The World's Most Corrupt(ed) Republic

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http://www.nationofchange.org/world-s-most-corrupted-republic-1346419376

Okay, okay. As some self-appointed representative of the cocktail cognoscenti will unfailingly point out whenever anyone in the room mentions the “D” word, WE DO NOT LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY. And, yes, Madison, Hamilton, and Jay made that absolutely clear when they quite deliberately used the word “republic” in the Federalist Papers. What we have wrought, Madison reminds us through the ages, is a “commercial republic.”

Madison apparently did not contemplate the possibility of a “corrupt republic” or what to do in the event that the commercial republic – that marvelous engine of progress – was at some point in the far-distant future hot-wired and hijacked. Too bad because that far-distant future Madison failed to consider has arrived.

Some readers, even those highly critical of our current system, will no doubt take exception to the thesis that the US is the MOST corrupt republic. What about the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Surely that’s more corrupt than the US. True enough, but the DRC isn’t really a republic. Neither is Syria, North Korea, Rwanda, or Russia. All four claim this distinction, but only Russia belongs in the debatable column. In fact, most countries in today’s world call themselves “republics” but only a few dozen meet the most basic criterion, the acid test.

What’s the acid test? Free and fair elections.