Are Corruption And America's Politics Inexorably Intertwined? And Where Is It Worst?

It isn't easy to figure out who is the most corrupt politician in America. But it also isn't impossible

We write about political corruption a lot here at DWT. Yesterday we saw the bipartisanship of corruption by looking at corrupt Cuomo Democrats in New York and corrupt oil-sell outs among Republican attorneys generals in red states like Oklahoma. And this month Harvard University's Center for Ethics released a report. "Although corruption is not endemic in America," they wrote, "as it is in several other countries, it does exist. According to the Justice Department, in the last two decades more than 20,000 public officials and private individuals were convicted for crimes related to corruption and more than 5,000 are awaiting trial, the overwhelming majority of cases having originated in state and local governments. Understanding the causes and the consequences of corruption and designing the policies in the fight against it starts with measuring corruption itself. How do we measure corruption, an activity that requires secrecy? The most commonly used measure of corruption in American states comes from the Justice Department’s Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section. These data cover a broad range of crimes from election fraud to wire fraud. The measure, based on the Justice Department data, suffers from several significant problems, however."

And although a culture of political corruption is widespread, in some states it's worse than in other states. And in some it's far worse... like New Jersey, where both political parties are primarily vehicles for corruption and are willing to work together to accomplish their goals. Yesterday the Newark Star-Ledger covered the report with a special eye on New Jersey. That state, they assert flatly, "ranks among the most corrupt states in the nation."

Reporters were asked to rate their perceptions of illegal and legal corruption in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government in 2013 on a five-tier scale from "not at all common" to "extremely common."

Illegal corruption is defined by the study as a government official receiving cash or gifts in exchange for specific benefits to private individuals or groups , while legal corruption is defined as a public official receiving campaign contributions or endorsements in exchange for specific benefits to a private individual or group, whether that's through an explicit or implicit understanding.

Only in New Jersey and Arizona did the study find reporters perceived illegal corruption to be "very common" in the executive branch. New Jersey's legislative branch ranked as in between "moderately common" and "very common" for illegal corruption along with New Mexico and South Carolina, according to the study, which put 10 states in the "very common" column for that category.

The survey found reporters ranked legal corruption in the executive branch as "extremely common" in only Kentucky and New Jersey. For the legislative branch, New Jersey, as well as Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada and New York, were included in the "extremely common" column for legal corruption.

Reporters put both types of corruption for the judicial branch in New Jersey in between "not at all common" and "slightly common."

Overall, the study found Arizona is perceived to be the most corrupt state when it comes to illegal corruption, followed by California, Kentucky, Alabama, Illinois and New Jersey. On the other hand, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, the Dakotas, and Vermont are seen as the least corrupt states, followed by Michigan and Oregon.

Kentucky is the most corrupt state when it comes to legal corruption, the study found, followed by Illinois and Nevada. Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and Vermont are at the other end of that spectrum.

But the study's authors wrote that "it is all bad news for Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania as their aggregate scores are in the highest quartiles of both illegal and legal corruption."

UPDATE: Most New Jersey Voters Say The Country Isn't Ready For Christie

A new Quinnipiac Poll released this morning makes it clear that Jersey voters aren't backing Christie for president-- not against Hillary Clinton. By a margin of 53-40% New Jersey voters say Christie would not make a good president.

New Jersey voters say 50 - 44 percent that they would not like to see Christie run for president and, if he does, he should resign as governor, voters say 62 - 32 percent.

If Christie runs, he loses to Clinton 50 - 39 percent, winning only among Republicans. Clinton leads other possible Republican candidates:

• 53 - 31 percent over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush;
• 55 - 31 percent over U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky;
• 52 - 35 percent over 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Clinton is the only candidate listed who gets a positive favorability rating, 58 - 35 percent. The Republicans all have negative scores:

• 45 - 47 percent for Christie;
• 25 - 35 percent for Bush;
• 25 - 32 percent for Paul;
• 36 - 48 percent for Romney.