Political corruption ran uncontrollably during the Gilded Age as corporations bribed politicians to ensure government policies favored big businesses over workers

By 1890, the wealthiest 1 percent of American families owned 51 percent of the country’s real and personal property, while the 44 percent at the bottom owned only 1.2 percent

Business owners didn’t mark high voltage wires, locked fire doors, and allowed toxic fumes to be emitted in factories. It was cheaper for manufacturers to let workers be injured or die than to improve safety—so they often did.

Political corruption and inefficiency figured in Henry Adams’s novel Democracy (1880). 

 Charles Edward Russell led the reform writers with exposés ranging from The Greatest Trust in the World (1905) to The Uprising of the Many (1907), the latter of which reported on methods being tried to extend democracy in other countries.

The Panic of 1893 lasted four years and left lower and even middle-class Americans fed up with political corruption and social inequality. Their frustration gave rise to the Progressive Movement which took hold when President Theodore Roosevelt took office in 1901

Helped by the muckrackers and the White House, the Progressive Era ushered in many reforms that helped shift away power from robber barons, such as trust busting, labor reform, womens suffrage, birth control, formation of trade unions, increased conservation efforts, food and medicine regulations, tax reform, civil rights, election reform, and fair labor standards

Corruption also plagued Ukrainian society long before the war; according to a 2016 report by watchdog group Transparency International, between 38% to 42% of Ukrainian households reported paying a bribe to access basic public services

Governance challenges, including widespread corruption, undercut progress on economic opportunity, protection of human rights, and civilian security.  Private companies cite corruption as an impediment to investment

The Department of State, joined by other donors, will build on its support for the GACC to expand partnerships between media and civil society organizations, expose transnational corruption, advocate for policy reforms, and increase accountability for corrupt actors.

To implement the strategy, the Department is working across the globe to prevent graft, strengthen investigation and prosecution of corruption, promote transparency, and empower civil society and independent media to expose corruption and advance reforms. This makes it harder for criminality and terrorism that affect American security to take root and spread

The government took steps to investigate, prosecute, and punish some officials who committed human rights abuses and engaged in corrupt practices