Risk and Government Ethics

Thinking in terms of risk is a great way not to take responsibility for your actions, including your inactions. As soon as you start thinking about the chances that, overall, you might win or lose from a transaction, you have begun thinking in terms of your personal interest. This makes it very difficult to think in terms of the public interest.

You have also begun thinking in terms of consequences rather than in terms of rules. And it is rules, not consequences, that underlie the philosophy of a government ethics program. The reason government ethics is rules-based is that the obligations of government officials derive from their fiduciary duty to the community. Duties are not about consequences, but about following rules.

When someone else is doing something risky, it is easy to justify doing nothing by noting that your colleague is taking a risk, and it's up to her to determine how risky she thinks her actions are. This thought process replaces thinking in terms of fiduciary duty. And this thought process is most likely to lead to inaction, rather than providing useful advice or discussion, recommending that the colleague seek ethics advice, or reporting the colleague's misconduct.

Another's risk-taking is her matter. But another's possible violation of an ethics provision creates a duty to try to prevent misconduct or, if the attempt fails, report it.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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