In a preview clip from his new podcast, A Great Book with Barack Obama, former President Obama said, "The federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it's ever been, in terms of just pure bribes, or patronage or favors."
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it → say → bribes
And in a recent onstage appearance, he said that he "fantasized" about having "women in charge of every government for like two years."
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he → say → years
The two seemingly unrelated statements reveal Obama's superficial view of what makes good government.
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what → reveal → government
The argument that we have less corruption is politically odd, given that Democrats constantly accuse President Donald Trump's administration of misconduct.
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Democrats → give → misconduct
It's true that the federal government was much more openly patronage-based in the past.
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government → base → past
Patronage was a primary contributing factor in political organization, with party leaders awarding public-sector jobs, contracts, and other benefits to those who were loyal.
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who → contribute → those
But what's done openly isn't the end of the story.
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done → do → story
Research published in 2020 by the National Institute of Justice found nearly 57,000 federal-court public-corruption convictions from 1985 through 2015, with fraud and bribery accounting for 76 percent of the lead charges that resulted in convictions.
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that → publish → convictions
Rep. William Jefferson (D–La.) was famously caught with $90,000 in cash stuffed in his freezer in 2005.
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Jefferson → catch → 2005
That same year, Rep. Duke Cunningham (R–Calif.) admitted taking at least $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors.
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Cunningham → admit → contractors
Sen. Bob Menendez (D–N.J.) was convicted just two years ago of accepting cash, gold bars, and a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for political favors.
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Menendez → convict → favors
The Obama administration faced accusations of misconduct too.
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administration → face → misconduct
His White House pressed federal reviewers in 2009 to quickly reach a decision on a $535 million federal loan guarantee for Solyndra, a solar company whose largest investors were funds operated on behalf of Obama fundraiser George Kaiser's family foundation.
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investors → press → foundation
The company later collapsed into bankruptcy, leaving American taxpayers to foot the bill.
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company → collapse → bill
And the Trump administration, of course, has given us one corruption charge after another.
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administration → give → another
Fifteen companies backed by investment firms affiliated with the president's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have received about $3.2 billion in federal contracts, loans, and investments, most after Trump returned to office.
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Trump → back → office
In 2024, House Oversight Committee Democrats issued a staff report claiming that Trump's businesses received millions of dollars from foreign governments and government-backed entities.
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businesses → issue → governments
As the size of the federal government has grown, so have the opportunities for rent-seeking and impropriety.
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opportunities → grow → seeking
Just because there has been a decline in overt patronage does not mean the government is cleaner than ever.
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government → mean → patronage
In a separate incident, Obama argued onstage at Salem State University that women should be in charge of "every government."
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women → argue → government
Unsurprisingly, Obama received a long round of applause from the audience.
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Obama → receive → audience
Of course, Obama did not exclusively put women in positions of power while he was in office.
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he → put → office
He also did run against a woman for the presidency, defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential race in 2008.
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He → run → 2008
Setting Obama's personal history aside, countless studies have attempted to isolate the effects of politicians' sex.
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studies → set → sex
A 2026 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper of Brazilian mayoral elections found "no evidence that electing a woman mayor affects corruption."
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electing → work → corruption
A study of international disputes found that, partly due to gender perceptions and stereotypes, "female-led states are more likely to have their disputes reciprocated and are consequently more likely to forcefully escalate a dispute than male-led governments.
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disputes → find → governments
Fundamentally, Obama's argument rests on judging an individual's governing quality based on their sex.
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argument → rest → sex
Even giving the argument any credence requires accepting the idea that sex is a meaningful proxy for political judgment.
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sex → give → judgment
It is a strange principle to embrace.
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It → embrace → ?
Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Giorgia Meloni, Hillary Clinton, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hardly represent a single governing philosophy because they happen to have the same gender.
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they → represent → gender
Comments like that are nothing new for the former president, who tends to frame issues in broad terms.
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who → tend → terms
Both of these examples rely on crude proxies for much more complex ideas.
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Both → rely → ideas
Fewer envelopes of cash do not necessarily tell us whether government is free from favoritism, conflicts of interest, or rent-seeking, and a politician's sex tells us very little about how that individual would govern.
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individual → tell → little
A larger state creates more opportunities for rent-seeking and corruption.
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state → create → seeking
And none of Obama's tidy theories of good government offered last week really grapple with that fact.
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none → offer → fact
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