Corruption In Political Parties

“Corruption, improper and usually unlawful conduct intended to secure a benefit for oneself or another its forms include bribery, extortion, and the misuse of inside information. It exists where there is community indifference or a lack of enforcement policies.”(Encyclopedia Britannica). Today political Corruption in all forms exists in every country in the world. In some countries it is more prominent then in others, but no matter where you go it still occurs. Recently in mid 2013 some political corruption was brought to light in New York. “Since 2007, state senators have been more likely to be arrested then to lose their seats in a general election,” (New York Public Interest Research group). In April of 2013 New York State

Tulia, a small town in Texas of just under five-thousand people, is a frightening example of how the judicial system is governed solely by racism as well as one corrupt man’s word. In 1999, nearly ten percent of the town’s African American population was arrested in a single drug bust. Of the forty-six people arrested, thirty-eight were African-American, furthermore all were convicted. The remaining seven arrested where know to associate more with the black community than the white in Tulia as well. With the towns income levels averaging at or below the poverty line, most arrested could not afford to hire a good attorney that cared or had the time to care, left therefore with one provided by the state. Consequently, convictions were up to ninety years in jail for allegedly selling three and a half grams, more commonly known as an eight ball, of cocaine in drug-free zones. In was only on appeals, that the convictions where revoked on insubstantial evidence.

The Progress movement or as many refer to as the Progressive era, was a time frame where Americans joined in varying groups to advocate reform across the United States. To elaborate, Progressives believed in widespread change for child labor, industrialization, government, racial reform, and women’s rights. Countless stories of corruption in these areas were brought to light in the Progressive era mostly due to the published writings of Muckrakers. Muckrakers, were journalists who wrote for popular magazines that attempted to expose corrupt political activities from their investigative journalism. Furthermore, I will discuss and compare these groups and their attempts for changes in the rights of child labor, women, acknowledgment of corrupt government practices, racial relations, and industrialization reform.

Monetary value has had significant influence in determining the outcome of elections. The input and strategies put forward by different forces determine the organizational scheme and the ability to grab most of the seats. Although money has been linked to corrupt deals in many countries, with leaders amassing power through corrupt and underhand methods, especially in Africa, this is not the case of the same monetary influence witnessed in America. The conventions of the U.S.A raise a lot of money in preparation for campaigns and elections to constitute a good number of representatives. The paper, therefore, looks at the effect of money in the recently concluded elections of the Congress, giving a deeper view of the 113th and 114th Congress election of the two major conventions.

“All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law” This quote from Theodore Roosevelt illustrates how corporate money can be disastrous when involved in election cycles. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The Supreme Court decided in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that companies and Super PAC’s could donate unlimited amount of money to support candidates. The Citizens United ruling has caused increased political corruption in the United States by giving candidates the money they need to win an election while changing policies that would be beneficial to the company.

One of the issues I am most passionate about is that of money in American politics. Increasing campaign costs, coupled with a decrease in the number of donors contributing to those campaigns, is a disturbing trend which has caused many to feel the need to question the state of our democracy—myself included. The problem of mainstream political corruption and legalized bribery is one that I was made aware of three years ago, and has since become one of the things keeping me up at night most often.

There are many of us who are disillusioned by the American Political system, over the years we have become increasingly cynical, viewing politicians as extensions of Corporate America, the good OLE boys from the South and the Eastern Elite. For such politicians, politics itself was a life long destiny, full of ambition, finesse, and struggle for power, yet a severe lack

Then-current president Theodore Roosevelt was extremely active on the campaign trail, promoting Taft’s name with great fervor. Roosevelt and Taft’s alliance is one of the earliest and most significant examples of politicians working together to reach individual goals. Taft would benefit by receiving the Presidential Office, and Roosevelt would have his policies continue through the new administration. Over the course of American History, there has been a pattern of politicians collaborating for a somewhat secretive or deceitful goal. Throughout the entire century following Progressive Era reforms, corruption has found its footing again in American Politics; the efforts towards reducing corporate involvement or individual meddling in the political process have not accomplished their goal. Corruption continued, sometimes by the individuals who spoke so vehemently against practices of that nature. This essay will explore the triumphs and failures of Progressive Reform, using Roosevelt’s behaviour during Taft’s presidency

Corruption in campaigns, in the modern sense of candidates being swayed by corporate influence, was a result of the changes brought on by the Industrial and Technological Revolutions. These revolutions created millionaire captains of industry whose immense influence and power held sway over the future of the United States both economically and politically. Elections and campaigning methods drastically changed as technology allowed candidates to reach voters through new kinds of advertising. Gone were the days when being born in a log cabin was the key to door of the Oval Office, the effectiveness of a candidate’s campaign now correlated with the amount of money backing it. The early twentieth century also saw the continuance of the widespread corruption, particularly in the railroad industry, but also in political campaigns, that had plagued the late nineteenth century before it. The significance of this is that, while corruption had no doubt existed prior to this period, the sheer scale of this new corruption and the magnitude of the resulting political scandals was unlike anything America had witnessed before. Muckraking writer Lincoln Steffens, in his book The Shame of the Cities, described the problem of the political sphere of his time by stating: “politics is business. That 's what 's the matter with it. That 's what 's the matter with everything.” (Steffens 2) Something clearly needed to be done to stem the rising corruption and action came as the progressive movement

As said in every economics class, the reason every business goes into business is to make money. The same can be said in criminal cases involving businesses. In the majority of cases, executives and people highly ranked in the company tend to bend the numbers in the financial/accounting areas of the business or corporation. They do not do this for fun, but rather to make money. Something needs to be done before corporations really get out of hand.

Chapter Seven Essay--Trace the development of political parties during Washington's administration and describe their basic philosophies.

There once was a young man named Rod. Rod had worked hard for the majority of his life. He was born into a poorer family in Chicago. He took odd jobs growing up and later in life went into politics. His life was looking up he had made a name for himself and decided to run for Governor. He won and was then given a chance to decide who would fill the new president's seat in the senate. Instead of picking a member of his party, or picking the most qualified candidate he decided to accept a bribe, almost like a payment, for the seat. Now one might recognize this story. It’s the story of Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois Governor who was impeached from office under an unanimous vote, and imprisoned for 14 years on many charges including corruption.

On the word politics, usually brings to mind are images of government, politicians and their policies and more negatively the idea of corruption. Political parties can be seen throughout everyday life. In various of ways, such as watching television or seeing signs beside the road while driving. These everyday affair make the knowledge of political parties commonly known, as the republican and the democrats.

We have all been told since the beginning of time that every vote counts. For example, when those cool celebrities tell you to go out and rock the vote, but when it comes to electing your representatives. You know the people who write and pass laws, there are cases when your vote does not really count and it is no accident. Politicians do it on purpose through Gerrymandering. The process of manipulating district boundaries to give a political party an advantage over the other.

The unlawful use of a person’s position while in power leads to multiple problems with today’s government. The corrupt methods politicians use are ideas that are strictly in place for personal gain. Present throughout history and still prevalent within today’s world, government corruption has consisted of a number of negative issues including bribery, economic and social impacts, and the misuse of power. Government’s role within daily life has been shown to have negative effects as seen in many aspects of life as well as in literature.