Professor Arnold J. Heidenheimer, in his very useful collection of readings on political corruption, notes the tendency of American scholars to discount the dysfunctional impact of corruption both in the United States and abroad.' Henry Jones Ford, writing in 1904, saw political corruption in the United States as a means of overcoming the rigidities of the American constitutional system of checks and balances.2 V. 0. Key Jr. has argued that in the absence of a traditional governing class, American political parties had to rely on patronage (including the promise of jobs, contracts, and favorable legislation) to gain needed financial support and to direct or control their followers.3 Moreover, Key points out that "bribery has been a convenient way to avoid legal requirements which may be impracticable of application," particu-