Corruption

Corruption is, in politics and business, abusing one's position to enrich or otherwise advance oneself or one's friends or relatives. Bribery and nepotism are common forms of corruption. More subtle is the failure to perform civic duty, or to allow personal priorities to overcome national needs.

"Officials, trained only to obey orders, have neither the desire, the equipment, nor the vision to modify rules to suit individual situations," Reimann explains. "The state bureaucrats, therefore, apply these laws rigidly and mechanically, without regard for the vital interests of essential parts of the national economy. Their only incentive to modify the letter of the law is in bribes from businessmen, who for their part use bribery as their only means of obtaining relief from a rigidity which they find crippling."

In morality, it refers to the subversion of moral principle for ulterior motives.

Do newspaper expose or endorse corruption? Nasty little printing devils spew forth from the Hoe press in the cartoon from Puck magazine, Nov. 21, 1888

Corruption and politics

Corruption was the great evil the Founding Fathers confronted. When Britain showed too much corruption, it was time to break free with the American Revolution. To overcome the temptations of corruption--such as luxury and bribery--in their own lives, the Founding Fathers cultivated the virtue of disinterestedness. That is, the made a conscious effort to not be the creature of his financial interests, and not give any sign to the public that they sought luxury or bribes. The goal was to be impartial, concerned only for the public good, not the advancement of friends or, still less, of party.

The Founding Fathers sought "Honor" --freedom from corruption, and a positive devotion to civic virtue. These were key elements of Republicanism, and the Founding Fathers made republicanism the core values of the American system of government.

Even personal shame and humiliation was preferable to a tarnished honor or the hint of corruption. When Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton was accused of corruption for making secret payments to a man named James Reynolds, Hamilton revealed he had been set up and was paying blackmail to Reynolds following an affair with Mrs. Reynolds. Duels over honor were common in the era--Hamilton was killed in one, as was Hamilton's son.

Corruption continues to be the greatest threat to republicanism, and is a red flag for both parties in the U.S., even though both parties have been guilty.

Recent examples

In December 2008, the Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested on corruption charges. He had attempted to sell Barack Obama's vacant senate seat to the highest bidder, and threatened to withhold funding from a children's hospital.

Political machines

Political scientists have compared the conditions that gave rise to urban machines in the United States (such as the the Tweed Ring in New York City in the 1860s) to conditions today in Africa and Asia. Both types of machines have been organized in societies undergoing a transition and seeking personal or family rewards rather than seeking national goals or civic duty. Both kinds of machines overcame the fragmentation of government power, the social fragmentation created by urbanization, and the poverty of the people. Patronage has been the key element in maintaining control in both situations. Perhaps the machine as an organization works best at a subnational level where the social structure is more appropriate for machine development.

Prohibition

There have been many grass-roots crusades against corruption in American history. The most successful--for a while--was the dry crusade to close saloons because they were the seat of corruption in local politics, and the ruination (through drunkenness, domestic violence and wasteful spending) of the family. Led by the Anti-Saloon league, the drys mobilized their forces and carried the day in World War I. Prohibition represented the fulfillment of the Progressives' desire to end corruption, elevate the masses, and use governmental power to correct social evils. World War I provided a second factor. It added patriotism to the struggle against liquor by pointing out that prohibition saved food needed by soldiers and America's Allies, produced better soldiers and more efficient workers, and struck at an industry controlled by men of German background.

Further reading

• Scott, James C. "Corruption, Machine Politics, and Political Change," American Political Science Review 1969 63(4): 1142-1158 in JSTOR

See also

• Simony
• Barratry