SURVEY SAYS: NJ IS AMONG THE MOST CORRUPT STATES!
Monday, December 15, 2014
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New Jersey ranks among the most corrupt states in the nation, according to a new study, which surveyed political reporters for their view on the subject.
The study by two fellows at Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics received responses from 280 reporters from every state except Louisiana, where none of the individuals contacted participated in the survey. Louisiana, the study said, is "historically one of the more corrupt states in America."
Reporters were asked to rate their perceptions of illegal and legal corruption in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government in 2013 on a five-tier scale from "not at all common" to "extremely common."
Illegal corruption is defined by the study as a government official receiving cash or gifts in exchange for specific benefits to private individuals or groups , while legal corruption is defined as a public official receiving campaign contributions or endorsements in exchange for specific benefits to a private individual or group, whether that's through an explicit or implicit understanding.
Only in New Jersey and Arizona did the study find reporters perceived illegal corruption to be "very common" in the executive branch. New Jersey's legislative branch ranked as in between "moderately common" and "very common" for illegal corruption along with New Mexico and South Carolina, according to the study, which put 10 states in the "very common" column for that category.