An Intellectual History of Political Corruption - (Political Corruption and Governance) by B Buchan & L Hill (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Few concepts have witnessed a more dramatic resurgence of interest in recent years than corruption. This book provides a compelling historical and conceptual analysis of corruption which demonstrates a persistent oscillation between restrictive 'public office' and expansive 'degenerative' connotations of corruption from classical Antiquity to 1800.

Review Quotes

"Bruce Buchan and Lisa Hill's An Intellectual History of Political Corruption marks an important step in the contextualization of the problem of corruption in public affairs as a recurrent and pronounced issue over centuries of Western thought. The project undertaken by the authors is innovative not only for its solid historical scholarship, but also for its relevance to contemporary historical concerns. They illustrate brilliantly why the study of the history of ideas remains a necessary component of any full understanding of contemporary politics."

Cary J. Nederman, Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University, USA

"Buchan and Hill provide a compelling account of the changing understanding of political corruption from the ancient world until the end of the 18th century. It addresses a major gap in the literature on corruption that tends to be both resolutely ahistorical and centred on liberal democratic states; and it does so with great clarity and considerable erudition. It should help us to develop a deeper understanding of what we now take to be central to political corruption, and to seeing how and why we have come to see things in this way."

Mark Philp, Oriel College, University of Oxford, UK

"This is an excellent introduction to the evolution of a contested concept that has huge contemporary resonance.

Buchan and Hill have written a very accessible and engaging book which takes in a huge sweep of history, from classical times to the end of the eighteenth century, and they deserve a wide readership."

Mark Knights, Department of History, Universtiy of Warwick, UK

About the Author

Bruce Buchan is a Political Theorist whose research traces the historical articulation and contemporary implications of key concepts. He is currently working on projects funded by the Australia Research Council on the intellectual history of asymmetric warfare, and on ideas of sound, noise and civility in the Enlightenment period

Lisa Hill is Professor of Politics, School of History and Politics, University of Adelaide, Australia