Public Policy Issue of Note:

Public Policy Issue of Note: Corruption in Politics

Why are politicians corrupt? This question almost seems too obvious to ask -- money and power seem to be the simple answers. However, if that were the case, then every human being holding a public office with access to money and power would exploit his or her position because of the lure of self-enrichment. Even the most cynical observers would admit that some political environments seem more corrupt than others -- New Jersey is perhaps the most obvious example. A recent 'sting' in the state resulted in the arrest of more than forty-four respected public officials on charges ranging from embezzlement to selling kidneys on the open market.

New Jersey has long been known as such hotbed of corruption many residents did not find the news particularly surprising. An editorial in the June 24, 2009 edition of Time Magazine, tartly noted: "How wonderfully diverse New Jersey has become. When I was kid, the Irish ran Hudson County and Jersey City, the Italians had Hoboken and Newark, and in later years Hispanics muscled into West New York and Union City…Look at the names on yesterday's arrest list, and it's a beautiful rainbow of wretchedness." New Jersey's proliferation of small municipalities have complicated efforts at creating and enforcing effective ethics laws, and until recently it was not uncommon to hear of individuals collecting pensions on several part-time government jobs, as well as more conventional bribery schemes involving local developers.

The names, even the ethnicities of machine politics in New Jersey have changed: yet the way of 'doing business' in the state remains constant. This suggests merely prosecuting bad individuals is not enough; rather systemic issues are fostering corruption. Although corruption can occur anywhere, some states and nations seem to manifest cultures of corruption, where government jobs become a means of enrichment rather than genuine occupations. Patronage rather than merit secures positions, and 'dynasties' of machine control become accepted. Cynicism begets cynicism rather than outrage in the public -- because it is expected that stealing is a way of life, people turn away from politics rather than try to foster change from the ballot box.

The perception of politics as a source of enrichment is perhaps most common in countries such as China, Afghanistan, and Greece, and other high-context nations where 'context' or 'who you know' (to use Geert Hofstede's terminology) is more important than personal knowledge or ability in the functioning of daily life. This focus on tribal or familial loyalty over loyalty to the state makes bribery and nepotism seem normal, rather than shocking. One reason that party machines are often associated with particular ethnic groups is that loyalties and communities that have banded together to sustain themselves in a new environment often use the opportunities provided by politics to find a foothold in society. Corrupt, intransigent, and non-functional governments that fail to inspire loyalty coupled with personal alliances that are stronger than the law is characteristic of corrupt cultures of governance all over the world.

To root out corruption and to change the culture of politics in a state or in a nation requires streamlining the layers of government to enable more careful surveillance by ethics watchdog agencies and the law. It also requires a change of leadership every level of government, not simply the top leadership of the state. One specific policy that has been recommended for New Jersey is consolidating the state's many municipalities and sharing town services such as trash collection. This would make it easier to extend oversight over the local government administration, reduce the number of individuals on the government payroll (and opportunities for them to engage in corrupt practices), and also reduce the number of contracts the municipalities need to enter into, to provide basic services.