Embedding Corruption into Governance: The “Graveyard Affair” in 1970s Naples and its Aftermath

ABSTRACT While Italy is not immune to corruption that breaks the law, it provides a test case for corruption that does not break the law and for corruption that is made legal. This article centres on the dynamics and ramifications of “the graveyard affair”. This case of corrupt power networks in late 1970s Naples was an important precursor to the corruption scandal of the 1990s. It produced convictions, leading to apparently significant changes in the local political set up in favour of politicians who, while presenting themselves as morally superior, progressed to embed legal corruption in the political equation. They pursued discriminatory policies that were later perfected by their like-minded successors. Though legal, these policies are received across society as morally and ethically corrupt, leading ordinary Southerners to feel that they are treated as second-class citizens.