Quid Pro No: Addressing Corruption in the American Political System
Image By: Politico
The American public must address the corruption of its leaders. This means holding corrupt politicians accountable, and pushing to end the system of quid pro quo favors that lobbyists created. Failure to do so will see the stability of American democracy worsen, as the public continues to lose faith in their elected officials.
American corruption is at its worst level in decades. Indeed, it is no secret that the power of special interests groups has been rising. This is a result of several notable court cases, where the Supreme Court has been responsible for upholding the interests of lobbyists over the wellbeing of American democracy.
In the famous 2010 case Citizens United vs. The Federal Election Committee, the court struck down dozens of restrictions on corporate campaign expenditure. The court held that the right to free speech is essential to democracy, even when coming from a corporation. Corporations express their opinions with money and are free to do so under the right to free speech. Citizens United opened the floodgates holding back lobbyists. After the limit on corporate campaign contributions was removed, lobbyists created super political action committees, or super PACs. These organizations raised and spent billions of dollars on American politics to elect candidates and lobby them.
Additionally, the court found that the government's ability to investigate corruption applies only to direct quid pro quo’s, in which a government official makes a specific promise to a lobbyist in return for a favor. This allowed for lobbyists to more easily offer soft bribes, where a gift of some kind is given in exchange for an unspoken promise. While Citizens United isn’t solely responsible for the rise in corruption in America, it both opened new doors for lobbyists and restricted federal laws used to investigate ethics violations.
Soft bribe lobbying is now routine in American politics. Consider the reports surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who ruled with the conservative majority on Citizens United. Propublica has documented how he received unreported financial gifts from numerous wealthy benefactors including the Koch brothers. In one instance, a friend loaned Thomas $267,000 dollars for a luxury RV, however the money was never repaid. Thomas never reported the gifts he was receiving to the IRS and never recused himself from court cases connected to the individuals that he received gifts from.
The reports surrounding Justice Thomas are emblematic of the soft corruption dominating American politics. Thomas was instrumental in removing barriers to corruption, namely ruling on Citizens United. Should we be surprised he takes soft bribes?
Unfortunately, Thomas isn't the only official in high office willing to accept overly generous political gifts. Numerous politicians engage in soft corruption of other forms. Nancy Pelosi is infamous for her stock trading, Eric Adams is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving campaign donations from the Turkish government, and of course, there are the multitudes of allegations and charges leveled at the business dealings of former president Donald Trump.
Right now, money and influence are running Capitol Hill at levels not seen since the Gilded Age. So what reforms are available to address soft corruption? The most obvious way to address soft corruption is to target campaign finance laws, and reverse much of the damage caused by Citizens United. However, reversing Citizens United would be a herculean task. The factors in American politics which created an environment of soft corruption still exist today. The conservative Supreme Court majority which narrowly decided Citizens United by five justices to four is now a supermajority of six conservative justices to three liberal ones. Smaller reforms also seem unlikely to succeed. With deadlock and dysfunction in Congress, it seems unlikely that any bipartisan anti-corruption law could be passed.
With Congress dysfunctional, responsibility falls to the American voter to take a stand. Americans need to demand better politicians and reject those who engage in soft corruption. This also applies to the partisan environment America exists in right now. Americans need to look past party lines, and be willing to vote out a politician whose beliefs they agree with if the politician fails to demonstrate a basic level of conduct.
Americans should advocate for stricter ethics codes for Congress and the Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court has just passed an ethics code for its justices, the code has a key problem. It lacks a compliance mechanism and has no enforcement. Meanwhile, similar issues plague the congressional code. The effects of party politics insulate politicians from ethics investigations and actions. Additionally, weak conflict of interest laws enable soft corruption. Members of Congress and high level aides are permitted to hold onto control of financial interests whose profits are directly impacted by the decisions lawmakers will make.
Ultimately, fighting soft corruption will be difficult, but ignoring corruption is not an option. Turning a blind eye towards ethics violations will only cause them to fester and worsen. American failure to address soft corruption will lead to more serious corruption, and will further weaken faith in American democracy, undermining the real good government is capable of. Americans have an obligation to uphold democratic principles, and need to fight to keep their politicians honest.