Today, these same public-sector unions have themselves become part of an elite that uses the political system to protect its own self-interests. As we will see in Part IV, the quality of American public administration has declined markedly since the 1970s, in no small measure because of these unions' ability to limit merit as a basis for hiring and promotion. They are an integral part of the contemporary Democratic Party's political base, making most Democratic politicians loath to challenge them. The result is political decay.