This book is about changing public values and perceptions of political corruption in an important period of Dutch history, between 1748 and 1813. It consists of three parts. Part one provides the research question and discusses public values and public value dynamics, political corruption and administrative history. Part two connects these elements to the socio-political context of Dutch early modern public administration. Part three offers three case studies of scandals of political corruption, involving taxation and bureaucratization around 1750, patronage and nepotism in the 1770s and 1780s and corruption following the Batavian revolution of 1795. The cases uncover public values and assumptions of what was considered __good__ or __bad__ public administration and serve to assess change and continuity therein. In this way, the study shows how Dutch public morality evolved amidst fundamental political and social change in a period in which many of the modern foundations of Dutch government and administration were shaped. It therefore provides knowledge to assess origins and essence of current Dutch thinking on __proper__ public administration. The study also expressly aims to combine historical and social-scientific explorations and aims to contribute to developing methodological and theoretical avenues for further historical comparative research into changing public morality.LEI Universiteit LeidenThe politics and administration of institutional chang
