| I. APOLOGIES FOR POLITICAL CORRUPTION |
| PAGE |
| Introduction:—Corruption not defensible on the ground of the strength and prevalence of temptation | [3] |
| Four main lines of apology | [4] |
| That corruption makes business good | [4] |
| Protection of vice | [5] |
| Corrupt concessions to legitimate business | [10] |
| That corruption may be more than compensated for by the high efficiency otherwise of those who engage in it | [14] |
| That corruption saves us from mob rule | [17] |
| That corruption is part of an evolutionary process the ends of which are presumed to be so beneficent as to more than atone for the existing evils attributable to it | [22] |
| Conclusion: The probable future development of corruption in politics, the failure of the apologies for political corruption | [37] |
| II. THE NATURE OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION |
| Introduction, definition, etc. | [41] |
| Frequent use of the word corruption | [41] |
| Legal definitions contrasted with definitions from the point of view of ethics, political science, etc. | [42] |
| Verbal difficulties | [42] |
| Levity in the use of the word | [42] |
| Metaphor implied by the word | [43] |
| Distinction between bribery and corruption; between corruption and auto-corruption | [45] |
| Tentative definition of corruption | [46] |
| Analysis of the concept of corruption | [46] |
| Corruption not limited to politics. Exists in business, church, schools, etc. | [46] |
| Intentional character of corruption. Distinguished from inefficiency | [48] |
| Various degrees of clearness of political duties | [51] |
| Consequences of wide extension of political duties | [52] |
| Recognition of political duty | [55] |
| Legal and other standards | [55] |
| The radical view | [57] |
| Advantages sought by corrupt action | [59] |
| Various degrees and kinds of advantages | [60] |
| Rewards and threats | [63] |
| Degree of personal interest involved | [65] |
| Corruption for the benefit of party | [71] |
| Summary | [74] |
| III. CORRUPTION: A PERSISTENT PROBLEM OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE |
| Extreme consequences of corruption | [81] |
| Less extreme consequences of corruption: recovery from corrupt conditions | [82] |
| The continuing character of the problem of corruption | [85] |
| Disappearance of certain forms of corruption; changes of form of corruption | [88] |
| Subsidies from foreign monarchs | [89] |
| Influence of royal mistresses | [90] |
| Lord Bacon’s case | [90] |
| Pepys and the acceptance of presents | [93] |
| Corruption and the administrative service appointments | [95] |
| Recent changes in the forms of municipal corruption | [98] |
| Limitation of corruption to certain branches or spheres of government | [100] |
| In local government only, in central government only | [100] |
| Middle grade of Japanese officials | [102] |
| Limitation of corruption in amount | [105] |
| Contractual character of most corruption | [106] |
| Prudential considerations restraining corruptionists | [107] |
| Summary | [109] |
| IV. CORRUPTION IN THE PROFESSIONS, JOURNALISM, AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION |
| Forms of corruption not commonly recognised as such; their significance | [113] |
| General classification of recognised forms of corruption | [116] |
| Defilement of the sources of public instruction | [117] |
| Difficulty of defining and regulating corruption in this sphere | [118] |
| Professional codes of ethics | [119] |
| Corruption in journalism: an extreme view; limitations | [121] |
| Corruption in higher education | [132] |
| Growing influence of colleges and universities | [133] |
| Higher education and public opinion | [134] |
| Personal responsibility of the teacher | [136] |
| The struggle for endowments and resulting bad practices | [137] |
| The teaching of economic, political, and social doctrines in colleges and universities | [139] |
| Summary | [156] |
| V. CORRUPTION IN BUSINESS AND POLITICS |
| Corruption in business | [161] |
| Effect of consolidation in business | [163] |
| Effect of state regulation in transforming character of business corruption | [165] |
| Necessity of further reform efforts | [167] |
| Classification of forms of political corruption | [169] |
| Political corruption resulting from state regulation of business | [171] |
| New forms of state regulation; other means of strengthening the position of government | [174] |
| The state as seller; difficulties and safeguards | [179] |
| Work of the Bureau of Municipal Research | [184] |
| Vice and crime in their relation to corrupt politics | [186] |
| Methods of repression | [188] |
| Tax dodging as a form of political corruption; quasi-justification of the practice | [192] |
| Methods of overcoming tax dodging | [195] |
| Auto-corruption, and its effects upon party prestige | [199] |
| Corruption in relation to political control the basis of all other forms of political corruption | [201] |
| Summary | [208] |
| VI. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE THEORY OF PARTY SUPPORT |
| Party functions in the United States | [213] |
| Neglect of the sources of party support | [217] |
| Campaign contributions as a part of the problem | [220] |
| Payment of campaign expenses by the state | [221] |
| Publicity of campaign contributions | [229] |
| State laws requiring publicity | [229] |
| Congressional publicity bill of 1908 | [230] |
| Voluntary publicity in the presidential campaign of 1908; results | [233] |
| Publicity before or after election | [236] |
| Special information of candidates before election | [239] |
| Publicity as applied to political organisations other than campaign committees | [241] |
| Prohibition or limitation of campaign contributions from certain sources | [244] |
| Prohibition of corporate contributions | [244] |
| Partnerships, labour unions, clubs, etc. | [247] |
| Contributions by candidates | [248] |
| Contributions by civil service employees | [256] |
| Limiting the amount of individual contributions | [258] |
| Effect of smaller campaign funds on political affairs | [259] |
| Time limits of large contributions | [262] |
| Geographical limits upon the use of campaign funds | [263] |
| Effect of campaign fund reform on business interests in their relation to government | [264] |
| Limitation of campaign gifts of services | [267] |
| Extension of campaign contribution reforms to state and local elections | [268] |
| To primary and convention campaigns | [270] |
| Administration of the reform measures | [271] |
| Possibilities of campaign fund reform | [273] |
| VII. CORRUPTION AND NOTORIETY: THE MEASURE OF OUR OFFENDING |
| Our damaged political reputation; how acquired | [277] |
| The garrulity of politicians, its explanation | [278] |
| Sensationalism of the press | [281] |
| Reform movements, to what extent are they evidence of moral improvement | [287] |
| Special privilege in England and Germany | [290] |
| Significance of the American attitude toward special privilege | [291] |
| Special privilege not always corrupt, but may come to be considered such | [292] |
| American criticism of special privilege as corrupt not proof of our inferiority to Europe in political morality | [294] |
| Consequences of the wide diffusion of political power in the United States | [296] |
| Conclusion: Corruption decreasing in the more progressive countries of the world | [299] |