Political Corruption

     That politicians tend toward corruption is virtually axiomatic; given a literal monopoly on the legitimate use of force and total control and ownership of the court system, governments and the people who run them are disturbing free to invade the freedoms of their citizenries with impunity. However elevated in legal and personal privileges above the common man, no politician can escape his essential humanity. The politician, like every other man, is also susceptible to temptation, to the urge to abuse power for personal gain, and most significantly, to Lord Acton’s famous dictum: “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The incessant reports to be found in any newspaper, any day of the week, implicating a politician in some sort of scandal have long since lost their power to stun and horrify the public. It is not merely unsurprising, but indeed expected that men with so much unchecked power would constantly succumb to the urge to use it for personal benefit.  Throughout human history, every man of any sensibility has always regarded his rulers with deep suspicion, distrust, and usually contempt.
    For a recent example of why this sentiment is still justified, one only need look to the management of the war currently ongoing in Iraq.  From the very beginning, our government has intentionally, purposefully, and self-servingly deceived the American populace about virtually every aspect of the war. A common charge against our government is that it “lied us into war,” referring to the fact that the ostensive justification for war was mutated from a defensive effort to disarm Saddam to a humanitarian mission to bring democracy to Iraq. The government has spurned keeping “death counts” of the Iraqi civilians killed as a result of the occupation to keep people ignorant of the full magnitude of the instability in the country caused by our invasion. And of course, everyone remembers the government lying to the family Pat Tillman about the circumstances of his death in order to avoid any embarrassing fallout.
    And there is no indication that the government has grown either a conscience, or weary carrying out these heinous tricks against the public. Only yesterday, Condoleezza Rice was accused of concealing the level of corruption within the government of Iraq in an effort to make our new troop surge seem more successful than it has really been. What’s worse, Rice might even have tried to cover up the murder of innocent Iraqi civilians by US armed forces to further sanitize our military image. The Presna Latina reports, “Rice encouraged officers from the security firm Blackwater to cover up the murder of eleven Iraqi civilians to preserve the image of the diplomatic corps.”
    There is but a single solution to this shameful, grotesque, and criminal behavior by those who purport to be the “leaders of the free world.”  They all must be thrown out. Immediately. Furthermore, it is imperative that the United States make a full and immediate withdrawal from Iraq. The war is already lost, and with it, our national dignity and the camaraderie of the international community.  It’s high time we stopped tolerating such manifestly absurd, criminal, and downright sleazy behavior by our country’s politicians. One of the much-touted virtues of our democratic political system is that it is supposed to hold politicians accountable to the will of the people. But if we prove unable or just unwilling to evict the loathsome, demented, and dangerous men and women that currently infest our government, then this theory must be forever discarded as false. The stakes couldn’t be higher; the freedom of every man, woman, and child hang on the result.

MedicalMencken:

That politicians tend toward corruption is virtually axiomatic; given a literal monopoly on the legitimate use of force and total control and ownership of the court system, governments and the people who run them are disturbing free to invade the freedoms of their citizenries with impunity. However elevated in legal and personal privileges above the common man, no politician can escape his essential humanity. The politician, like every other man, is also susceptible to temptation, to the urge to abuse power for personal gain, and most significantly, to Lord Acton’s famous dictum: “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The incessant reports to be found in any newspaper, any day of the week, implicating a politician in some sort of scandal have long since lost their power to stun and horrify the public. It is not merely unsurprising, but indeed expected that men with so much unchecked power would constantly succumb to the urge to use it for personal benefit.  Throughout human history, every man of any sensibility has always regarded his rulers with deep suspicion, distrust, and usually contempt.

MedicalMencken:

That politicians tend toward corruption is virtually axiomatic  ...  free to invade the freedoms of their citizenries with impunity.

Excellent topic, MM, because corruption is increasing in every aspect of public life.

For three years now I have been living in a country which is world-renowned for corruption: Thailand.

Observing the effects of corruption, every day, at every level of the society, has been a fascinating lesson in applied human action.

I've observed that corruption allows individuals to be very resourceful in finding ways to avoid state power.

Corruption has the effect of significantly crippling the state. 

Anything which hampers the power and reach of the state is a good thing. 

As a result of widespread corruption, the state here is incapable of accomplishing much. 

Likewise, it is incapable of doing much harm.

On first arriving here, I was somewhat worried about how I would live with the corruption.

But, after 3 years of experience, it is clear that a rather corrupt state is quite convenient for everyday life, once you understand the costs/prices of getting things done. 

Inquisitor:

It also doesn't pay a corporation to keep corrupt elements though, does it?

Ah, but what about in practice?

As a former business consultant I observed countless cases of corruption, most of it petty, but some major.

Based on that, I disagree with Inquisitor's premise.

I hold that corruption exists, therefore it doesn't pay to evade the fact, especially in a profit-seeking company.

A company that tries to root out all corruption will have a very difficult job of it.

The costs of trying may well be greater than the benefit of succeeding.

On the other hand, a company that accepts the fact of corruption, and finds ways to manage it, is likely to achieve a more cost-effective result in that area. 

-- Peter 

Inquisitor:

It also doesn't pay a corporation to keep corrupt elements though, does it?

Corruption needs to be defined more clearly. But I'd say it can occur everywhere were people with weaknesses have the power to make decisions over the allocation of resources or damages.

Inquisitor:

that crossed my mind as well - when we say "corruption", what is meant specifically? It's a rather vaguely defined notion.

So their must be at least two parties involved in an exchange. Usually there would be a decision maker and a party that is interested in a certain kind of decision by this decision maker. Of course this decision maker can work for the government or for a private company or for any other kind of institution. Practically corruption leads to problems, because that way service of less value gets prefered over service of higher value.

Here is the definition of "transparancy international":

How do you define corruption?
Transparency International (TI) has chosen a clear and focused definition of the term: Corruption is operationally defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. TI further differentiates between "according to rule" corruption and "against the rule" corruption. Facilitation payments, where a bribe is paid to receive preferential treatment for something that the bribe receiver is required to do by law, constitute the former. The latter, on the other hand, is a bribe paid to obtain services the bribe receiver is prohibited from providing.... http://www.transparency.org/news_room/faq/corruption_faq