The role of community engagement as corruption control strategy in local governments: insights from Indonesia

Purpose This study aims to explore how community engagement operates as a corruption control strategy in Indonesian village governments. It identifies and analyzes four interconnected mechanisms – transparency enhancement, accountability strengthening, social capital mobilization and cultural dynamics navigation – through which community engagement can effectively curb corruption at the local level. Design/methodology/approach We employ abductive qualitative content analysis, moving iteratively between empirical observations and theoretical frameworks, to examine how participatory practices function as corruption controls in Banyumas Regency, Indonesia. Through systematic 3-stage coding of interviews with 17 key informants (village officials and community leaders), we identify mechanisms through which community engagement influences village governance and corruption control. Findings We identify four mechanisms through which community engagement controls corruption. First, transparency enhancement enables villagers to monitor budget allocations and reduce information asymmetries. Second, accountability strengthening creates blended formal-informal oversight systems. Third, social capital mobilization leverages existing networks for collective monitoring. However, we discover a critical paradox of excessive trust where strong capital can both enable and inhibit corruption control, requiring careful cultural navigation. Research limitations/implications This study is limited by its focus on a single regency, cross-sectional design that prevents longitudinal analysis and reliance on perceived rather than objectively measured corruption levels. These constraints reflect both practical research challenges and the inherent difficulty of directly observing corrupt practices, especially in local governance contexts. Practical implications Policymakers should (1) co-design participatory forums with local stakeholders using existing social structures rather than imposing external models; (2) develop cultural competency alongside technical capacity to navigate local customs while maintaining critical vigilance and (3) strengthen oversight body independence through merit-based appointments and adequate resources. Our four-mechanism framework serves as a diagnostic tool for designing context-specific interventions rather than a standardized anti-corruption program. Originality/value This paper contributes a four-mechanism framework demonstrating how community engagement complements traditional corruption control strategies. The framework enables practitioners to design context-specific anti-corruption interventions rather than standardized approaches across diverse governance contexts.