Political corruption in the 19th century - a monographic study

该项目的目的是撰写一本关于18世纪至20世纪30年代西方社会现代化中的政治腐败历史的专著。重点还将放在腐败辩论以及德国、法国、英国、意大利、西班牙和美国有争议的政治赞助和网络做法(“MikroPoltik”)上。这将是第一本关于这一主题的综合性和跨国设计的书籍。它将分析微观政治、对腐败的批评和现代性之间的关系：首先，这些做法经历了现代化进程，也是现代化进程的一部分。其次，腐败指控被证明是政治现代性的重要参考。根据现代社会的自我概念，它应该能够克服政治腐败；它的发展阶段可以用反腐败斗争的结果来衡量。然而，这场斗争永远不会取得真正的成功，因为个人利益和公共利益之间的根本二分法，作为腐败概念的基础，永远不可能在政治的社会现实中实施。几波国际上可察觉的腐败辩论促成了欧洲的政权更迭。第一波浪潮导致了古老的雷吉姆制度的丧失。在19世纪末，可以发现当时的议会制度也有类似的影响。最后，20世纪初威权政权的建立得益于腐败辩论。

The aim of the project is the composition of a monograph on the history of political corruption in modernising western societies between the 18th century and the 1930s. Focus will be as well on the corruption debates as well as on the debated practices of political patronage and networking ("Mikropolitik") in Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and the United States. This will be the first comprehenive und transnationally designed book on the topic. It will analyse the relationship between micro-politics, criticism of corruption and modernity: First, the practices underwent and were part of modernising processes. Second, the charge of corruption proved to be an important reference for political modernity. According to its self-conception modern society should be able to overcome political corruption; its stage of development can be measured by the results of the fight against corruption. However, the fight never can be truly successful, because the fundamental dichotomy between individual gain and the public good, underlying the concept of corruption, could never be implemented in the social reality of politics. Several, internationally detectable waves of corruption debates contributed to regime change in Europe. The first wave accounted for the delegitimation of the Ancien Régime. At the end of the 19th century, similar effects can be detected with respect to the parliamentary systems of the time. Finally, the establishment of authoritarian regimes in the early 20th century profited from corruption debates.