In this extraordinary book on Italy’s Mani Pulite, Manzi breaks new ground in the study of anti-corruption and judicial power. She tells a fascinating story of how institutional change, judicial and prosecutorial dexterity, and civil society mobilization converged to produce an unprecedented pro-transparency push, one with profound local, regional, and global implications. Through a clever combination of historical analysis, within case comparisons and creative fieldwork, Manzi shows that the internal design of judicial and prosecutorial bureaucracies, in particular the degree to which they are hierarchical or “flat,” greatly conditions the ability of actors in the criminal legal complex to hold politicians to account. She also shows that via synergies with activists and legal scholars, judges and prosecutors can produce innovative investigative protocols and jurisprudence, thus amplifying the effects of institutional change. This book is a must read for students of judicial politics and corruption criminalization.
— Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ocantos, University of Oxford
Manzi’s book richly demonstrates that prosecutorial independence and effectiveness in anticorruption are political constructs. At the time when some in the “anticorruption industry” take these factors for granted or try to acritically replicate models in which they are required, she reminds us that it is crucial to look at the historical and contextual factors embedding prosecutors and prosecutorial services. Learning this key lesson from the Clean Hands case will equip the next generations of anticorruption activists to do better and avoid potentially tragic mistakes, like those committed in Brazil’s lava jato.
— Fabio de Sa e Silva, University of Oklahoma
In this outstanding book, Lucia Manzi offers a highly compelling account of the factors that explain the timing and effectiveness of Italy's Clean Hands operation. Through careful analysis, Professor Manzi shows that the roots of the operation's success lie in the interaction of previous institutional restructuring with an egalitarian understanding and practice of the prosecutorial role. The book's broader theoretical insight is that effective pursuit of accountability for abuses of political office depends on the answer to the deceptively simple question, “For whom do prosecutors work?”
— Lisa Hilbink, University of Minnesota