Abstract The main research question addressed in this paper is how control of corruption has been built historically and what lessons we can derive from this for current anti-corruption policies. Corruption is defined here not at the individual level—undue profit from abuse of public authority—but at the societal level, as a governance regime. A governance regime is a salient and stable set of institutions (rules of the game) determining who gets what in a given society. Keywords: corruption, governance regime, ethical universalism, favoritism, republicanism Abstract The main research question addressed in this paper is how control of corruption has been built historically and what lessons we can derive from this for current anti-corruption policies. Corruption is defined here not at the individual level—undue profit from abuse of public authority—but at the societal level, as a governance regime. A governance regime is a salient and stable set of institutions (rules of the game) determining who gets what in a given society. Keywords: corruption, governance regime, ethical universalism, favoritism, republicanism