Pinstripe Patronage – Not all bad
In their most recent book, Pinstripe Patronage: Political Favoritism from the Clubhouse to the White House…and Beyond, Susan J. Tolchin (University Professor in the School of Public Policy) and Martin Tolchin (Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars) reveal the history and evolution of political patronage.
The U.S.Supreme Court in 1976 issued the first of five decisions restricting political patronage in jobs and contracts. Each decision cited the Tolchin's 1971 book, To the Victor: Political Patronage from the Club House to the White House. Thirty-five years later, the Tolchins decided it was time to revisit patronage and the effect of those rulings. Their research indicates that patronage is bigger and better than ever. The Christmas turkeys and jobs as sewer inspectors in days of yore have given way to much juicier and more lucrative opportunities: board memberships and executive positions at Fannie Mae, multi-billion dollar contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even toll roads, to name a few of the rewards available to political winners.
The Tolchins interviewed more than 200 public officials including governors, mayors, staffers, and members of Congress. Although patronage can morph very quickly into corruption, it is also used as a necessary tool of government. Pinstripe Patronage offers such examples as President Obama's offerings of congressional patronage to convince recalcitrant members of Congress to pass health care reform (remember Senator Mary Landrieu and the "Louisiana Purchase"?); and President Lyndon Johnson's wielding of political patronage in the days of Medicare and Civil Rights legislation. Even President George W. Bush, who publicly decried "earmarks," ended up including thousands of them in his budgets.
Susan Tolchin's other books include The Angry American: How Voter Rage is Changing the Nation and Women in the U.S. Congress. In addition she has written numerous articles for academic journals as well as for newspapers and magazines. Martin Tolchin was a journalist for forty years with New York Times. He then founded The Hill, where he served as publisher and editor-in-chief for nine years, and launched Politico, where he served as senior publisher and editor. Pinstripe Patronage is the eighth book the Tolchins have co-written. Susan and Martin Tolchin are frequent guests (both individually and as co-authors) on radio and television programs. Both are also invited speakers throughout the world.