Corruption in America : from Benjamin Franklin's snuff box to Citizens United / Zephyr Teachout.

Author/creator Teachout, Zephyr
Format Book
PublicationCambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2014.
Descriptionviii, 376 pages ; 22 cm
Subjects

Contents Four snuff boxes and a horse -- Changing the frame -- Removing temptations -- Yazoo -- Is bribery without a remedy? -- Railroad ties -- The forgotten law of lobbying -- The gilded age -- Two kinds of sticks -- The jury decides -- Operation Gemstone -- A West Virginia state of mind -- Citizens United -- The new snuff boxes -- Facts in exile, complacency, and disdain -- The anticorruption principle conclusion -- Appendix 1: Anticorruption constitutional provisions -- Appendix 2: Major nineteenth- and twentieth-century anticorruption laws.
Abstract In 1785, Louis XVI presented Benjamin Franklin with a snuff box encrusted with diamonds and inset with the King's portrait. Americans believed it threatened to "corrupt" Franklin by altering his attitude toward the French in subtle psychological ways. In 2010, one of the most consequential Court decisions in American political history gave wealthy corporations the right to spend unlimited money to influence elections. With unlimited spending transforming American politics for the worse, warns Teachout, if the American experiment in self-government is to have a future, then we must revive the traditional meaning of corruption and embrace an old ideal.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 313-358) and index.
Genre/formHistory.
LCCN 2014010417
ISBN9780674050402 (alk. paper)
ISBN0674050401 (alk. paper)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks JK2249 .T43 2014 ✔ Available Place Hold