Pay to Play Politics is a practice in which a politician encourages monetary contributions in exchange for benefits for an individual or company. In USA, every state prohibits bribery in obtaining government contracts, but few states restrict campaign contributions from businesses seeking government contracts.
Reference Definition by Quora.com: Pay to Play means that someone gives money to a campaign or another favourite cause of a politician or government official, and in return receives preferential treatment or increased access to that politician or official. In other words, your “payment” plays a role in getting an audience or action. Of course, influence with and access to, elected officials is exactly what large campaign donors are hoping to get, so it’s a fine line, but in the case of an appointed official, it’s unseemly if a person appears to pay more attention to large donors to their private causes. It smacks of leveraging your public position for private gain, which, if not explicitly illegal, is ethically dubious. This is different than “quid pro quo” bribery, in which money or something of value is given in return for a specific official action, vote, etc., and is 100% illegal and a criminal act in the U.S.
