Book reviews: Corruption and the right to information
In the current issue of Governance, Carolyn Warner reviews The Quest for Good Governance by Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. “It has yet to occur to the international community that corrupt actors rarely, if ever, reform themselves out of business,” Warner says. “Mungiu-Pippidi’s work is a significant contribution to our understanding of the subject, and one to which policymakers and international donors should pay attention.” Read the review.
And Gaia von Hatzfeldt reviews Democracy and Transparency in the Indian State by Sharma Prashant. India’s 2005 Right to Information Act “is lauded for being both a producer and a product of an empowered and active citizenry,” von Hatzfeldt says. “Sharma Prashant provocatively and astutely questions this assumed correlation between the RTI and democratic processes.” Read the review.