Auditing as the dissolution of corruption

This paper develops a new discourse of control. The new discourse rejects t he view that control is achieved through inspections and information alone, and supports the view that effective control means self-control and effect ive communications, both being necessary conditions to enable organizations to perform well. In this discourse, corruption is taken to be, among other things, the outcome of fragmentation in communications. Therefore, a movem ent toward a recursive organization of the State is offered as a way to cou ntering corruption. This discourse was developed during a project for Insti tutional Change and Strengthening implemented at the Contraloria General de la Republica (CGR), in Colombia from 1995 to 1998. As part of the discours e we offer a distinction among traditional auditing practices, second-order auditing, and integrated systemic auditing practices.