Methodology

This explorative analysis is based on the comparative results obtained through the questionnaire sent to the heads of the Anti-Corruption Agencies. Further primary materials were obtained directly from the agencies' websites and their information services.

The countries assessed were: Argentina, Australia (State of New South Wales), Croatia, the Czech Republic (two agencies), France, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Malawi, Moldova, the Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Montenegro, Romania and the Slovak Republic.

For the purposes of our analysis, we are only considering those countries that have an agency of this type effectively in place. Portugal, for instance, had an anti-corruption agency in the past (AACC - Alta Autoridade Contra a Corrupção). It was extinguished in 1992 by parliamentary vote and for that reason the information collected from former AACC members was not included in this analysis, though it will be available for consultation in 'other documents'.

The sample is still small, 15 ACAs in 14 different countries, hence we have to be cautious in extrapolating general patterns or conclusions. Although the sample is also quite homogeneous in terms of geographical spread (10 Central and Eastern European cases, 1 Western European, 1 Latin American, 1 Pacific and 1 African), there is sufficient diversity across the cases and we expect to find interesting clusters as we expand the project beyond Europe.