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Resources & Learning April 7, 2011

Blind Spots IV — Egocentrism

Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It (Princeton University Press), point out that egocentrism is in our nature. We naturally see the world from our point of view. We squeeze what we see and experience …
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Resources & Learning April 6, 2011

Blind Spots III — Ethics Training, Ethics Fading, and Ethical Reasoning

"Most of us dramatically underestimate the degree to which our behavior is affected by incentives and other situational factors." This is one of the most important sentences in Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It, a new book by Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel (…
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Resources & Learning April 6, 2011

Blind Spots II — Motivated Blindness

Although we have more trouble seeing our own unethical behavior than we do seeing others' unethical behavior, Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It, have found that people have a tendency "to overlook t…
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Resources & Learning April 4, 2011

Blind Spots I — Unconscious Unethical Conduct

Although it is not a book about government ethics, Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It by Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel (Princeton University Press) is a must-read book for government ethics practitioners. This new book (it came out just a couple of weeks ago…
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Ethics Commissions & Administration April 2, 2011

A Remedy for Lack of Ethics Training and Advice?

How important is ethics training? According to Justice Ginsburg's dissent in Connick v. Thompson, a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 29, it is the difference between life and death. In this case, ethics training involved training regarding the requirements of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U…
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Enforcement & Complaints April 1, 2011

Penalizing Ethics Proceeding Transparency

Transparency is one of the most controversial aspects of government ethics. It's so controversial that it is rarely discussed in terms of transparency. It is almost always discussed in terms of confidentiality, which is rarefly referred to by its popular name: secrecy. This careful use of words lea…
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Ethics Commissions & Administration March 31, 2011

Independence of Ethics Administration Should Trump Independence of Agencies and Districts

Two types of independence often clash when it comes to government ethics. It is important that government ethics programs be administered by independent commissions. But independent agencies often do what they can not to be subject to a local government ethics commission. It is clear which sort of …
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Conflicts of Interest March 30, 2011

Nepotism and Oversight Relationships

It's hard for ethics codes to deal with every kind of relationship where nepotism might be a problem. In a matter involving the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the relationship involves oversight. According to an article in Sunday's Palm Beach Post, the SFWMD executive director's b…
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Conflicts of Interest March 28, 2011

Incompatible Offices in Perspective

Incompatible offices is a form of conflict I have not dealt with in this blog. A good occasion to do this is a recent California attorney general's opinion interpreting the state's 2005 incompatible offices statute, which applies to local and state "public officers." The opinion provides valuable d…
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Conflicts of Interest March 27, 2011

Council Chair and Chamber Director: How Conflicting Are These Positions?

Without giving it any thought, it would be hard to think of a better fit than a city politician running the local chamber of commerce. After all, the goals of a chamber of commerce and of a city government are pretty much the same:  security, good government, good services, low taxes. But when you …
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