Political Corruption

The Background

 Corruption is not uncharted territory in the game of politics. It has been around for quite some time and many famous influential politicians have been caught doing so. One being Democrat Huey Long who was elected for U.S. Senate in 1930. It was no secret in history that corruption, bribery, and misconduct were a part of Huey Long's strategy in politics. The senate did seek to impeach him but had no success in doing so. While Huey Long does not have ties to Texas it does show that corruption is nothing new to politics. Even such Greek philosopher Aristotle defined it as "the practice of leaders who rule with a view to their private advantage rather than the pursuit of the public interest."

Texans are Concerned

The photo above shows how concerned Texans are with political corruption (which was taken from The Texas Politics Project) and rightfully so. Dallas News references a case of former Dallas City Council Members in which states "Dallas City Council members Dwaine Caraway and Carolyn Davis each pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, and Laura Jordan, the former mayor of Richardson and her developer husband, were convicted of federal bribery and corruption." While something such as the city council may not seem big in the grand scheme of things, it is something that directly affects the residents. This could show what we are missing on a bigger scale in Texas. 

It is not only Texans that are concerned with corruption. According to surveys taken by trancperency.org, "44 percent of Americans believe that corruption is pervasive in the white house" the site also states "almost 7 out 0f 10 believe the government is failing to fight corruption" now imagine those are at high levels of government which is harder for American to see on a daily basis.

Impacts on corruption

 Electing Corrupt politicians in Texas could have greater consequences. Taxes are a huge and important topic in all political debates from state levels all the way up to the national level. Imagine working and putting your hard-earned money into the pocket of a corrupt official; lining their pockets with money that could have been used to go to schools, roads or literally anything else that could help Texas improve for the better. 

Corruption could also put businesses in Texas in a downfall. When political corruption strikes it affects more than just one single person being put into jail. It could cause a certain business to go out in order to preserve one that is beneficial for the politician at hand. 

Many Texans share the concerns of immigration and border security whether you want more of it, or maybe you want less, or maybe none at all. This would not matter if Texans elect the wrong public official which neglects what the people want in order to advance themselves. 

Everything with political corruption turns into a snowball effect that does not only impact one person but could also impact the nation as a whole. 

What to do?

As Texans what can we do to stop this corruption from happening? A huge part of anything with politics is voting. If voting does not happen what is to stop the corrupt from staying in office? In order for things to change we have to be the ones leading the way. we are responsible as Texans to hold the officials we elect accountable.

While I only talked about one case dealing with the matter of political corruption in Texas. It always starts at the lowest level and we can change that. If Texans are worried about immigration, health care, and crime it is also we stop the corruption that goes with it. To bring it full circle Huey Long started in Louisiana and slowly worked up to gain the political power he had created. As Texans, we need to be watchful for corruption in politics. Being one of the most highly populated states means we are a crucial part of politics in every city, and that just means if we are careful from the start we can have a greater impact on the country and prevent corruption. Do you think we are doing enough? Do you think there are other ways to fight corruption?