We are pleased to share with you Stratbase ADR Institute’s Special Study entitled, “Reviving Democratic Institutions: Strengthening the Fight Against Corruption” by Francisco A. Magno, Ph.D.

The study is about the two‒way relationship between democracy and corruption, wherein we revitalize our democratic institutions in the process of combatting corruption and by fighting corruption we are able to revitalize our democratic institutions.

Using COVID‒19 and corruption as the immediate context, this paper explains the weaking of democratic institutions by discussing impact of populism on institutional constraints, the free press, and internal controls and oversight agencies. It then emphasized the key role of civil society and knowledge institutions that serve to create an alternative narrative to populism and in the fight against corruption.