Corruption in Government

“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

Political corruption is a major problem in the US today. It involves almost all levels of government and affects people from all walks of life. Public office is a noble post and citizens put their trust in government officials to carry out their constitutional duties for the benefit of the citizenry. The problem comes in where both elected and unelected officials perform their duties with the goal of personal gain in full view of the law. The ethical and moral wrongs of corruption are unjustifiable in any context.

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.

Someone who is abusing the power that is given to him or her defines corruption, however, the word in its self is more than a simple idea; it is an intricate network. Since people’s views about ethical and moral behavior affect the way corruption is examined, the word has a slightly different meaning to each person. Additionally, misconduct across various societies is viewed differently due to social and cultural borders. The criminal justice system has had many instances where corruption had affected the outcome of a case and has inserted itself into the legal process.

Combating fraud in the private sector is a difficult task. Trying to combat fraud in the public sector is daunting. In 1999 15.7% of the American workforce were employed by a government entity (federal, state, and local).[1] Mirroring society, government will have its share of perpetrators. The difference from the private sector is in the scope of the fraud committed, the loss of the public trust, the blaring headlines from news media, and difficulty in making necessary changes to combat the problems.

Power is wanted by many people across the universe, and those that gain it are privileged to many advantages in life. Power can be a good thing and a bad thing, mostly depending on what type of person gains the power, but in the end, everyone is the same. Great power has the potential to lead to corruption of the individual, leading to great overlooked weaknesses.

The 0.40 increase in CPI from 2000 to 2001 should be compared to a similar change; from 2008 to 2009, the CPI dropped from 3.6 to 3.3. The only equivalent change in the time period of these surveys would be 2014 to 2015, where the CPI dropped from 3.5 to 3.1, but Corporación Latinobarómetro does not include a 2014 survey, which makes it impossible to find equal measurements. Between 2004 and 2005, preference for democracy increased from 54% to 59%, despite an increase in corruption. Preference for authoritarianism decreased from 16% to 13% and ambivalence about regime type decreased from 36% to 24%. These results show that even when there is an increase in corruption, there is not a decrease in preference for a democratic regime. Likewise,

Most of the employees in the government sector are paid low wages and salaries. Hence, some of them couldn’t afford for the daily life expenses but revert to corruption

In my many travels to different parts of the world. I have seen that public corruption is commonly regarded as an issue for the country. Many governments have the same issues. Whether, it is domestic or international government. There is speculation of corruption and unfair treatment of the governments all over the world. There are other programs that can assist the government such as aid organizations, along with donor-states that have distinct programs to combat the issues. When you think about countries that contain a higher rate of corruption, there has been points made that the corruption is persistent, the point has been made that it has some advantage as well. This is not something any should be bragging about; municipal dishonesty can be and will be seen as an unescapable defect of developing a government (Bayley, 2010).

The United States’ government is composed of three branches; the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch. Each branch was created for a specific purpose and are regulated by each other. The founding fathers wanted to create a decentralized government and therefore, decided to distribute the government power among all three branches. The distribution of power, they hoped would prevent corruption in the government. For this reason, 39 states hold judicial elections to allow the citizens of the state to determine the next seating judge. In previous years holding a magistrate position was considered one of the most prestige and respected positions within the government. Now these elections have become extremely corrupt and the wellbeing of the people is no longer a priority for many of these individuals.

Rothstein says, “a corrupt government is the worst social ill of all.” A corrupt government leads to the citizens losing trust in each other and the government. Trust has been described by Rothstein as a linchpin to a functioning society. Therefore, individuals who believe the government is corrupt don’t trust in it. Many argue the rich have excluded the middle and lower class from politics can be a plague to society by itself. Mark Warren describes corruption as “duplicitous and harmful exclusion of those who have a claim to inclusion in collective decisions and actions.” Under this logic, the belief that the rich are more entitled to politics than lower classes is a form of corruption. Another reason the government might be seen as corrupt is the amount it has expanded. The government has its hands on almost everything due to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause. This is not necessary a bad thing especially considering it’s the reason the government has the power to tell hotels and restraints they can’t exclude minorities for the reason of being a minority. However, this expands the government which requires more people. The bureaucracy, in particular, allows more power to street-level bureaucrats. Corruption finds its way to these street-level bureaucrats because the media is watching the big dogs. Government employees such as drug testers can make people feel uncomfortable or ashamed which lowers trust. Favoritism, bribery, and rudeness

Watching this documentary on basically how corrupt our society and government is was pretty eye opening. Especially for someone who really has no basic understanding of how it all works, especially politics, it personally made me think about the world we live in and how the different social classes really are and how much they really mean. How living with an absurd amount of money can give you all the power in the world, and wondering if it’s really possible for some people to successfully make it out of poverty and reach the other side where you can comfortably live and support yourself. Do people really see the bigger picture? How money really does buy pretty much everything and make the world go around, and the little guys get left in the dust, scrambling to make their way through it all. Honestly the world out there is pretty scary, and as someone pretty much just entering the whole adult life of taxes and figuring out how to survive in this economy, it’s pretty nerve wrecking.

The corruption of political figures is something that many people, nationwide, believe that America has to deal with. Whether it be in local areas or the country overall it seems as people begin to gain power they seem to become more corrupt and stray away from what they should be worried about.

Background: Corruption is the use of entrusted power for private gain as defined by the United

Corruption is the abuse of public offices for private gain. Defining corruption is imperative in the setting of worldwide endeavors to