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Corruption continues to be the greatest threat to [[republicanism]], and is a red flag for both parties in the U.S., even though both parties have been guilty.
Corruption continues to be the greatest threat to [[republicanism]], and is a red flag for both parties in the U.S., even though both parties have been guilty.
==Recent examples==
In December 2008, the Illinois governor [[Rod Blagojevich]], a Democrat, was arrested on corruption charges. He had attempted to sell [[Barack Obama]]'s vacant senate seat to the highest bidder, and threatened to withhold funding from a children's hospital.<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40593</ref>
In December 2008, the Illinois governor [[Rod Blagojevich]], a Democrat, was arrested on corruption charges. He had attempted to sell [[Barack Obama]]'s vacant senate seat to the highest bidder, and threatened to withhold funding from a children's hospital.<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40593</ref>
==Political machines==
Political scientists have compared the conditions that gave rise to urban machines in the United States (such as the the [[Tweed Ring]] in New York City in the 1860s) to conditions today in Africa and Asia. Both types of machines have been organized in societies undergoing a transition and seeking personal or family rewards rather than seeking national goals or civic duty. Both kinds of machines overcame the fragmentation of government power, the social fragmentation created by urbanization, and the poverty of the people. Patronage has been the key element in maintaining control in both situations. Perhaps the machine as an organization works best at a subnational level where the social structure is more appropriate for machine development.<ref> Scott (1969) </ref>
==Prohibition==
There have been many grass-roots crusades against corruption in American history. The most successful--for a while--was the dry crusade to close saloons because they were the seat of corruption in local politics, and the ruination (through drunkenness, domestic violence and wasteful spending) of the family. Led by the [[Anti-Saloon league]], the drys mobilized their forces and carried the day in World War I. [[Prohibition]] represented the fulfillment of the Progressives' desire to end corruption, elevate the masses, and use governmental power to correct social evils. World War I provided a second factor. It added patriotism to the struggle against liquor by pointing out that prohibition saved food needed by soldiers and America's Allies, produced better soldiers and more efficient workers, and struck at an industry controlled by men of German background.
==Further reading ==
* Scott, James C. "Corruption, Machine Politics, and Political Change," ''American Political Science Review'' 1969 63(4): 1142-1158 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1955076 in JSTOR]
==Notes==
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Political Terms]]
[[Category:Political Terms]]
[[Category:Corruption]]
[[Category:Corruption]]