There is no doubt that anti-corruption practices are an important investment for companies of all sizes. Many transnational companies are investing both time and effort on anti-corruption and compliance for reasons such as fear of being fined, protecting their reputation, or simply believing it is the right thing to do. In 2018, enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was at a record high.
William Steinman, one of the leading FCPA lawyers in the U.S. at Steinman & Rodgers LLP, is joined by CIPE Global Program Director Anna Kompanek, and host Ken Jaques. Steinman believes that international business will improve if we continue to encourage and have conversations on
anti-corruption practices and compliance with FCPA.
In this Democracy That Delivers podcast, James Muraguri, CEO of the Institute of Public Finance Kenya (IPFK), is joined by Lars Benson, Regional Director for Africa, and host Ken Jaques. IPFK is a current CIPE partner working on budget analysis and budget participation. This is a critical topic relating to advocacy and strengthening the voice of the private sector.
Muraguri talks about the effects of devolution in Kenya, which is a form of decentralization that strengthens institutions and improves service delivery and citizen engagement regardless of where you live in Kenya. Corruption is still an issue that needs to be worked on, but Muraguri says that institutions are now much more committed to fighting it, especially on a county-level.
“Devolution is the best thing that happened to Kenya, because what happened in the 50 years before devolution was that a huge section of the country was marginalized,” says James Muraguri.
Katrin Kuhlmann, President and Founder of the New Markets Lab (NML) and Lecturer on Law at Harvard University, joins co-host Marc Schleifer and host Ken Jaques in this week’s Democracy that Delivers.
Kuhlmann dives into how NML came to be, and how her early career working in the trade and development sectors shaped what it is today. NML is a non-profit law and development center, and has worked closely with CIPE to develop projects in the field of technology. A recent study co-authored between CIPE and NML titled Digital Economy Enabling Environment Guide: Key Areas of Dialogue for Business and Policymakers was recently released.
“In the broader context of some of these pressing development issues, we asked ourselves how could you try to make a difference at an enterprise level, that would then translate all the way back up into these bigger policies?”
There seems to be a perception that democracy is on a decline, but Clay Fuller, a Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute feels this is incorrect. Democracy is not in crisis, instead, we have changed how we see and define it. In short, democracy is the game of rule, while autocracy is the game of survival.
Clay Fuller joins co-host John Morrell, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific at CIPE and host Ken Jaques to talk about democratic and nondemocratic governments and how these systems are viewed today. Democracy can be defined as having uncertain political outcomes, having a focus on individual rights, and a focus on transparency and due process. Conversely, authoritarianism has more predictable political outcomes, more focus on collective rights, and a monopoly on political power with a lack of transparency. Listen on to learn more.