Corruption in America by Zephyr Teachout

Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United by Zephyr Teachout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a book by an attorney about the law. I’m an attorney but I think this is basically comprehensible to non-attorneys (though non-attorneys lack a background in the importance of “intention” under the law). It was a bit dry for me but her historical view of corruption in the United States was interesting and important. As a country, we’ve clearly made the wrong legal decisions regarding lobbying and campaign finance. Our system has long been like the card game of assholes. Once someone wins, he or she makes all the subsequent rules to make sure he stays King or at least never falls to asshole again. It’s interesting to learn about how concerned the founders and subsequent generations were about corruption and yet they were unable to implement meaningful protections. And here we are now.

Teachout doesn’t make any good suggestions here but the research I’ve seen suggests that the only way to fix anything now is through state laws. When enough state laws are in agreement about a particular issue, the tide can sometimes be turned. But majorities (as well as minority protections) no longer apply.

View all my reviews