Corruption's Impact On Society

Corruption, a term with a broad spectrum of definitions, is often a result of government officials overpowering legal policies. Corruption can weaken the ideal democracy within a nation, erode trust in the relationship between the government and society, and exacerbate inequality and poverty. Forms of this act can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, and embezzlement. Furthermore, corruption is the deterioration of moral and ethical standards that are characterized by the prioritization of personal gain over public good, abuse of power, and a lack of transparency.

At the outset, one of corruption’s characteristics that defines the term is prioritization of personal gain over public good. Richard M. Nixon, former U.S. president, was impeached on August 9th, 1974, after being caught in a scandal regarding the arrest of five burglars at Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington D.C., at the Watergate Complex. on June 17, 1972. The former President was also found withholding tapes he recorded, giving false evidence, and even violating the constitutional rights of citizens. At the time, this was a whole shock to the country, and made headlines very quickly. However, when incidents like the Watergate Scandal happen today, it can be argued that society has become desensitized to it, by the overall increase of corrupt political figures. In this case, prioritization of personal gain over the good of the public was met, and in the end, became an infamous political leader known for corruption. Moreover, in a political article from Brennan Center for Justice, the authors states, “When government officials make decisions motivated by money or other forms of undue private gain, it warps policy and hurts the public.” (Danetz et al). Corruption is defined by prioritization of private gain over public good. What this text implies is that as a political leader grows selfish and takes more than they can give, they warp their political policies they vowed, which then breaks trust, and impacts the public negatively. This author adds,“Importantly, while “private gain” includes not just economic benefits like money and material goods but also other unfair advantages…” (What is Corruption…). We see this happen often in modern society, whether it be a political leader or even in film, where a villain goes ‘corrupt’ or is ‘driven mad’ with the desire for power, as some may say for the novel, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley.

Equally important, corruption can be characterized by an abuse of power by political leaders. During the late 1800's, a plethora of politicians abused their power through acts of corruption. In accordance with the Brennan Center For Justice, the author states, “During the late-19th century’s Gilded Age, for example, politicians routinely took bribes from corporations in deals that ultimately allowed those with the most wealth — robber barons and industrial conglomerates — to avoid regulation and gobble up public resources on favorable terms.” (What is Corruption…). To establish context, this very quote demonstrates that when an individual partakes in scandals such as bribery in a government role, they lose trust and end up abusing their overall authority over the public. In return, they may receive punishment such as prosecution, threatening scandals, and more. Also, in the 2020 presidential election process, President Donald J. Trump was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for attempting to manipulate the current presidential election. He was specifically charged with withholding Congressionally mandated aid to Ukraine, an ally of the United States, with the purpose of extorting Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Democracy Web, a political organization credited with highlighting current and past news, the article, Accountability and Transparenc, states, “Trump withheld the aid and orchestrated a political pressure campaign for Zelensky to publicly announce false corruption investigations of his main political opponent, Democrat Joseph Biden.” Not only was this an abuse of power from the President, but it was a sign of complete disregard for political ideals the law had set in place long before his time in office. Noted by Democracy Web, the organization summarizes, “The Constitution required transparency to the public. The legislative branch must publish all laws and proceedings (the origin of the Congressional Record).” To establish context, this verifies my claim by demonstrating that when an individual partakes in scandals such as bribery in a government role, they lose trust and end up breaking the law of transparency to the public. To begin, according to Investopedia, “The term “Great Recession” is a play on the term “Great Depression” of the 1930s, when gross domestic product (GDP) declined more than 10% and unemployment hit 25%.” (Kachman). Housing prices, for one, started to rapidly decrease, causing buyers to default to using their loans, which impacted banking institutions tremendously. In a similar article published by Fulcrum, the team states, “President Bill Clinton publicly vowed to spend no more than the legal limit on campaigning in 1996, but he subverted the law in part by raising money for the Democratic National Committee, making that organization part of his campaign. Breaking promises was nothing new, and still seems the rule. Campaign contributors buy access and influence decision making. Clinton received huge donations from the banking industry, particularly from Goldman Sachs.” (Kachman). To guide in supporting this claim, this political leader and former president broke and abused his power (by breaking a public vow to the people of the U.S.), which ended up in the downfall of the economic market during 2007-2009. Today, major political figures such as Donald J. Trump, have caused a plethora of controversy within society. Demonstrated by Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan, non profit organization, shows that, “In fact, the Trump administration swept the 2018 open government infamous awards season, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation’ “Foilies” to the Society for Professional Journalists’ Black Hole Award to the National Security Archives’ Rosemary Awards.” Based on his presidency in 2018, Trump lacked a sense of transparency to the public and Journalists nation-wide. With a lack of transparency, came an increase of corruption, while this was just one of many controversies that shocked the United States. Transparency cannot be lacking in politics or the government may lose a democracy entirely, as it is the glue that holds nations together.

As mentioned previously, corruption can be defined as the deterioration of moral and ethical standards, characterized by the prioritization of personal gain over public good, abuse of power, and a lack of transparency. Whether the corruption of a political leader, or even characters within society itself, corruption of an individual is detrimental and damaging to themselves and others. Corruption, as a whole, is often a result of impaired judgement and societal views.

Works Cited

“What Is Political Corruption and What Can We Do about It?” Brennan Center for Justice, 18 June 2025,

“Accountability and Transparency: History | Democracy Web.” Democracyweb.org, 14 Sept. 2024,

Chen, James. “Corruption: Its Meaning, Type, and Real-World Example.” Investopedia, 13 May 2023,

Kachman, Eric. “The Corruption behind the Crash of 2008.” The Fulcrum, 14 Dec. 2021,

Transparency International. “What Is Corruption?” Transparency International, 2025,