Henry Adams' 1880 novel <i>Democracy</i> is a must-read for those
interested in government ethics. It's also a first-rate novel, full
of wit, excellent writing, and a good portrayal of post-Civil War
Washington. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2815&quot; target="”_blank”">It's
available free from Project Gutenberg</a>, in six e-book formats.<br>
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The creation of an ethics task force is a popular way for local
government leaders to pursue ethics reform. It provides the
appearance of community involvement and independence, and it means
that reform ideas are not something to be imposed by a mayor on
council members and other officials, which can cause a great deal of
resentment.<br>
<br>
Atlanta's Mayor Franklin chose this route in 2002, as did
Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter in 2008. One difference is that Franklin

Below is the text of a talk I gave at the Council on Governmental
Ethics Laws conference this week. Due to time limitations, I was not
able to share this entire text, so even those who heard the talk may
want to read this and see what they missed. For those who have been following my posts on legislative immunity, this talk not only brings together a lot of information, but also adds a section on how much of a misnomer "absolute" legislative immunity is.<br>
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According to <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/134479448_Gary_Martin_files_an_ethics_c…; target="”_blank”">an
article in Parsippany (NJ) <i>Life</i></a>, a Parsippany school board
member filed an ethics complaint against himself with the state's

Here's the situation. There is a state ethics program that applies
to local governments, and an ethics issue relating to a local law
arises. There is no local ethics commission to enforce the local
law, so what happens?<br>
<br>
This is the situation in Cincinnati. The issue involves a charter
provision that prohibits city funds from being disbursed for the
purpose of a political campaign. This is usually an ethics matter
(misuse of city property), but since there is no ethics commission

Imagine this story. A mayor calls a group of local contractors and
developers to a closed meeting on furthering economic growth in the city. The
guests are given a welcome pack, and
in the welcome pack is a plain brown, unmarked envelope. The
mayor ran on a platform of stopping corruption, but the
contractors and developers have seen this happen before.
Politicians are all the same, they think.<br>
<br>
During the meeting, the mayor asks her guests to open the

The situation of Rose Pak, a power broker for San Francisco's Chinese-American
community who was featured a week ago in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/us/rose-pak-a-chinatown-power-broker-…; target="”_blank”">a
New York <i>Times</i> article</a>, raises some interesting
questions. A paid consultant to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, she

“The concern with potential corruption does not stop just because
the relationship has entered the bedroom.’’<br>
<br>
For those of you who think my blog needs a little spice, this is a
good ice breaker. These are the words of Kathay Feng, head of
California Common Cause, spoken at a meeting of the Fair Political
Practices Commission, California's state ethics commission, which

A good followup to <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/lessig-effects-elected-officials-depe…; target="”_blank”">my
last blog post</a>, on Lawrence Lessig's book, is <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7387331n&tag=contentMain;cbsCaro…; target="”_blank”">what

Lawrence Lessig's excellent new book <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=pOd9J3vvWhkC&printsec=frontcover#v=one…; target="”_blank”"><b>Republic,