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In countries emerging from war, the immediate post-war period rarely lives up to the hopes and expectations of the country’s citizens or the international community. An upsurge in corruption and a lack of accountability, which frequently become entrenched during this time, can erode trust in democracy and its institutions, thereby eating away at the legitimacy of the postwar state. The authors argue that an anticorruption approach that builds on local resources and competencies in distinctive ways and that emphasizes local accountability such as citizen-based monitoring is more likely to succeed in stemming corruption as well as increase participation and trust in the reconstruction process.