A Call for Academics to Provide Assistance to Government Ethics Programs

I read something very exciting today in the April 1 newsletter of the Ethics Section of the American Society for Public Administration. In a short essay entitled "Living in Glass Houses: Ethics Commissions in the United States," Stuart C. Gilman, who has had an illustrious career both in academia and on the front lines of ethics and anti-corruption efforts, wrote the following:

I believe it is time for the ethics section to become more activist by encouraging targeted research or an ASPA commission to look into what makes ... ethics commissions effective. ... By being a bit more activist, we might be able to aid [American] commissions with tools to assist them in encouraging individuals to act with integrity and discouraging those who enter public service for selfish or narrowly partisan reasons.

This is a refreshing, even radical statement. In fact, I have written a paper, which is to be published in the next issue of the journal Public Integrity, that criticizes academia for doing so little to research, analyze, and make recommendations for the improvement of American government ethics programs.

It is heartening to read that one of the most prominent people in the field is calling for academic involvement in state and local government ethics reform. In my paper, I provide several reasons why such involvement has been so rare and express the belief that it is law professors who are more likely to engage in this effort. I would be happy to be proven wrong, to see people in the field of public administration acknowledging the value of government conflicts of interest programs and helping to make them more independent and effective.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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