市政腐败是 19世纪末 2 0世纪初美国现代化过程中所遭遇的严重社会问题。作为一名新闻记者 ,林肯·斯蒂芬斯对这一现象进行了系统而深刻的揭露 ,对 2 0世纪初美国进步主义改革起到了一定的推动作用。正因此 ,斯蒂芬斯被认为是 2 0世纪初美国“黑幕揭发运动”中最杰出的代表 Municipal corruption is a serious social problem encountered in the process of U.S. modernization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lincoln Stephens, as a journalist, systematically and deeply exposed this phenomenon and played a certain role in promoting the progressives of the United States in the early 20th century. It is for this reason that Stephens is considered to be the most outstanding representative of the United States “shady” campaign of early 2000s