Corruption
Systemic Corruption
DC has many forms of systemic corruption.
Legal loopholes
The legal system in DC prioritizes the letter of the law above all else. This is good in that the same laws are being applied to all, but in an ever changing world laws can be slow to keep up. For example companies in the US can buy foreign companies without adhering to anti-monopoly regulations. Some legal loopholes that corporations utilize This is a legal way that companies can become a monopoly which can be very bad for society.
The political donation system
This exists in the form of campaign donations and money from lobbyists to influence policy. This influences policy formation and voting on new legislation.
The banking system
Banks have been deemed ‘too big to fail’ and are insured from busting. Due to this they often conduct risky investments which fail and need to be bailed out with government money.
Non-systemic corruption
DC is pretty good with non-systemic corruption as generally the political system is open enough that it is pretty difficult to pull off. Most non-systemic corruption is from companies who are not open to the public and lie or misrepresent the nature of their products. Most recently the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
The Result
Assessment: 4/10
DC performs OK with non-systemic corruption, but it has a large amount of much systemic corruption, particularly at the political level. This causes so much of the resources of DC to be spent to the short term benefit of corporations and not the long term benefit of all.