Robert Reich argues that the policy-making process has become an extension of the market battlefield:
If we define political corruption as actions causing the public to lose confidence that politicians make decisions in the public’s interest rather than in the special interest of those who give them financial support, the biggest corruption of our political process is entirely legal. It comes in the form of campaign contributions that would not be made were it not for implicit quid pro quos by politicians, bestowing favors of one sort or another on the contributors.