This week Jay Cost shares a history of corruption and factionalism in the United States from his newest book, A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of American Political Corruption (2015).How does government grow? Where do political factions and interest groups come from? How have politicians handed out favors to these groups in the past, how do these systems work now, and is there anything we can do about it? Is political corruption worse now than it was in the 19th century and earlier?Show Notes and Further ReadingJay Cost, A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of American Political Corruption (book)Jay Cost, Spoiled Rotten: How the Politics of Patronage Corrupted the Once Noble Democratic Party and Now Threatens the American Republic (book)Robert Remini, The Life of Andrew Jackson (book)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.