Hundreds of U.S. court decisions to the present day have employed the Dillon Rule to determine the scope of municipal powers and rights. Critics of the rule say that it imposes unreasonable constraints on the ability of communities to govern themselves and so undermines democracy, and even that local self-government is a matter of natural right that does not need to be conferred by higher political structures. It has also been suggested that Dillon's approach came from the view at that time that cities were inherently corrupt political organs. Corruption was widespread during his time, especially considering the extensive business ties and even investments of numerous cities and their leaders in the late 19th century. Today, most states in the United States follow the Dillon Rule. This is true even though most people no longer believe that cities have corruption problems.