The denial of unethical behavior, which usually occurs long after the
behavior itself, is usually the worst part of an ethics scandal, the adding of insult to injury. The public is faced with two possibilities when an official
denies that he did something unethical. This dilemma is well described
in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to

<b>Model Ethics Code Promotion As Community Service</b><br>
I promise you that I did not write the City Ethics Model Code in order
to shorten my prison sentence. According to <a href="http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Need-for-ethics-code-remains-1325…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in
yesterday's Connecticut <i>Post</i></a>, that is effectively what a

Government ethics involves itself primarily with the formal norms set
forth in ethics codes. But as the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right
and
What to Do about It</a> (Princeton University
Press), point out, "It is through informal mechanisms that

This week, according to an article in the Cleveland <i>Plain Dealer</i>,
Cuyahoga County (which includes Cleveland) passed a new ethics code,
largely based on <a href="http://charter.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_transitioninfo/en-US/COERecommenda…; target="”_blank”">the
recommended code</a>
drafted in October by the Code of Ethics Workgroup, set up by the Cuyahoga County Transition Advisory Group Executive

Max H. Bazerman and Ann
E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right and What to Do about It</a> (Princeton University
Press), point out that egocentrism is in our nature. We naturally see

"Most of us dramatically
underestimate the degree to which our behavior is affected by
incentives and other situational factors." This is one of the most
important sentences in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's Right and What to Do about It</a>, a new book by

Although we have more trouble seeing our own unethical behavior than we
do seeing others' unethical behavior, Max H. Bazerman and Ann
E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's Right and What to Do about It</a>, have found that

Although it is not a book about government ethics, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to Do What's Right and What to Do about It</a> by
Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel (Princeton University Press) is
a must-read book for government ethics practitioners. This new book (it

How important is ethics training? According to Justice Ginsburg's
dissent in <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-571.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”">Connick
v. Thompson</a>, a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on
March 29, it is the difference between life and death.<br>
<br>

Transparency is one of the most controversial aspects of government
ethics. It's so controversial that it is rarely
discussed in terms of transparency. It is almost always discussed in terms of
confidentiality, which is rarefly referred to by its popular name: secrecy. This careful use of words leads people to devalue transparency.<br>
<br>
The first statement in any discussion of transparency in government
ethics should be that transparency is one of the three areas of