Date of Award
8-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Organizational Unit
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
First Advisor
Rachel Epstein
Second Advisor
Ilene Grabel
Third Advisor
Debbi Avant
Fourth Advisor
Thomas Nail
Keywords
Illicit finance, United States Treasury, Sanctions, Money laundering, Demonetization, Narrative, Metanarrative
Abstract
This dissertation explores how the US government identifies and responds to the problem of illicit finance, specifically, why the US Treasury utilizes certain approaches over others. I employ a comparative case study of three relatively recent, non-traditional approaches in the Treasury’s anti-illicit finance repertoire: targeted financial sanctions (a case of strong policy action), anti-money laundering in real estate (a case of tentative policy action), and the proposed demonetization of high denomination notes (a case of policy inaction). While considering a wide range of plausible explanations for this variation in policy action, I argue that the Treasury’s decision to either pursue, postpone or reject a given approach is largely a function of the policy narrative surrounding that approach.
I find that the Treasury is more likely to pursue an anti-illicit finance approach when the relevant policy entrepreneurs have successfully invoked the nationalist narrative canon of “American Exceptionalism,” “The American Dream,” and/or “American Civil Religion.” Methodologically, I rely on the recent Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) literature, which emphasizes the importance of narrative elements – setting, plot, characters (i.e., heroes and villains), and moral – in the marketing of policy ideas. The most attractive policy approaches are those that resonate with nationalistic metanarratives and, to the extent possible, cast the villain in the story as foreign and other.
Copyright Date
8-2023
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Paul Christopher Kemp
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
477 pgs
File Size
2.3 MB
Recommended Citation
Kemp, Paul Christopher, "The Treasury of Stories: Policy Narratives of Anti-Illicit Finance" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2296.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2296
Discipline
International relations