will provide a preliminary assessment of the intervention’s impact and help to determine if the project will continue for another 2 years.