Mainstreaming Collective Action: Tracking its emergence as a norm in the ASEAN region and South Africa

Basel Institute on Governance

This report will be available shortly.

The report tracks the emergence of anti-corruption Collective Action as a norm, with a specific focus on the ASEAN region and South Africa.

Building on the Basel Institute’s 2020 study “Mainstreaming Collective Action: Establishing a baseline”, it reviews National Anti-Corruption Strategies (NACS) or equivalent frameworks, including relevant government documents. The report finds a clear shift towards greater recognition and government engagement, with seven countries (58%) referring to Collective Action or multi-stakeholder cooperation in national strategies or government frameworks, and nine (75%) having at least one documented public-sector Collective Action initiative.

The findings identify common focus areas across the 12 countries reviewed, including business integrity and corporate compliance, whole-of-society engagement, digitalisation and emerging corruption risks, and shared integrity standards and supply chains. These provide a basis for identifying Collective Action opportunities.

About this report

This report is part of our wider efforts to advance the concept of Collective Action. It has been made possible with support from the Siemens Integrity Initiative.

You may share or republish this report under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence.

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Basel Institute on Governance, its donors and partners, or the University of Basel.

Published

09/2026 (a month ago)

Authors

Scarlet Wannenwetsch
Celia Lourens

Citation

Wannenwetsch, Scarlet and Celia Lourens. 2026. “Mainstreaming Collective Action: Tracking its emergence as a norm in the ASEAN region and South Africa”. Basel Institute on Governance.

Countries

South Africa
Brunei
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar [Burma]
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Vietnam

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