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Ethics Complaints and Commendations

Monday, March 2nd, 2015
Robert Wechsler

Across the country, requests for citizen complaints provide not only for complaints, but also for commendations. I happened to notice one of these when I was in the nation's capital this weekend, and it got me wondering why this is not done with respect to government ethics complaints and hotline reports.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if ethics commissions were to ask citizens to file commendations regarding government officials' responsible handling of conflicts of interest situations?...

Prosecutorial Interference with a Local Government Ethics Investigation

Thursday, February 26th, 2015
Robert Wechsler

Yesterday, two members of a New York City council member's election campaign were indicted on criminal charges brought by a special prosecutor, who was appointed in 2012. Read this December 2014 New York Law Journal op-ed piece by Brennan Center (NYU) Chief Counsel and longtime New York City Corporation Counsel Frederick A.O. Schwarz, which argues very well that this...

The Value of a Chicago Referendum on Public Election Financing

Wednesday, February 25th, 2015
Robert Wechsler

Is it, as Every Voice says in its celebratory e-mail last night, an "exciting victory [that] sent a loud and clear mandate to city and state governments to fundamentally reform the way we fund elections so that everyday Americans can take back control of their democracy"?

Or is it, as the more cynical...

IC Course Lecture: CORRUPTING INFLUENCES

Friday, February 20th, 2015
cmiller

Lecture by Dr. Bill English

Larry Lessig has a concept of Institutional Corruption (IC) as a deviation from the purpose of the organization.  This is shown graphically by a compass pointing north--true north is the purpose of the organization; if you get pulled off of true north (like with a magnet pulling the compass off of north), that represents corrupting influences.

So the number one question is what is the purpose of your organization?  Why does...

Draft Upload

Sunday, February 15th, 2015
admin

Just a place to upload the files from...

Fundraising for a Political Convention: Pay to Play, Transparency, and a Blind Spot

Thursday, February 12th, 2015
Robert Wechsler
Even the most enthusiastic good government politicians often have a serious blind spot:  themselves. They believe that everyone else is into pay to play and selling out to big contributors. But not them. They're only doing what's best for their city.  They have only the community's best interests in mind. And sometimes the community needs those big contributors, and who but he is best situated to get them to open their wallets? However, the big contributors don't have the same blind spot, so...

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