Corruption of the Power Elites in the United States

“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

Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they

The United States is no longer the democracy it stands for. Democracy stands for a government controlled by the majority of the population. The United States is no longer controlled by the majority. America is controlled by the powerful corporations and rich elite. The combination of an uninformed, disinterested public, a flawed election process, and an economy controlled by 1% of the population have all led to the formation of the American Oligarchy.

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.

The 100th year anniversary of The Declaration of Independence is here and the Nation is as united as it is equal. None. Although football games continue like Princeton vs. Rutgers the United states is in shambles. Following the war between the states a plan to reconstruct was put into place. It was proficient, effective, and controversial for many years. However, after the long Civil War and years spent to rebuild the Nation, the North Ultimately killed reconstruction because of government corruption, the focus change in North, and widespread racism throughout the nation.

The Gilded Age was an interesting time where the government implemented a laissez faire stance on companies and the economic world. Due to this stance there would be a frequent amount of unethical actions and policies applied to common practice for larger business. The bigger unethical players in the game included: the railroads, Tammany Hall, and even the Federal government itself.

The balance of function in the United States were very conflicted during the Civil War time period. State governments wouldn’t agree with the national governments and vice versa. The Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches also were corrupted for a while with presidents allowing their friends become officials and also with the corrupt banking going on in the Jackson era.

It is unsensible to believe that even the upper crest of the US financially can keep up with a corporation. Therefore receiving donations from corporations is the candidate's main goal, while ignoring the many small donors that truly represent America’s views. While there is no solid proof of corporations influencing candidates decisions thee have been sketchy moment in which corporations money influencing candidates decisions have been suspected. In 2000 when Bush was running for president an energy company based in Houston, Enron donated a substantial amount of money to Bush. They donated 2.5 million making them the highest donating energy company and the 36th highest corporate donator. After Bush was elected he passed 6 bills extremely beneficial for Enron that multiplied their revenue by nearly three times. In all Corporations donating limitless to candidates forces a candidate to pass bills beneficial for their donors and not the majority of people. This needs to stop or the purity of America’s political system goes down the

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.

Political corruption in the United States is present an at least one of the three branches of government in all fifty states but is most common in the Legislative branch. Ending political corruption is nearly impossible because public officials will always find a loophole in the existing laws but reducing corruption is possible. The most efficient way to dramatically reducing political corruption is by targeting the Legislative branch of the United States government. Two members of Congress are trying to exactly do that by proposing a law, At the federal level, that would impose term limits on members of Congress. Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Ron DeSantis are both pushing an amendment to be added to the United States Constitution which would impose term limits on members of the House of Representative and the Senate. Political corruption in the legislative branch of the federal government is a problem because members of Congress will favor special interest rather than their constituent. A law that was passed at the federal level to try solving this problem is the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act” and a proposed law at the state level Ohio "Strengthening Term Limits on State Legislators" Amendment but both laws don't go far enough. By Imposing term limits on Congress it will help reduce political corruption because it will constantly bring new faces to Congress which will make it harder for special interest to have a “grip” on Congress. Congressional term

In terms of elections, the right to unlimited indirect contributions is causing political corruption that will only benefit the wealthy. Furthermore, the religious freedoms granted to some corporations is having an influence on individual rights. Moreover, recent attempts of corporations denying law officials is risking the national security of all Americans. As long as corporations are legally limited to rights that do not affect individual liberties, this issue would be less severe than it is today. For a solution, it is the duty of the Supreme Court to repeal the rights they have given to corporations. If the corporations are still favored, it is only right that Congress proposes a constitutional amendment that clarifies the legal rights of corporations. As a whole, this solution will make corporations have knowledge of their legal standing as well as diminish rulings done on a case-by-case

In response to your above comments, there was always some aspect of corruption in politics as was seen during Reconstruction, particularly in terms of subjugation the African American population. However, the machine politics, seen in the Industrialization era, took on a new meaning as more and more citizens were becoming involved with more diverse needs and convictions. While most were concerned with real change to improve society, others seemed to be more concerned with their own agendas rather than the idea of improving democracy and society. From buying votes with philanthropy to city officials illegally distributing funds to illegal enterprises for their own gain, the “you scratch my back” mentality seemed to rule the political

It takes centuries to build nations from nothing to a superpower but it can take years to create its demise, this in evident in America. In our American environment there are three groups the affluent, the natives, and the entrusted. The natives vote for people who they think will represent their interests in congress, which makes these elected officials part of the entrusted group. Conversely, since the entrusted group are now at a position of power, the affluent bribes the entrusted to remove the ideals of the natives and use the ideals of the affluent. Thus, eliminating the purpose for which they were placed in the entrusted group in the first place. The composer of this calamity are the affluent, the entrusted on the other hand are the

Psychologists have wondered how power can affect different people for a long time, they wanted to know why power brought out the best in some and the worst in others. Before there was any real evidence, the proof people would use would be something like how prison guards would abuse their wards. A person with power in your life is probably the one of the most important people in your life, and that can be a big deal, having power is not something to be taken lightly.

* Is the government jeopardizing its role in protecting the public interest when politicians sit on the board of corporations?