Lockheed (1977) and Flick (1981–1986)

This chapter concentrates on two large political corruption scandals—Lockheed and Flick—in two countries that are commonly seen as relatively corruption-free: the Netherlands and Germany. It argues that these corruption scandals were taken very seriously in these countries, but were handled in different ways from what current anticorruption policies would suggest. In both instances, the existing law was regarded as inadequate and the political elites tried to keep the scandals subdued by balancing refusal of formal prosecution against intense public debate, with the aim of maintaining the stability of the political system in the longer run. In illuminating the overlapping interests of political and financial elites, this chapter stresses the value of pragmatic as opposed to morally unbendable approaches to anticorruption.