Scandal Proof: Do Ethics Laws Make Government Ethical?

by G. Calvin Mackenzie

Book Overview

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In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10930, the first step in a long series of efforts to regulate the ethical behavior of executive branch officials. A few years later Lyndon B. Johnson required all senior officials to report assets and sources of non-government income to the Civil Service Commission. The reaction to Watergate opened the floodgates to more laws and rules: the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, subsequent expansions...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815754035
• ISBN13: 9780815754039
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A thoughtfully written account

Written by G. Calvin Mackenzie (Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government at Colby College and an Adviser to the Brookings Presidential Appointee Initiative) with the assistance of Michael Hafken (Research Analyst at the Brookings Institution), Scandal Proof: Do Ethics Laws Make Government Ethical? offers an insightful analysis of the laws designed to regulate the ethical behavior of the federal government from 1961 (when President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10930), down to modern-day executive orders by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. These efforts to "scandal-proof" government have been costly to finance in terms of taxpayer dollars, yet they have they been successful? Examining their real impact on how things are done, and presenting the question of whether there are better ways to bring more honesty to Washington government, Scandal Proof is a thoughtfully written account and highly recommended for students of Ethics and Political Science.