New Jersey Least Corrupt? Ha, Ha
By CCP Academic Advisor David Primo and Paul Sherman
Exaggerated claims about political corruption from self-styled good-government groups are nothing new. Often they’re made with no data to back them up. Perhaps more dangerous is when the claims are supported with bad data, yet reported faithfully by the media with little scrutiny.
So it is with the study released last month by a consortium led by the Center for Public Integrity, which concludes that of all 50 states, the one with the lowest risk of political corruption is . . . New Jersey.
Because other groups such as Common Cause and newspaper editorial boards including the New York Times and the Washington Post are already pointing to the “State Integrity Investigation” as evidence that more regulation of lobbying and campaign finance is needed, it’s worth taking a critical look. The Garden State has many virtues, but a reputation for political integrity is not among them.
