Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"
Political Corruption has much to recommend it. Sparling provide snuanced readings of canonical texts, finding surprising commonalities across varying historical contexts, while not shying away from substantial differences, particularly in how different arrangements of state power may lead to differing conceptions of political dysfunction. And he makes a compelling case for the continued robustness of these several modes of corruption discourse. The book is also written with real humor and brio; it is an all-too-rare pleasure to burst out laughing when reading an academic monograph, much less one on such an otherwise gloomy topic." *
H-FRANCE *
"In his striking and worthwhile juxtapositions of familiar and lesser-known thinkers, Robert Alan Sparling displays a sophisticated grip on the theories of his subjects and makes an original contribution to our understanding of the idea of political corruption." * Christopher Brooke, University of Cambridge *
"Fluid, erudite, impressive in scope, and with moments of wit and humor,
Political Corruption illuminates the broad meaning of corruption in modern political thought as well as in everyday political discourse." * Emily C. Nacol, University of Toronto *
Table of ContentsPreface. What Is Political Corruption?
Chapter 1. Corruption Discourse and the Ubiquity of Distinctions
Chapter 2. The Character of Rulers: Corruption and Integrity in Erasmus's Education of a Christian Prince
Chapter 3. The Character of Citizens, Part I: Virtue and Corruption in the Machiavellian Republic of Distrust
Chapter 4. The Character of Citizens, Part II: Étienne de La Boétie on Corruption, Transparency, and the Republicanism of Trust
Chapter 5. Corruption, Social Change, and the Constitution: The Case of Viscount Bolingbroke
Chapter 6. "La vertu même a besoin de limites": Montesquieu on Moderation and Integrity in the Modern Commercial Republic
Chapter 7. Kant, Robespierre, and the Politics of Purity
Chapter 8. Purity and the Public Official: Max Weber on Bureaucratic Integrity
Conclusion. The Abuse of Public Things
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
