Summary of “Corruption in Cities”

1. Summary of “Corruption in Cities”

2. This article explains the basic ways, and also different types of corruption governments can extract. It also states how this is also needed in government to hold power for the government. The basic point of this article I believe is discussing corruption, the right ways of corruption and the graft kind of corruption. Many different types of corruption go on, with or without you knowing it. 1.1 Summary

3. This article explains the way the machine functions in city politics. The machine runs in 3 parts, deals involving the government and citizens, such as money for votes. The highest bidder of money would receive the higher percentage of votes, no questions asked. The second part was the local politicians who would carry out the favors of the voters. Favors would involve the allowing of illegal activities or even just payments of cash. The third part of this machine was the most important, the boss. The boss would organize the local politicians into powerful jobs so they could carry out their duties. The boss also was where the revenue came from to pay everyone, which in the first place must start with some sort of money of his own. 1.2 City Politics

4. This article explains how a city can grow and prosper. Export industries and trade with other cities are the base of a positive growth for a city. This brings money back to the area and helps improve and quality of living. Technological advances in housing, sewer, and public services are some examples of this. The legal system can also affect the growth by regulations. However greedy politics can ruin a city in a hurry. One thing they did was tax and regulate the prices of goods being imported. 1.3 The City Economy

5. There are 4 different types of revenue extraction • Coercion • Sale of government goods and services • Manipulation of markets • Trading on insider information • These methods can be legal or illegal depending on where you live. 1.4 Revenue Extraction

6. This subsection is about sources. Lincoln Steffens made many examples and some people thought it was they were the finest urban graft ever written. It talks about six major cities in America and how 5 of them are controlled by a political structure with three features of a machine: boss, patronage hierarchy, and vote buying. And the last city is an example of corruption without a machine. This showed that the control of a machine gave a boss control of much more of the government. The machine has a wide array of graft opportunities which made it possible to extract revenue from a large number of important sectors of the city economy. It is necessary for the government to extract revenue from all sectors of the city economy so the government can run things and promote growth. 2.1 Sources

7. There were establishments that allowed illicit activity, and it was left out in the public eye. Some cities kept things more discreet, and swept under the rug. • Soon there was a rule passed stating that you had to basically pay to continue the illicit activity. Being that people were sometimes dirt poor, they couldn’t afford to be illegal anymore. • This law passed was made with intentions of cleaning up cities, but in the end there was little improvement. 2.3 Vice: Unofficial and Regulation

8. 2.3 Vice: Unofficial Regulation of a Market This article explains city economy. It talks about how since the trains set up in the central of the city it makes the business owners want to make their jobs in towns and not in the suburbs. The growth in the city does not increase the financial return to the political control unless the city’s government can at least some of the increases wealth. The city can only seize profits if the firms and individuals cannot relocate inexpensively to food alternative locations. If the cities are complete of workers and firms then it increases in social surplus will go to the owners of capital labor. The city is complete with both other cities and with the suburbs for population and for industry.

9. This article explains how bars and whore houses were paying the government in order to keep their businesses alive. This happened in the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s. During this time it was illegal to sell illegal alcohol, gambling and prostitution so the companies then would pay the government for their illegal actions. This was happening in bigger cites such as New York City and Minneapolis. The government allowed the production of goods and services even when they were illegal and many others voted against it. 2.3 Vice: Unofficial Regulation of a Market

10. Insider trading was trading that people used in cities and adopted complete prohibition of alcohol. Some people did very good from insider trading by buying land that would get comdemned and bought by the city. 2.4 Insider Trading

11. Some of the most crucial things behind the scenes take place. Insider trading is one of them. If you do it right, it is easy to perform and to understand. The trader doing the business has it all easy because recording and tracking down inside trading is extremely difficult. George Washington Plunkitt is one of the insider traders that got caught. He took advantage of some land that was at a cheap price because the city was going to take it away right before he received information about it. The man that originally owned the land thought it was unfair because he paid more than what it was worth in the beginning and when George came along he got it for even cheaper than that. 2.4 Insider Trading