The Effects of Legislative Ethics Law: An Institutional Perspective
Public Ethics and Governance: Standards and Practices in Comparative Perspective
ISBN: 978-0-76231-226-9, eISBN: 978-1-84950-355-6
Publication date: 4 April 2006
Abstract
This chapter examines the range of possible effects of ethics laws enacted by state legislatures. One objective of ethics law, to reduce corruption, cannot be demonstrated. Other objectives, to placate the media, defend against partisan attack, and permit the legislature to move on, have mixed results, while a final objective, to restore public confidence, is not achieved. Nevertheless, ethics law does affect the process, by somewhat discouraging legislator recruitment and retention, by raising the consciousness of legislators, and by changing the cultures of state capitals.
Citation
Rosenthal, A. (2006), "The Effects of Legislative Ethics Law: An Institutional Perspective", Saint-Martin, D. and Thompson, F. (Ed.) Public Ethics and Governance: Standards and Practices in Comparative Perspective (Research in Public Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 155-177. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0732-1317(05)14009-3
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited