The relevant international treaty-based law on corruption, human rights and the environment, with a focus on the convergence of these areas of law. Anti-corruption treaties, especially UNCAC, and human rights treaties are both moving towards recognition of the commonalities. Traces 3 approaches to convergence: corruption as background/context, a human-rights based approach, and a human right to be free of corruption.

Why should countries improve on controlling corruption? While many theories exist to explain economic development, the trendier ones just attribute merit or blame to the quality of governance. But the question of how governance can change to become less corrupt is seldom studied. Chapter 3 reviews the most frequently proposed theories of change and the evidence in favor of the primacy of politics, as opposed to economic development, in the control of corruption. It also looks at how trade and globalization affect corruption and what role international factors play, from trade to global regulation in the form of treaties or anti-bribery conventions. A model of transformation is offered alongside a discussion on how international factors play into it.