I've just finished reading a book called Illicit by Moises Naim, about the trafficking of everything from people and drugs to artworks and counterfeit DVDs .
One of the things Naim focuses on is why governments have so much trouble putting a dent into any of these types of trafficking. The principal reason is the structure of relationships. Government bureaucracies lose out to increasingly flexible networks of individuals.
In the municipal ethics world, the situation is similar, but even worse outside the larger cities. On one side, you have complex, flexible networks of elected and appointed officials, government employees, party committee members, lawyers, developers, realtors, and others who have common personal interests and a shared experience of power.
On the other side, you have ethics commissions and ethics officers who participate little, if at all, in any network, and whose interests are neither personal nor compelling. In fact, most of these people feel alone, ignorant, and powerless.
Hardly an even playing field.
