NGES Stirs Spirited Debate in Washington
Washington is buzzing this spring over the findings of ERC’s National Government Ethics Survey and its analysis that “the next Enron could occur within government.” Within days of the survey’s release, ERC was invited to help members of Congress and executive branch officials consider the definition of ethics underlying federal ethics rules, and weigh better ways to address the most pressing threats to the public trust.
ERC’s President, Dr. Patricia Harned, met with staff members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and with more than 100 members of the Interagency Ethics Council – an organization of ethics officers from the full range of executive branch agencies.
Coming out of those meetings, ERC was asked by the Senate committee to offer recommendations for a definition of ethics to guide programs within the federal government. All sides were concerned that ERC’s survey of government workers in local, state and federal sectors showed nearly 60 percent had witnessed ethical violations, and almost one-third had not reported the incidents to their superiors. Of those not reporting misconduct, one in four believed leaders tolerate retaliation against whistleblowers.
The definitions ERC has used for years in its analyses of ethical environments both public and private are considerably more comprehensive than those in federal ethics regulations.
In ERC’s view, the most important asset of government is public trust in our representative democracy and in every federal employee. It gives citizens confidence that the government serves their interests by placing loyalty to the Constitution, the laws of the land, and ethical principles above private gain. Equally important, the federal government sets an example by reinforcing a national ethical culture that prizes integrity, along with a value system that embraces ethical conduct at the highest, most visible levels.
ERC’s advice to the Senate committee: strengthen the ability of the Office of Government Ethics to uphold conflict-of-interest rules and regulations by building an ethical culture into the executive branch. Rules and compliance programs can be very successful, but their efficacy is enormously enhanced when coupled with cultural initiatives. Thus, programs that uphold the cultural values of honesty, ethical leadership, professionalism, fairness, openness, respect and reinforcement should go hand-in-hand with more compliance-oriented regimes.