The Corruptibility of One Man

All things being equal, I think a government which entrusts power into the hands of a few is more corruptible than one that entrusts power into the hands of the many. Although Pompey and Crassus were able to bribe their way to the Roman consulships of 55 B.C. at great cost, the sheer expense of the operation helps explain why vote buying hasn't subverted more representative governments than it has since then (it's still around, though, commonly in the guise of political machines). Nero and Caligula would certainly argue that dictatorship is the better shield for the commitment of great crimes. Nonetheless, corruption seems to always be with us to some degree regardless of form of government, time, or place. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, accused of attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat for profit, seems to be a perfect example of a modern, corrupt American politician.

The Blagojevich story doesn't make me despair over the state of the American Republic, but it does suggest to me some of the vulnerabilities of our system. Part of the problem is how Blagojevich came to power in the first place. Political machines are still very much a part of Illinois politics, and they ensure that there is not a level playing field in elections. Candidates beholden to the machine and cooperative with it benefit from its power; on the other hand, those who refuse to feed the machine are often consumed by it. The whole Blagojevich mentality is rooted in the idea of favors and payback -- I'll do what you want if you do what I want, I'll help you now if you help me later. That's how political machines work; everyone owes somebody something, from the voter in the booth to the crook in the governor's mansion. Ideally, favors do to some extent "trickle down" to the common populace, but there is really no benefit for a political machine to enact policies that help everyone, including those not part of the machine. The other side of the problem is the concentration of power in one man, the governor. Blagojevich certainly never had absolute power by any stretch of the imagination -- indeed, he is very likely to pay dearly for his abuse of office. Still, he had enough power to subvert representative government. The fault is mainly his, but I also wonder about the wisdom of letting one official appoint another official to serve in an office that is normally filled by election. Should Blagojevich -- or any other one individual -- be in a position to appoint a senator? The 17th amendment to the Constitution, which also established the popular election of senators, gives governors this power, perhaps in order to ensure the efficient running of the Senate. Unfortunately, efficiency has a price. There will always be corrupt men like Blagojevich who will seek positions of prominence, but their corruption will be always be limited by the power vested in the offices they hold. Too much power vested in a single office makes the inevitable corruption more damaging when it occurs. Improperly assigned powers have the same effect.

Still, I wouldn't call the American system broken. It actually seems to be working fairly well in this case -- the allegedly corrupt official, Blagojevich, has been found out. He will have to face up to his crimes. I'm not sure what it will take to reform Illinois politics, but at the very least the Blagojevich experience should make future machine pols a little more cautious about how they go about their business. The governor might have been entrusted with too much power, but his power was not unchecked. In the name of hampering corruption, I think it's possible to make government too weak -- one advantage of the checks and balance system is that it does allow for a fairly strong yet still limited government. Ultimately, however, I would rather see vacant Senate seats filled by special election rather than by executive appointment. That would let the appointing of senators be strictly a duty for the voters in all cases, and it would close a door to corruption for the Blagojeviches of the world.