An Arizona Mayor on the border city of Nogales was arrested today on charges of bribery, theft, fraud and money laundering. The Mayor supposedly solicited businesses to hire him as a consultant. This allowed businesses to pay the mayor in order to obtain city contracts to avoid the formal bidding process. The Mayor then, with his father who has also been arrested, laundered the money through Western Union and into personal accounts. This sum has reached over millions of dollars. These two are going to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is another case of contemporary political corruption and creates doubt in the government from the public. This is slowly degrading the "legitimacy" of our government as Peters would say. Do you think this type of activity is a threat to the "legitimacy" of our government?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/us/politics/29nogales.html?ref=todayspaper
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Of course this is a threat to the legitamacy of governement. If highly regarded officials begin to take part in illegal activities how does that instill respect in the law for working class citizens. The official actors need to be seen as respectful, loyal, moral, and valuable to the government or else people will stop listening to what is being said. These elected officials are supposed to do what is best for the people and if they begin to abuse their powers for themselves it will have very negative affects on the respect of the American government
ReplyDeletePeters defines legitimacy as the belief on the parts of citizens that the current government represents a proper form of government. It is not about liking something, it's about accepting it. I think this situation may degrade the legitimacy of the particular government in Arizona, but not necessarily the government as a well. Sadly, corruption lurks in every aspect of America, even in some of our most respectable leaders. However, there are respectable and honest officials helping lead America, in which they deserve acceptance and support. It is good to hear that these two are getting what they deserve; in some cases, people like this find ways to get out of punishment, which further degrades respect and legitimacy.
ReplyDeleteElise Leppert