Chicago’s political system is set up to produce corruption

HE WEARS A fedora hat, pinstriped suit and a scowl. In his breast pocket he folds a handkerchief, colourful and silky. For the past half century, since 1969, Edward Burke has run his fief, the 14th ward, a gritty district in south Chicago, as an old-school political boss. No other councillor—alderman, say Chicagoans—has amassed such clout. Since 1983, save a couple of years, he chaired the city’s powerful finance committee. A canny, financially literate figure, he also oversaw a compensation scheme for public workers, doling out $100m a year with little oversight.