La corrupción general del siglo. Palabras y discursos sobre la corrupción política en la España de la primera mitad del siglo XIX.

The purpose of the article is to clarify and organise the various meanings inherent in the semantic family associated with the concept of political corruption adopted in nineteenth-century Spain. We analyse meanings that appeared in the legal, philosophical, and purely political spheres. In so doing, we take into account the historical, institutional and political context of each one. We review parliamentary speeches, the press and the political treatises, and highlight the arguments used to legitimise good government and its antithesis.