What new type of corruption resulted from the pendleton act of 1883?
Corporate campaign finance donations. “The first significant attempt to curb the influence of money on politics was the Pendleton Act of 1883. It said that a federal worker was under no obligation to “contribute to any political fund, or to render any political service, and that he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so.” … Thus started the cycle noted by Gil Troy, a McGill University history professor and author of “See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate.” Troy writes: “But the law of unintended consequences took hold: by barring federal assessments, the Pendleton Act increased parties’ need for corporate money.” The corporations were happy to meet the need. Their influence was strongest in 1896 when Marcus Alonzo Hanna, a wealthy Cleveland industrialist who made his money in iron and coal, raised about $4 million for William McKinley–in today’s dollars the equivalent of nearly $82 million. It was a staggering sum–some historia
