Political Scandals | Money Has Corrupted the American Political System

The great object of the new Constitution, James Madison wrote, was “to secure the public good and private rights against the danger of . . . faction.” By “faction,” Madison meant “a number of citizens . . . actuated by some common interest . . . adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the . . . interests of the community.”

In recent years those constitutional protections have broken down. Mammoth amounts of money have been poured into the political system by private interests which have thus purchased privilege, power and profit. It would not be an exaggeration...

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