The Tradeoff Between Corruption and Capacity: The Case of Nineteenth Century St. Louis and Pittsburgh

In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, American officials challenged systemic corruption in cities across the country. In some cases, their victories came with substantial costs. Using original archival research of city sanitation services in St. Louis, Missouri and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we show how corruption provided these cities with the capacity to collect and dispose of trash. When reforms sought to rid the city government of corruption, they also threatened to limit or eliminate its ability to collect and dispose of trash. While St. Louis’ efforts to displace the corrupt contractor also eliminated the capacity to provide these basic city services, Pittsburgh’s new government took less drastic measures and continued to contract out to the same business the previous administration had employed, retaining capacity. Together, our cases show that cities attempting reforms faced a tradeoff between corruption and capacity. Our findings suggest that contemporary researchers account for the capacity that corruption may offer and analyze whether cities will have capacity to provide services if corruption is reduced or eliminated and, additionally, that contemporary policymakers find alternative sources of capacity before anti-corruption measures.