Does performance matter to institutional survival? The method and politics of performance measurement for Anti-Corruption Agencies

Open Access

Abstract

Anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) are facing mounting pressure from national governments, public opinion, donors and international organizations to demonstrate objective results. Debates on the performance of ACAs tend to devote little attention to the causal structure of performance and often take place in a context in which the agency is absent or unprepared to refute allegations of inefficiency and institutional failure loosely formulated against its existence. The aim of this paper is to discuss issues of institutional failure by focusing on the politics and processes underlining performance evaluations of ACAs. Why is it important to evaluate the performance of institutions? How does performance relate to legitimacy and how have ACAs been performing along the three dimensions of legitimacy? What indicators have been developed by agencies and what do they measure? Finally, to what extent evaluation procedures are fundamental to the work and durability of ACAs?