Ethics in Governance: Developing Moral Public Service
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025919 |
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Pages | 52-62 |
| Author | Jon Mills |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Journal of Financial Crime — Vol. 7 No. 1 — Analysis
Ethics in Governance: Developing Moral
Public Service
Jon Mills
The topic of ethics in government is hardly new.
From Greek democracy to the current day, we
have struggled to maintain morality and ethics in
governing our societies and have failed to perfect a
method.
But that docs not, and should not, prevent profes-
sors from trying. As Mark Twain once said, '[t]o do
good is noble, but to teach others how to be good is
nobler — and no
trouble.'1
When we try to define character and ethics in
public office, we find it may be easier to define
corrupt actions than to define ethical conduct. Conse-
quently, striving for ethical governance entails deter-
mining bad conduct and encouraging a less easily
definable good conduct.
In the US, the modern focus on governmental
ethics began with the Watergate scandals. That era
spawned ethics commissions in virtually every state
as well as the US Office of Government Ethics.
There are multiple laws prohibiting conflicts of
interest, requiring disclosures of gifts, contributions,
personal income and net worth.2 And yet, after all
this legal effort, the US has one of the lowest levels
of trust of public servants in our
history.3
But even if there is currently a low regard for
public ethics in the US, the system of constitutional
democracy is well designed to deter corruption.
The characteristics of competitive free elections,
free speech, aggressive citizen oversight and an
independent judiciary are characteristics that deter
corruption.
No easy answers exist. Public officials in democra-
cies are confronted with multiple duties, values, con-
stitutions and ethics codes to guide decision making.
Equality, liberty, freedom of speech — anyone who
has been in public service any length of time knows
that looking to general principles and values will
not generate practical policy answers. Citizens want
integrity, honesty and character. But again, even
honest persons of integrity can reach different
policy conclusions.
As a starting point to this sometimes nebulous
odyssey into ethics, there must be some logical
point of departure.
First, there is some agreement on what is
legally
ethi-
cal.
Generally, the corrupt abuse of public office for
private gain and conflicts of interest in public decision
making are considered morally and legally wrong.
Nevertheless, any Utopian hope for a perfectly
ethical government is unrealistic and defies the lessons
of history and the reality of human nature. The goal
is to encourage, foster and promote ethical public
service.
The current focus of laws in the US can be
categorised into six areas:
(1) Prohibiting abuse of office — These are actions
done with the intent of using the power of
office for improper purposes. This category of
conduct might generally be defined as corrupt
activity.
(2) Controlling conflicts of interest — A conflict of
interest implies that there are interests other than
the public interest that affect a decision that
should be made solely for a public purpose.
These laws define, prohibit or require the report-
ing of conflicts.
(3) Requiring disclosure of private interests —
These laws require publication of the private
interests of public officials and discourage or
identify conflicts of interest.
(4) Regulating campaign financing — These laws
attempt to avoid the tainting of public decisions
by private campaign contributions and lobbying
activities.
(5) Restricting activities that create an appearance of
impropriety.
(6) Creating institutions to oversee ethics.
Each of these areas will be discussed below as a
component of the attempt to define ethical govern-
ance as a matter of law.
LEGAL DETERRENTS TO UNETHICAL
CONDUCT
When a public servant evaluates or seeks to find
some moral epistle, the first stop might well be the
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