Download or read book Plunkitt of Tammany Hall written by William L. Riordon and published by Courier Dover Publications. This book was released on 2020-08-12 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents the candid wit and wisdom of George Washington Plunkitt (1842-1924), a longtime New York City ward boss and Tammany Hall player. Plunkitt, a cynically honest practitioner of machine politics, reveals the secrets to the political success of Tammany Hall operatives, freely discussing his patronage-based appointments and exercise of power for personal gain.
Download or read book Honest Graft written by Brooks Jackson and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Honest Graft written by William L. Riordon and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book They Wished They Were Honest written by Michael F. Armstrong and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In fifty years of prosecuting and defending criminal cases in New York City and elsewhere,Michael F. Armstrong has often dealt with cops. For a single two-year span, as chief counsel to the Knapp Commission, he was charged with investigating them. Based on Armstrong's vivid recollections of this watershed moment in law enforcement accountability—prompted by the New York Times's report on whistleblower cop Frank Serpico—They Wished They Were Honest recreates the dramatic struggles and significance of the Commission and explores the factors that led to its success and the restoration of the NYPD's public image. Serpico's charges against the NYPD encouraged Mayor John Lindsay to appoint prominent attorney Whitman Knapp to chair a Citizen's Commission on police graft. Overcoming a number of organizational, budgetary, and political hurdles, Chief Counsel Armstrong cobbled together an investigative group of a half-dozen lawyers and a dozen agents. Just when funding was about to run out, the "blue wall of silence" collapsed. A flamboyant "Madame," a corrupt lawyer, and a weasely informant led to a "super thief" cop, who was trapped and "turned" by the Commission. This led to sensational and revelatory hearings, which publicly refuted the notion that departmental corruption was limited to only a "few rotten apples." In the course of his narrative, Armstrong illuminates police investigative strategy; governmental and departmental political maneuvering; ethical and philosophical issues in law enforcement; the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the police's anticorruption efforts; the effectiveness of the training of police officers; the psychological and emotional pressures that lead to corruption; and the effects of police criminality on individuals and society. He concludes with the effects, in today's world, of Knapp and succeeding investigations into police corruption and the value of permanent outside monitoring bodies, such as the special prosecutor's office, formed in response to the Commission's recommendation, as well as the current monitoring commission, of which Armstrong is chairman.
Download or read book Throw Them All Out written by Peter Schweizer and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2011 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, discusses the state of government and the depths of its political corruption.
Download or read book The Shame of the Cities written by Lincoln Steffens and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-03-08 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking a hard look at the unprincipled lives of political bosses, police corruption, graft payments, and other political abuses of the time, the book set the style for future investigative reporting.
Download or read book Soft Corruption written by William E. Schluter and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-24 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Jersey has long been a breeding ground for political corruption, and most of it is perfectly legal. Public officials accept favors from lobbyists, give paid positions to relatives, and rig the electoral process to favor their cronies in a system where campaign money is used to buy government results. Such unethical behavior is known as “soft corruption,” and former New Jersey legislator William E. Schluter has been fighting it for the past fifty years. In this searing personal narrative, the former state senator recounts his fight to expose and reform these acts of government misconduct. Not afraid to cite specific cases of soft corruption in New Jersey politics, he paints a vivid portrait of public servants who care more about political power and personal gain than the public good. By recounting events that he witnessed firsthand in the Garden State, he provides dramatic illustrations of ills that afflict American politics nationwide. As he identifies five main forms of soft corruption, Schluter diagnoses the state government’s ethical malaise, and offers concrete policy suggestions for how it might be cured. Not simply a dive through the muck of New Jersey politics, Soft Corruption is an important first step to reforming our nation’s political system, a book that will inspire readers to demand that our elected officials can and must do better. Visit: www.softcorruption.com (http://www.softcorruption.com)
Download or read book Machine Made Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics written by Terry Golway and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-03-03 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Golway’s revisionist take is a useful reminder of the unmatched ingenuity of American politics.”—Wall Street Journal History casts Tammany Hall as shorthand for the worst of urban politics: graft and patronage personified by notoriously crooked characters. In his groundbreaking work Machine Made, journalist and historian Terry Golway dismantles these stereotypes, focusing on the many benefits of machine politics for marginalized immigrants. As thousands sought refuge from Ireland’s potato famine, the very question of who would be included under the protection of American democracy was at stake. Tammany’s transactional politics were at the heart of crucial social reforms—such as child labor laws, workers’ compensation, and minimum wages— and Golway demonstrates that American political history cannot be understood without Tammany’s profound contribution. Culminating in FDR’s New Deal, Machine Made reveals how Tammany Hall “changed the role of government—for the better to millions of disenfranchised recent American arrivals” (New York Observer).
Download or read book The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity written by Frank Anechiarico and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1996-12-15 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using anticorruption efforts in New York City to illustrate their argument, Anechiarico and Jacobs demonstrate the costly inefficiencies of pursuing absolute integrity. By proliferating dysfunctions, constraining decision makers' discretion, shaping priorities, and causing delays, corruption control - no less than corruption itself - has contributed to the contemporary crisis in public administration.
Download or read book The Spirits written by Richard Godwin and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-09-24 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A handbook of classic cocktails essential to every host's repertoire' Vogue 'Simple to navigate and fun to read, it's the only book I reach for on a Friday evening. The weekend starts here.' Felicity Cloake 'I truly love this book. No one writes about drinks like Richard Godwin - I enjoy his prose as much as anything in the glass.' Marina Hyde Want to master the art of mixology from home? Of all the skills you might acquire in life, learning how to make exquisite cocktails is the least likely to be a waste of your time. In this classic guide to cocktailing, writer, columnist and founder of 'The Spirits' newsletter - "a book club but for cocktails" - Richard Godwin offers over 200 delicious, inventive and accessible recipes. Beautifully written, laugh-out-loud funny and full of practical good sense as well as fascinating historical snippets, this little book contains everything that an amateur needs to up their cocktailing game - and increase the sum of human happiness. Praise for The Spirits 'The Spirits is debonair, indispensable and easy enough to use after a few' Damian Barr 'Richard Godwin is such a smart, funny and intoxicating drinks writer. And The Spirits - accessible, authoritative and crisply written - is the perfect companion for cocktail-curious drinkers looking to seriously up their game.' Jimi Famurewa 'Richard is a charming and fantastically engaging guide, and this marvellous book captures all that great and glamorous about drinking well-made drinks.' Sathnam Sanghera 'Full of interesting stories... witty, thoroughly researched.' Guardian 'This is the ultimate in cocktail books' Waitrose Weekend 'The best place to turn if you want to make drinks' Independent 'The ultimate guide to drinks-making for beginners. And the ultimate guide to making friends and influencing people.' Buzzfeed 'Offers a wealth of modern and classic recipes' Evening Standard 'Inspirational' Stephen Bayley, Spectator 'Intelligent, humorous, crammed full of recipes' Rebecca Dunphy, Sainsbury's Magazine 'If you're going to buy one cocktail book, you can't go far wrong with this one' BBC Good Food
Download or read book Plunkitt of Tammany Hall written by George Plunkitt and published by . This book was released on 2010-09-23 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born in 1843, George Washington Plunkitt was a long-time State Senator from New York. He was part of what is known as New York's Tammany Hall machine.Plunkitt became wealthy by practicing what he called "honest graft" in politics. He was a cynically honest practitioner of what today is generally known as "machine politics," frank in its exercise of power for personal gain. In one of his speeches in this book, he describes the difference between dishonest and honest graft: for dishonest graft one worked solely for one's own interests, while for honest graft one pursued the interests of one's party, one's state, and one's personal interests all together.The positive side of machine politics, as Plunkitt saw it, was the closeness between political bosses and their constituencies. He cites how Tammany bosses such as himself would assist the poor of New York in immediate and necessary ways (such as by providing emergency loans) while others, such as social reformers and the federal government, would only push for long-term improvements in the situation of the urban poor. Similarly, he argues that the machine listened to and defended the poor while others regarded them from a distanced, patronizing point of view. Thus, Plunkitt regarded the fragmented and independent format of machine governance to be the most perfect form of urban administration possible.
Download or read book Corruptible written by Brian Klaas and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An “absorbing, provocative, and far-reaching” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) look at what power is, who gets it, and what happens when they do, based on over 500 interviews with those who (temporarily, at least) have had the upper hand—from the creator of the Power Corrupts podcast and Washington Post columnist Brian Klaas. Does power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to power? Are tyrants made or born? Are entrepreneurs who embezzle and cops who kill the result of poorly designed systems or are they just bad people? If you were suddenly thrust into a position of power, would you be able to resist the temptation to line your pockets or seek revenge against your enemies? To answer these questions, Corruptible draws on over 500 interviews with some of the world’s top leaders—from the noblest to the dirtiest—including presidents and philanthropists as well as rebels, cultists, and dictators. Some of the fascinating insights include: how facial appearance determines who we pick as leaders, why narcissists make more money, why some people don’t want power at all and others are drawn to it out of a psychopathic impulse, and why being the “beta” (second in command) may actually be the optimal place for health and well-being. Corruptible also features a wealth of counterintuitive examples from history and social science: you’ll meet the worst bioterrorist in American history, hit the slopes with a ski instructor who once ruled Iraq, and learn why the inability of chimpanzees to play baseball is central to the development of human hierarchies. Based on deep, unprecedented research from around the world, and filled with “unexpected insights…the most important lesson of Corruptible is that when psychopaths inadvertently reveal their true selves, the institutions that they plague must take action that is swift, brutal, and merciless” (Business Insider).
Download or read book Honest to God written by John A. T. Robinson and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On first publication in the 1960s, "Honest to God" did more than instigate a passionate debate about the nature of Christian belief in a secular revolution. It epitomised the revolutionary mood of the era and articulated the anxieties of a generation.
Download or read book Plunkitt of Tammany Hall written by George Washington Plunkitt and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-01 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This little classic, which was once titled "Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft," was written by George Plunkitt. It provides an entertaining if somewhat discouraging description of why politics is driven by money and why reformers are merely a flash in the pan. Another topic covered in the book, "The difference between honest graft and dishonest graft" is equally alive and well among modern politicians. A modern politician accused of exactly the type of real estate speculation Plunkitt uses as his example of "honest" graft occurred just a few years ago. The politician sat on a committee that determined the site of government project and bought up the land before the project was revealed to the public. When confronted his response was, "I didn't break any laws." As Plunkitt would have said, he was only practicing honest graft. Plunkitt was a crony of the infamous William M. "Boss" Tweed, who created and presided over a Democrat, ward based patronage form of government in the City of New York in the mid to late 19th century referred to then as and now "Tammany Hall." Plunkitt was one of his side-kicks who participated in all of the perks of office and had the ability to discuss his "work" with justifications worthy of the best wit of Mark Twain. It is no coincidence that this little jewel of amateur literature has remained in print for over 100 years.
Download or read book Bossism and Reform in a Southern City written by James Duane Bolin and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Frederick "Billy" Klair (1875-1937) was the undisputed czar of Lexington, Kentucky, for decades. As political boss in a mid-sized, southern city, he faced problems strikingly similar to those of large cities in the North. As he watched the city grow from a sleepy market town of 16,000 residents to a bustling, active urban center of over 50,000, Klair saw changes that altered not just Lexington but the nation and the world: urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. But Klair did not merely watch these changes; like other political bosses and social reformers, he actively participated in the transformation of his city. As a political boss and a practitioner of what George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall referred to as "honest graft," Klair applied lessons of organization, innovation, manipulation, power, and control from the machine age to bring together diverse groups of Lexingtonians and Kentuckians as supporters of a powerful political machine. James Duane Bolin also examines the underside of the city, once known as the Athens of the West. He balances the postcard view of Bluegrass mansions and horse farms with the city's well-known vice district, housing problems, racial tensions, and corrupt politics. With the reality of life in Lexington as a backdrop, the career of Billy Klair provides as a valuable and engaging case study of the inner workings of a southern political machine.
Download or read book A Republic No More written by Jay Cost and published by Encounter Books. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” Franklin’s response: “A Republic—if you can keep it.” This book argues: we couldn’t keep it. A true republic privileges the common interest above the special interests. To do this, our Constitution established an elaborate system of checks and balances that disperses power among the branches of government, which it places in conflict with one another. The Framers believed that this would keep grasping, covetous factions from acquiring enough power to dominate government. Instead, only the people would rule. Proper institutional design is essential to this system. Each branch must manage responsibly the powers it is granted, as well as rebuke the other branches when they go astray. This is where subsequent generations have run into trouble: we have overloaded our government with more power than it can handle. The Constitution’s checks and balances have broken down because the institutions created in 1787 cannot exercise responsibly the powers of our sprawling, immense twenty-first-century government. The result is the triumph of special interests over the common interest. James Madison called this factionalism. We know it as political corruption. Corruption today is so widespread that our government is not really a republic, but rather a special interest democracy. Everybody may participate, yes, but the contours of public policy depend not so much on the common good, as on the push-and-pull of the various interest groups encamped in Washington, DC.
Download or read book PINSTRIPE PATRONAGE written by Martin Tolchin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political patronage - awarding discretionary favors in exchange for political support - is alive and well in 21st century America. This book examines the little understood patronage system, showing how it is used by 'pinstripe' elites to subvert the democratic process. 'Pinstripe patronage' thrives on the billions of dollars distributed by government for the privatisation of public services. Martin and Susan Tolchin introduce us to government grants specified for the use of an individual, corporation, or community and 'hybrid agencies', with high salaries for top executives and board members. In return for this corporate welfare pinstipe partons giving politicians the ever-increasing funds needed to conduct their political campaigns. As budget cuts begin to bite, the authors argue that it is time to clamp down on the corrupt practice of pinstripe patronage.
