Transparency in politics and the containment of

Transparency in politics
and the containment of corruption
Friday, December 13, 2013
Sciences Po
Room H101- 28 rue des Saints Pères, 75007 Paris
Convenors : Emiliano Grossman, Eric Phélippeau, Nicolas Sauger
From the first laws voted in 1988, France has passed many regulations to regulate the
funding of politics and more generally the relations between the economy and politics. So as to
limit the risks –or the suspicions- of corruption, these rules have implemented several tools based
on transparency, bans, and incompatibilities. If major political scandals have sometimes be the
reason for the introduction of these rules, the spillover effects of the first decisions should not be
underscored, as the lessons drawn from their assessment underlining their limits or unexpected
effects, as the more general ambition to enhance the quality of the French democracy.
The beginning term of President Hollande has been in line with these past experiences.
The latest law, passed in November, has played at the three usual levels: transparency (for the
assets of the political elite and their economic connections, transparency of the use of the
‘réserve parlementaire’ as well), bans and incompatibilities, and the redesign of the
administrations in charge of implementing transparency and monitoring. This law has also
emphasized the breaks on, the limits of, and the conflicts about this effort to regulate
transparency and implement the struggle against corruption.
This conference aims at building a first assessment of these new rules in French politics, by
gathering many experts from various fields, i.e. politicians, academics, practitioners. The goal is to
debate about the intentions behind the law as to provide the tools to understand the likely
consequences of the new rules. For that purpose, we believe that the debates had first to be put
in perspective, by a comparative approach, to grasp the potential innovations of this law and to
assess the likely efficiency of these tools.
The morning session is organized around three sets of short presentations, of about ten
minutes, explaining the conclusions of research about corruption in the field of economics,
sociology, and political science. All these presentations will be debated with the audience. The
afternoon will encompass three round tables gathering politicians, heads of administrations in
charge of the regulation of political life, leaders of associations fighting corruption, and academics.
Mandatory registration : [email protected]
Laboratoire interdisciplinaire d'évaluation des politiques publiques
27, rue Saint-Guillaume - 75007 Paris France T/ +33 (0)1 45 49 83 61
www.sciencespo.fr/liepp
Programme
9:30-10:15
Panel 1: Detecting and measuring corruption.
- Alena Ledeneva, University College, London: Measuring the immeasurable: obliquity and second-tier
indicators
- Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, PSE, Ecole d’économie de Paris : Corruption in procurement and shadow
campaign financing
10:30-11:30
Panel 2: Regulations, anti-corruption agencies, and transparency
Chair: Renaud Dehousse, CEE, Sciences Po.
- Michael Koss, Institute for Political Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich : Party financing and
corruption
- Quoc Anh Do, Sciences Po, Department of Economics : Corruption and its limits: an institutional
perspective
- Eric Phélippeau, Université Paris Ouest – Nanterre la Défense, ISP : Enhancing transparency. French
political finance and disclosure regulations
11:45-12:30
Panel 3: Corruption and public opinion.
- Justin Fischer, Brunel University, London : Trust in institutions and corruption
- Pierre Lascoumes, CNRS, CEE, Science Po : L’énigme démocratique de la tolérance à l’égard de la
corruption
14:00-15:00
Panel 1: Transparency of wealth and resources of political actors
Chair : Nicolas Sauger, CEE, Science Po
- Noëlle Lenoir, Déontologue de l’Assemblée nationale
- Gérard Davet, Le Monde
- Fabrice Lhomme, Le Monde
- David Gayou, Regards citoyens
- Benjamin Ooghe-Tabanou, Regards citoyens
15:15-16:15
Panel 2: Registration of lobbies and regulation of conflicts of interest
Chair : Emiliano Grosman, CEE, Science Po
- Anne-Marie Ducroux, Transparence international France
- Myriam Savy, Transparence international France
16:30-17:30
Panel 3: What role for the new Haute Autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique ?
Présidence : Eric Phélippeau, Université Paris Ouest – Nanterre la Défense, ISP
- René Dosière, député
- Luís de Sousa, University of Aveiro
- Lionel Benaiche, Secrétaire général du Service central de prévention de la corruption
Laboratoire interdisciplinaire d'évaluation des politiques publiques
27, rue Saint-Guillaume - 75007 Paris France T/ +33 (0)1 45 49 83 61
www.sciencespo.fr/liepp