TI would like to thank all the national chapters, members and partners that have helped make this guide a reality. With what began as an insipient idea among TI members, the guide has progressed quickly from its beginning as a small meeting prior to the International anti-Corruption Conference

(IACC) in Athens, Greece in October 2008. This early morning session gained tremendously from the contributions of Farzana Nawaz, Finn Heinrich, Christian Humborg, Pierre Landell Mills, Georg Neumann, Juanita Riaño, Bruno Speck, Codru Vrabi and Peter Wilkinson. It has helped to set the tone

of all the work that has followed.

TI would particularly like to thank Amaya Gorostiaga, who has translated the original vision for the guide into such an excellent text.

Throughout this process, the work of TI’s national chapters has been critical. TI would like to recognise the contributions of chapters in Bangladesh, Kenya, Lebanon, Romania, South Korea and Zambia that helped to pilot the guide with key stakeholders from the government, parliament, private sector, civil

society and media.

Introduction

Corruption and its effects are a global dilemma. From small bribes paid to police officers in

Bangladesh to the holding of stolen assets by Swiss banks, the impacts from these abuses on states

and citizens are the same: the undermining of the rule of law, the violation of rights, opaque

institutions, lost public resources, and weakened national integrity.

To effectively address these problems, anti-corruption solutions need to be pursued through

coordinated and deliberate action by international, national and local partners that use the same

language and agree on its meaning.

In response, TI has developed the first “Plain Language Guide to Anticorruption Terms”. The Plain

Language Guide offers a set of standardised, easy-to-understand definitions, providing readers with

concrete examples in practice. Relevant links are also provided for further background information or

research.

The aim of the guide is to provide clarity on the terms that the anti-corruption movement uses most in

its daily work as well as those associated with new and emerging issues. The terms in this guide have

been selected given their wide use in diverse forums and across the public and private sectors. Each

term is intended to stimulate a dialogue — within academia, the business community, among NGOs

and in international development circles — on how to address corruption.

The experiences of TI chapters in over 90 countries have formed the basis for this guide and the terms

selected. The guide is the result of the collaborative efforts of a number of Transparency International

chapters across different regions. It reflects the extensive consultations that they held with local

stakeholders to devise a short list of terms and definitions that can be understood across different

cultures, languages and contexts.

Many of these terms are in continual evolution as the anti-corruption movement works to better

understand what is ‘governance’, ‘civil society’ or even ‘corruption’.

The guide serves as a platform for continuing this discussion as the movement evolves, grows and

continues to learn. It is a living document that will be debated, expanded and updated.

We look forward to your continued help in this process.