Exploring the impact of National Integrity System assessments: Experience from the UK and New Zealand

Abstract

Transparency International’s National Integrity System (NIS) model has become an increasingly important and well-established tool for assessing good governance and anti-corruption activities throughout the world. Over one hundred countries have conducted an NIS assessment since its inception in 2001, almost half of which using a more refined methodology developed in 2009. As yet, however, comparatively little is known about the impact of NIS assessments. This exploratory paper is the first part of an extended study that seeks to map these impacts. It presents discussion from two countries (the United Kingdom, New Zealand) to identify types of information collated so far regarding the impact of NIS assessments, adopting a case-study methodology involving a mixture of desk-based analysis and key respondent interviews. We supplement this with generic findings on the impact of NIS globally using data collected by Transparency International as part of a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework. The driving question is to what extent NIS assessments have had an impact in terms of (1) legislation and policy; (2) behavioural change; (3) public awareness-raising and (4) civil society capacity building.