Corruption in Politics

October 13, 2006

            I hear it all the time. ‘They are all crooks.’ ‘They just want power.’ The belief that all politics is corrupt pervades our political culture. A recent CNN poll shows that half of all Americans believe that MOST members of Congress are corrupt.

This year’s headlines fuel these beliefs. The Abramoff lobbying scandal. The convictions of Congressmen Bob Ney and Duke Cunningham. The discovery of $90,000 in Congressman’s William Jefferson’s freezer. The indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The Mark Foley page scandal.

How much corruption exists, of course, depends on one’s definition of corruption. If corruption is defined as illegal behavior – taking bribes, hiring ‘ghost employees’ for public works projects – then the vast majority of politicians are not corrupt. The reason the above stories make headlines is that they have crossed the line into illegal behavior.

But most citizens have a broader definition of corruption. For most of us corruption is the abuse of public office for private gain. It is the use of authority to show favoritism to friends and allies. It is making decisions on the basis of ‘special’ interests without any regard to the public interest. Recent studies show that most citizens believe the following scenarios are corrupt.

·        A government official uses connections to help an unemployed friend find a job.

·        A Senator receives a majority of her campaign funds from individuals and companies outside of her state.

·        A lobbyist provides World Series tickets to a member of Congress.

·        A government official awards a contract to a campaign contributor without considering other bids.

·        A candidate promising wealthy constituents certain tax breaks for their companies in return for campaign contributions.

·        The chair of a Congressional committee on agriculture receives a majority of his campaign funds from the agriculture industry.

Not all of the above scenarios are illegal. But we consider them corrupt because they undermine the ability of citizens to effectively lobby their representatives. Corruption is when politicians represent their donors more than their constituents. Corruption excludes the majority of people from influencing the decisions that affect their lives.

Corruption changes public institutions of collective action into instruments of private benefit. Does the Food and Drug Administration represent the public or pharmaceutical companies when they test the safety of new drugs? Does Congress represent the public or the tobacco industry when it passes the annual farm bill? Does the President represent the public or big business when he refuses to sign environmental agreements?

Corruption also creates bad public policy. Homeland security funds have been distributed according to political connections rather than demonstrated security threats. Pork barrel budgets create debts for our children and grandchildren. Public contracts do not necessarily go to the most competent companies.

Corruption literally undermines democracy. When we lose confidence in our public institutions, we become cynical about political participation. We underestimate our own collective abilities to lobby the government to pursue the public good. And then in our own personal ways we sell out the public good: we exaggerate tax deductions, fail to volunteer in our communities, or look the other way when we see corruption.

Given the current election season, the recent scandals seem to matter only because they might hurt the Republicans enough for the Democrats to take over Congress. They matter because they might shift the balance of power in Washington.

But corruption in politics is not a partisan issue, and its importance is greater than the current election. The real scandal of American politics is not the recent illegal activities that have made headlines this past year. The real scandal is that we citizens are regularly excluded from the decisions that affect our lives – and we do very little to change the situation.