Anti-corruption imaginaries in Chile and the United States

The paper argues that there are two distinct ways to think about political corruption that can also be labeled "progressive" and "conservative". While the progressive anti-corruption imaginary can be summed up with "business corrupts politics", the conservative anti-corruption sentiment is better described as "politics corrupts business". The paper comparatively examines progressive and conservative anti-corruption efforts in Chile and the United States as the two countries which brought corruption to the global agenda. As an obsession of US progressives, the anti-corruption agenda has a long pedigree in US politics. Distinguishing between progressive and conservative anti-corruption imaginaries, the paper examines three major points of anti-corruption efforts in the United States: 1) The Nixon anti-corruption agenda (1969-1974); 2) The Ford anti-corruption agenda (1974-1977); and 3) The Obama anti-corruption agenda (2009-2017). The paper further compares these to three major points of anti-corruption efforts in Chile: 1) The Allende anti-corruption agenda (1970-1973); 2) The Pinochet anti-corruption agenda (1974-1990); 3) The Bachelet anti-corruption agenda (2006-2010 and 2014-2018). The progressive anti-corruption corruption imaginary in both countries is often characterized by a desire to limit the influence of money on politics and public life. The conservative anti-corruption corruption imaginary, on the contrary, is often animated by a desire to limit the scope of politics and to hinder regulation of private enterprises because the political is often portrayed as inherently corrupt. The paper further argues that distinguishing between progressive and conservative anti-corruption imaginaries in Chile and the United States, holds implications for global anti-corruption efforts.