This book analyzes the political and administrative campaign to combat official corruption In New York City, specifically, and the United States, generally, over the course of the twentieth century. We call these government efforts the anticorruption project, by which we mean the laws, regulations, and organizational policies aimed at identifying, preventing, and punishing official corruption. Over the years, the anticorruption project has been driven by cycles of corruption and reform. The trend is inexorable, but the term anticorruption project is not meant to imply a disciplined movement. The absence of scandal is attributed to the success of existing strategies and institutions, while the occurrence of scandal is put forward as proving the need for additional laws and strategies.