A person who buys and sells boroughs or who engages in corrupt practices related to borough politics and patronage, especially by trading in political influence.
Compound from 'borough' and 'monger' (from Old English 'mangian', to trade or deal). Historically used as a pejorative term for those who exploited the borough system for profit.
Before the 1832 Reform Act, 'rotten boroughs' in England were sold like commodities—some had only a handful of voters yet sent MPs to Parliament, making borough-mongering a very literal form of political corruption.
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