Public Corruption

“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.

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.

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.

Corruption can come from many different people. When the same group of people are always in government it becomes a situation where this group of people runs government. And when someone wants to be elected they might do whatever the group of people wants to be in there favor. The Federalist paper number 68 it says “He might otherwise be tempted to sacrifice his duty to his complaisance for those whose favor was necessarily to the duration of his official consequence” (Hamilton). There are also people from foreign countries that want to be the leader of America just for the benefit of their home country. They

The forms I think corruption can take within a public organization would be the forms of corruption can take within a public organizations is bribery an employee can offer or give gifts to person and incentives to make dishonest decisions. Not many bribes are cash transactions but could be a variety advantages for services like free work holidays or low tenancy fees. Extortion which is a crime of getting money or other valuable goods by the abuse of their office and position of authority. I also see Fraud

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

Freeman, M. (2012). Chapter 91: The Bell Tolls for Local Government Corruption. Mcgeorge Law Review, 43(3),

In the American version of a democratic system, a handful of extremely wealthy individuals and large corporations control the political system. By "funding" or bribing the candidates, they directly influence the election and nominations of presidents, governors, senators and congress members. The money is used for campaign staff, door to door voting operations, and television advertising. The continued influence of the wealthy violates the basic principle of democratic political equality.This cynical political campaign has become part of the democratic system that the politicians are not even required to justify their action. Even though a truly democratic system is too perfect to exist, a corrupted political system destroys the hope for a system that has the public's interest in mind.

After reading these books, l thinks America should be less corruption of authority and also equality. All citizens in American should have freedom and be treated equality no matter the skin color./ These stories offer that America should be free of corruption and equality. These stories stories sees America to be like a country with no strict and segregation against one group of people.

growth. Corruption reduces the efficiencies of the operations of the market economy and a loss

When exploring political White Collar Crime involving the executive branch, legislative branch, judiciary branch and state and local governments within the United States, we can perceive all of these branches have some form of political corruption. Though it is hard to define it represent a fine line, which when crossed, the public is vulnerable. Corruption can include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, embezzlement and kickbacks. For example, campaign contributions would be a great way for underpaid political figures to gain financially.

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.

Political corruption has existed throughout the ages. It believed to be most prominent in positions of power, because of the role money plays in getting people power. However, over the centuries, corruption has changed so much so as to not match a particular definition of corruption, perpetually growing deceptively harder to find (Ebbe).