Developing countries continue to be wracked with problems of corruption, despite the widespread understanding of the damage it does. In this paper I briefly review some approaches to improving rule of law and combatting corruption, before proposing a simple heuristic framework for governance. The framework applies to all public officials, and has three elements: 1) knowledge of the rules they are supposed to follow; 2) behavioral monitoring; 3) effective sanctions. I then look more carefully at the second of these elements (monitoring), because this is where technological change-such as cell phone recording devices-has provided immense new opportunities to monitor officials. I then consider various legal and political developments surrounding the use of these technologies, mainly in the United States. I discuss the possible ethical and moral problems associated with recording the actions of officials, as well as the potential for officials to cheat.
Rule of law, Corruption, Technology, Cell phones, Monitoring
