Short Synopsis
The historical analysis contained in Zephyr Teachout's Corruption in America approaches what was long considered a threat to democracy: corruption in American politics.

Full Synopsis
For two centuries, the Framers' ideas about political corruption flourished in the courts, even in the absence of clear rules governing voters, civil officers, and elected officials. In the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court began to narrow the definition of corruption, and the meaning has since changed dramatically. No case makes that clearer than Citizens United.

In 2010, one of the most consequential Court decisions in American political history gave wealthy corporations the right to spend unlimited money to influence elections. Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion treated corruption as nothing more than explicit bribery. With unlimited spending transforming American politics for the worse, Citizens United was not just bad law but bad history.

Corruption in America clearly shows that if the American experiment in self-government is to have a future, then we must revive the traditional meaning of corruption and embrace an old ideal.

"Jo Anna Perrin narrates . . . . with great clarity and a keen sense of purpose." ---AudioFile

"In Corruption in America, an eloquent, revealing, and sometimes surprising historical inquiry, Teachout convincingly argues that corruption, broadly understood as placing private interests over the public good in public office, is at the root of what ails American democracy." ---David Cole, New York Review of Books

"At last someone has written a book that puts a name to what is perhaps the most significant factor shaping American politics today: corruption." ---Sarah Chayes, Wall Street Journal

"Teachout's book is filled with colorful anecdotes about Americans getting away with all sorts of chicanery." ---Max Ehenfreund, Washington Post

New York Times Bestseller