Скачать или смотреть The Rise of Big Money Politics

The Pendleton Act of 1883 was meant to clean up Washington.

By ending the spoils system and making most federal jobs merit-based, the law broke the old network of political patronage that had fueled corruption for decades.

But it also created a new problem. For years, political parties had financed their campaigns by skimming a portion of salaries from the government workers they appointed. When those positions became protected by civil service rules, that stream of money disappeared overnight.

Desperate for funding, political leaders turned elsewhere — to wealthy industrialists and corporate interests. The same reform that professionalized government also pushed politicians into the arms of big business. Donations from railroad tycoons, bankers, and manufacturing magnates quickly filled the gap, cementing the role of private money in American elections.

The Pendleton Act showed that every reform carries its own unintended consequences.

What happens when cleaning up corruption simply changes its form? And if political loyalty no longer buys power, does wealth inevitably take its place?

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