Pork barrel
Encyclopedia
Pork barrel is a derogatory term referring to appropriation
of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English
.
of a politician
in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions
or votes. In the popular 1863 story "The Children of the Public", Edward Everett Hale
used the term pork barrel as a homely metaphor for any form of public spending to the citizenry. After the American Civil War
, however, the term came to be used in a derogatory sense. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the modern sense of the term from 1873. By the 1870s, references to "pork" were common in Congress, and the term was further popularized by a 1919 article by Chester Collins Maxey in the National Municipal Review, which reported on certain legislative acts known to members of Congress as "pork barrel bills". He claimed that the phrase originated in a pre-Civil War practice of giving slaves a barrel of salt pork as a reward and requiring them to compete among themselves to get their share of the handout.
More generally, a barrel of salt pork
was a common larder
item in 19th century households, and could be used as a measure of the family's financial well-being. For example, in his 1845 novel The Chainbearer, James Fenimore Cooper
wrote, "I hold a family to be in a desperate way, when the mother can see the bottom of the pork barrel."
projects, certain national defense spending projects, and agricultural subsidies are the most commonly cited examples.
Citizens Against Government Waste
outlines seven criteria by which spending can be classified as "pork":
, which was introduced by John C. Calhoun
to construct highways linking the Eastern and Southern United States to its Western frontier using the earnings bonus from the Second Bank of the United States
. Calhoun argued for it using general welfare and post roads clauses of the United States Constitution
. Although he approved of the economic development goal, President James Madison
vetoed the bill as unconstitutional
.
One of the most famous alleged pork-barrel projects was the Big Dig in Boston
, Massachusetts
. The Big Dig was a project to take an existing 3.5 miles (5.6 km) interstate highway and relocate it underground. It ended up costing US$14.6 billion, or over US$4 billion per mile. Tip O'Neill
(D-Mass), after whom one of the Big Dig tunnels was named, pushed to have the Big Dig funded by the federal government while he was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
.
During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign
, the Gravina Island Bridge
(also known as the "Bridge to Nowhere") in Alaska was cited as an example of pork barrel spending. The bridge, pushed for by Republican Senator Ted Stevens
, was projected to cost $398 million and would connect the island's 50 residents and the Ketchikan International Airport
to Revillagigedo Island
and Ketchikan.
Pork-barrel projects, or earmarks
, are added to the federal budget by members of the appropriation committees of United States Congress
. This allows delivery of federal funds to the local district or state of the appropriation committee member, often accommodating major campaign contributors. To a certain extent, a member of Congress is judged by their ability to deliver funds to their constituents. The Chairman and the ranking member
of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations are in a position to deliver significant benefits to their states.
In other countries, the practice is often called patronage
, but this word does not always imply corrupt or undesirable conduct. Similar expressions, meaning "election pork", are used in Danish (), Swedish () and Norwegian (), where they mean promises made before an election, often by a politician who has little intention of fulfilling them.
The Finnish political jargon uses (culvert politics) in reference to national politicians concentrating on small local matters, such as construction of culvert
s and other public works at politician's home municipality, and Romanians speak of (literally, "electoral alms"), while the Polish means literally "election sausage". The Czech (pre-election goulash
) has similar meaning, referring to free dishes of goulash
served to potential voters during election campaign meetings targeted at lower social classes; metaphorically, it stands for any populistic political decisions that are taken before the elections with the aim of obtaining more votes. The process of diverting budget funds in favor of a project in a particular constituency is called ("portioning of the bear") in Czech usage.
The term is rarely used in British English
, although similar terms exist: election sweetener, tax sweetener, or just sweetener. Pork barrel is frequently used in Australian politics, where marginal seat
s are often accused of receiving more funding than safe seat
s or, in the case of the 2010 election in negotiations with key independents
.
Appropriation (law)
In law and government, appropriation is the act of setting apart something for its application to a particular usage, to the exclusion of all other uses....
of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
.
History
The term pork barrel politics usually refers to spending that is intended to benefit constituentsElectoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
of a politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions
Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
or votes. In the popular 1863 story "The Children of the Public", Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman. He was a child prodigy who exhibited extraordinary literary skills and at age thirteen was enrolled at Harvard University where he graduated second in his class...
used the term pork barrel as a homely metaphor for any form of public spending to the citizenry. After the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, however, the term came to be used in a derogatory sense. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the modern sense of the term from 1873. By the 1870s, references to "pork" were common in Congress, and the term was further popularized by a 1919 article by Chester Collins Maxey in the National Municipal Review, which reported on certain legislative acts known to members of Congress as "pork barrel bills". He claimed that the phrase originated in a pre-Civil War practice of giving slaves a barrel of salt pork as a reward and requiring them to compete among themselves to get their share of the handout.
More generally, a barrel of salt pork
Salt pork
Salt pork or white bacon is salt-cured pork. It is prepared from one of three primal cuts: pork side, pork belly, or fatback. Depending on the cut, respectively, salt pork may be lean, streaky or entirely fatty. Made from the same cuts as bacon, salt pork resembles uncut slab bacon, but is...
was a common larder
Larder
A larder is a cool area for storing food prior to use.Larders were commonplace in houses before the widespread use of the refrigerator.Essential qualities of a larder are that it should be:*as cool as possible*close to food preparation areas...
item in 19th century households, and could be used as a measure of the family's financial well-being. For example, in his 1845 novel The Chainbearer, James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
wrote, "I hold a family to be in a desperate way, when the mother can see the bottom of the pork barrel."
Definition
Typically, "pork" involves funding for government programs whose economic or service benefits are concentrated in a particular area but whose costs are spread among all taxpayers. Public worksPublic works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
projects, certain national defense spending projects, and agricultural subsidies are the most commonly cited examples.
Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste is a 501 non-profit organization in the United States. It functions as a think-tank, 'government watchdog', and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes...
outlines seven criteria by which spending can be classified as "pork":
- Requested by only one chamber of Congress;
- Not specifically authorized;
- Not competitively awarded;
- Not requested by the President;
- Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding;
- Not the subject of congressional hearings; or
- Serves only a local or special interest.
Examples
One of the earliest examples of pork barrel politics in the United States was the Bonus Bill of 1817Bonus Bill of 1817
The Bonus Bill of 1817 was proposed legislation introduced by John C. Calhoun to provide a federal highway linking the East and South to the West using the earnings bonus from the Second Bank of the United States. Opponents feared that providing the means for settlers to travel would drain their...
, which was introduced by John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
to construct highways linking the Eastern and Southern United States to its Western frontier using the earnings bonus from the Second Bank of the United States
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
. Calhoun argued for it using general welfare and post roads clauses of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. Although he approved of the economic development goal, President James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
vetoed the bill as unconstitutional
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
.
1873 Defiance (Ohio) Democrat 13 Sept. 1/8: "Recollecting their many previous visits to the public pork-barrel,... this hue-and-cry over the salary grab... puzzles quite as much as it alarms them."
1896 Overland Monthly Sept. 370/2: "Another illustration represents Mr. Ford in the act of hooking out a chunk of River and Harbor Pork out of a Congressional Pork Barrel valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
One of the most famous alleged pork-barrel projects was the Big Dig in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The Big Dig was a project to take an existing 3.5 miles (5.6 km) interstate highway and relocate it underground. It ended up costing US$14.6 billion, or over US$4 billion per mile. Tip O'Neill
Tip O'Neill
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. was an American politician. O'Neill was an outspoken liberal Democrat and influential member of the U.S. Congress, serving in the House of Representatives for 34 years and representing two congressional districts in Massachusetts...
(D-Mass), after whom one of the Big Dig tunnels was named, pushed to have the Big Dig funded by the federal government while he was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
.
During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, the Gravina Island Bridge
Gravina Island Bridge
The Gravina Island Bridge, commonly referred to as the "Bridge to Nowhere", was a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects the town of Ketchikan, Alaska, with Gravina Island, an island which contains the Ketchikan International Airport as well as 50 residents. The bridge was...
(also known as the "Bridge to Nowhere") in Alaska was cited as an example of pork barrel spending. The bridge, pushed for by Republican Senator Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
, was projected to cost $398 million and would connect the island's 50 residents and the Ketchikan International Airport
Ketchikan International Airport
Ketchikan International Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile west of the central business district of Ketchikan, a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska....
to Revillagigedo Island
Revillagigedo Island
Revillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km north-south and 48 km east-west, it is 2,754.835 km² in area, making it the 12th largest island in the United...
and Ketchikan.
Pork-barrel projects, or earmarks
Earmark (politics)
In United States politics, an earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees...
, are added to the federal budget by members of the appropriation committees of United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. This allows delivery of federal funds to the local district or state of the appropriation committee member, often accommodating major campaign contributors. To a certain extent, a member of Congress is judged by their ability to deliver funds to their constituents. The Chairman and the ranking member
Ranking member
In United States politics, a ranking member is the second-most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the majority party. Another usage refers to the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. This second usage, often...
of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations are in a position to deliver significant benefits to their states.
Use of the term outside the United States
In the Philippines, the term is commonly used in politics. Filipino legislators are allocated large sums of the annual national budget (200 million pesos for each senator and 70 million for each representative) in a program called the Priority Development Assistance Fund. Politicians are often accused of misusing their allocations for selfish purposes, particularly through "kickbacks" and commissions from their projects.In other countries, the practice is often called patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
, but this word does not always imply corrupt or undesirable conduct. Similar expressions, meaning "election pork", are used in Danish (), Swedish () and Norwegian (), where they mean promises made before an election, often by a politician who has little intention of fulfilling them.
The Finnish political jargon uses (culvert politics) in reference to national politicians concentrating on small local matters, such as construction of culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
s and other public works at politician's home municipality, and Romanians speak of (literally, "electoral alms"), while the Polish means literally "election sausage". The Czech (pre-election goulash
Goulash
Goulash is a soup or stew of meat, noodles and vegetables , seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is also a popular meal in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Scandinavia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia...
) has similar meaning, referring to free dishes of goulash
Goulash
Goulash is a soup or stew of meat, noodles and vegetables , seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is also a popular meal in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Scandinavia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia...
served to potential voters during election campaign meetings targeted at lower social classes; metaphorically, it stands for any populistic political decisions that are taken before the elections with the aim of obtaining more votes. The process of diverting budget funds in favor of a project in a particular constituency is called ("portioning of the bear") in Czech usage.
The term is rarely used in British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
, although similar terms exist: election sweetener, tax sweetener, or just sweetener. Pork barrel is frequently used in Australian politics, where marginal seat
Marginal seat
A marginal seat, or swing seat, is a constituency held with a particularly small majority in a legislative election, generally conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat....
s are often accused of receiving more funding than safe seat
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...
s or, in the case of the 2010 election in negotiations with key independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
.
See also
- Advocacy groupAdvocacy groupAdvocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
- Client politicsClient politicsClient politics is the type of politics when an organized minority or interest group benefits at the expense of the public. Client politics may have a strong interaction with the dynamics of identity politics....
- Earmark (politics)Earmark (politics)In United States politics, an earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees...
- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 is an Act of Congress that requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year 2007. The website opened in December 2007 as a result of the act, and is...
- Golden Fleece AwardGolden Fleece AwardThe Golden Fleece Award is presented to those public officials in the United States whom the judges feel waste public money.Established in 1975 by former U.S. Senator William Proxmire , and issued until 1988, it was revived by the Advisory Board of the Taxpayers for Common Sense in 2000...
- LobbyingLobbyingLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
- Money loop
- PorkbustersPorkbustersPorkbusters is an effort led by mostly conservative and libertarian bloggers to cut pork barrel spending by the U.S. Congress used to help pay for projects....