Our government is corrupt. It is a fact. It is made up of human beings and since people are not perfect, neither is our government. Our government is full of good people as well, but unfortunately people are more interested in the corrupt aspects than the good. But corruption isn’t a new thing. Governments have been corrupt since time began. This infographic takes a look at the states with the top corruption convictions within it’s government.
First of all, why are government officials, and people in general, corrupt? Why do they decide to follow this route in life? Well, there are just too many temptations to do bad, and too often people get away with the bad (obviously not every time). But why these states? Pick out some of the court cases involving these states over time (not just over the past decade, but some funny ones that occurred long ago), and explore the dynamics of it with your students. What were the circumstances? Were the government officials attempting to do something good, or was it purely for their own benefit?
Also, this would be a great time for a mock trial or sorts. Separate your students into several groups, each group getting a case. Give them the details from the beginning and see if they would make the same decisions. Get them more involved to make a bigger impact on the temptations of corruption, and the repurcutions of it. It will also make these instances stand out more and hopefully make them more interested in future events.
Blog: http://goo.gl/6HZqh