Corruption in German Political Discourse between 1780 and 1820: A Categorisation

Abstract

Corruption in German Political Discourse between 1780 and 1820: A Categorisation

This article focuses on communication of corruption in Germany during the Sattelzeit around 1800. Its contents fall into three different categories: «Ancien Régime», «secret societies» and «bureaucracy». In regards to the first category, the article shows that the old structure of the prince's administration had been the target of (public) corruption charges since the 1780s. At the same time, secret societies were accused of corruption: In their case, the critics argued that members would favour their brothers for vacancies within the prince's administration. Since 1800, the new administrative structures came under suspicion of corruption as publicists regarded the rising expenditures as well as the powerful officialdom in itself as an abuse of public interests – they referred to it as the corrupt bureaucracy. In Germany, all of these categories were established during the Sattelzeit for which a shift in assumptions of corruption can be observed. Furthermore, the categories of corruption indicate the beginning of a clash of (incubating) political ideologies. It shows that all categories were part of a modern critique of corruption that were at the same time contenting a critique of modernity.