How much public corruption is there in the USA? Public corruption was notably present in the Gilded Age from the end of the Civil War through the 1890s, before a public backlash led to several key reforms. At the start of the 21st century, the U.S. was counted among the less corrupt countries. The situation has worsened since. We offer a brief review below.
Public corruption was widely felt during the Gilded Age, from the end of the Civil War through the 1890s, as several large railroad owners bribed politicians to gain advantageous government policies. Graft-fueled urban political machines, such as New York’s Tammany Hall, and the Whiskey Ring and Crédit Mobilier scandals, revealed collusion by public officials and business leaders to defraud the federal government. At the same time, general elections were plagued by vote-buying and intimidation tactics. Successive presidents and state governors operated a “spoils” system of jobs for loyalty. A public backlash led to several key reforms, including the creation of a merit-based federal civil service, the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate railroads, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to regulate monopolies, and the growing use of the secret ballot.
The United States has slipped in recent years, according to Transparency International. (The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index is constructed by averaging perceptions by business-people and country experts of the level of corruption in the public sector.) Our best year was 2015, with a peak score of 76 out of a maximum of 100. We did better than 151 out of 168 countries. Only 15 did better.
The U.S. score started slipping in 2016. It slipped out of the top 20 in 2017 and has continued to slip through two different federal administrations. This was mainly due to threats to the system of checks and balances, an erosion of ethical norms, opaque campaign finance, and a significant decline in public confidence in the judiciary. Our 2025 score was 64 out of 100, still better than 152 countries, but worse than twenty-eight.
Next week, we will explore what we all lose because of public corruption.
