Does Power Corrupt?

I started asking this question after learning about Jeffrey Epstein, a Wall Street mogul and the man behind the biggest sex trafficking ring in recorded history. He had an island off the coast of the US, where he engaged in sexual acts with underage girls. He rubbed shoulders with many of the rich, famous and powerful, some of whom had alleged involvement in the crimes.

This made me beg the question — does power corrupt? If I were in a position of power, would I be corrupted? What drives people with immense levels of power to abuse their power?

As I looked into the literature, I found that many questions I asked were misguided. I learned that people holding power, fundamentally, is not a negative. Power in the hands of the right people who play within a legitimate and fair system is necessary for structure and order. Whether in the confines of a family unit, an organisation or a government — powerholding is a prerequisite for a functioning social system. So, what is the problem?

Political scientist and author Brian Klaas presents four possibilities of how power may corrupt;

1) Power makes people worse — once someone gets into a position of power, they face all of these temptations and cannot help but act out in corrupt ways.

2) Power isn’t the thing that corrupts, but rather, it’s that corrupt people are more drawn to power. Thus, we are more likely to see unscrupulous individuals in positions of power because they are more likely than most to pursue it. These people tend to score high in Dark Triad traits, such as psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism.

3) It isn’t power or power seekers that are the problem, but how we are attracted to bad leaders. We are attracted to confident, charismatic people, but we too frequently confuse their confidence and charisma for competence.

4) Focusing on the individual in power is a mistake — the system in which one holds power should be the focus. If the system is corrupt, the power holder will inevitably become corrupted by the illegitimacy of the system in which they hold the power.

To be continued…