Frank Anechiarico, the Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law, gave a faculty lecture titled "The Politics of Corruption Control" on Friday, Oct. 7, in the Red Pit. An analyst of constitutional law and public administration, Anechiarico has authored and co-authored numerous articles and books on political corruption, focusing most recently on finding ways to promote ethical conduct in government.
Anechiarico began his talk by describing corruption as a "moving target," noting a change over time in what has constituted corrupt practices. He offered that while attempts at reforming bureaucracy in the past had limited success, recent changes offer hope that innovation in corruption investigation can reduce dishonest practices substantially.
Anechiarico drew attention to cases of corruption in New York City administration, which he has studied extensively, noting in the last decade a departure from some of the negative trends that have long characterized businesses such as public construction. He referred to the nature of business as a "zero-sum game," in that a company's success almost always rested on some corrupt practice, a reality that was simply accepted tacitly.
Professor Anechiarico outlined the four main phases of reform attempts in the last 150 years of the city's history, starting with the Anti-Patronage Vision (1870-1900). Citing the well known example of Tammany Hall and the fraudulent machinations of Boss Tweed, he spoke of a movement to scrap entirely the political machine, which reformers thought mired in unethical business practice. With limited effectiveness, this movement gave way to the Progressive Vision (1900-The New Deal), which sought to maintain honesty in public administration and restore people's faith in their leaders. One aspect of this reform was the professionalization and specialization of occupations, which included the establishment of institutions such as the American Bar Association.
By the 1930s, government had grown so large that this vision and the professional codes of ethics it sought to engender no longer seemed viable. Thus came the Scientific Administration Vision, which called for anti-corruption investigators who tracked down offenders in government service. The Panoptic Vision took over from 1970-1995, mandating more rules and regulations whenever a scandal arose. However, as no one attempted to integrate all the rules and smooth over their inconsistencies, the codes became a convoluted mess. By the 1990s, a stifling moralistic bureaucratic culture had arisen, in which an overabundance of rules and regulations seriously compromised the efficiency of public administration. Furthermore, the strict rules discouraged many companies from getting contracts to work, as seen in the construction business; larger companies grabbed much of the available work, and operated unscrupulously without fear of censure. Codes of conduct had, in fact, come to paralyze governmental function and allow corruption to spread.
When Rudolph Giuliani became the city's mayor, he instituted a policy of Rational Deregulation to cut down the number of rules that clogged the system. His term also saw the creation of the Procurement Policy Board, which restored competition between companies for contracts. Ideas of reform soon arose on a national level, including Double Loop Learning, which encouraged organizations to assess their own effectiveness and honesty frequently. Administrations also adopted the notion of Transparency, making their inner workings apparent to the public. The internet has become useful in this capacity, with city governments going so far as to display budgets and contracts.
Anechiarico mentioned finally the recent creation of Independent Private Sector Inspectors General, or IPSIGs. First introduced to probe corruption in the NYC construction business, IPSIGs have come to be used more widely in the US and across the world. This unit performed outstandingly in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, for example. The city was able to bring in contractors who could most effectively and quickly manage the clean up, even if they had dishonest records, because the IPSIGs closely monitored their behavior, kept tabs on their records, and immediately rectified fraudulent conduct. The use of IPSIGs has increasingly helped restore the notion of productivity and efficiency alongside business integrity, long thought mutually exclusive.
This lecture was sponsored by the Dean of Faculty Office.
-- By Greg Gencarello '06
Anechiarico began his talk by describing corruption as a "moving target," noting a change over time in what has constituted corrupt practices. He offered that while attempts at reforming bureaucracy in the past had limited success, recent changes offer hope that innovation in corruption investigation can reduce dishonest practices substantially.
Anechiarico drew attention to cases of corruption in New York City administration, which he has studied extensively, noting in the last decade a departure from some of the negative trends that have long characterized businesses such as public construction. He referred to the nature of business as a "zero-sum game," in that a company's success almost always rested on some corrupt practice, a reality that was simply accepted tacitly.
Professor Anechiarico outlined the four main phases of reform attempts in the last 150 years of the city's history, starting with the Anti-Patronage Vision (1870-1900). Citing the well known example of Tammany Hall and the fraudulent machinations of Boss Tweed, he spoke of a movement to scrap entirely the political machine, which reformers thought mired in unethical business practice. With limited effectiveness, this movement gave way to the Progressive Vision (1900-The New Deal), which sought to maintain honesty in public administration and restore people's faith in their leaders. One aspect of this reform was the professionalization and specialization of occupations, which included the establishment of institutions such as the American Bar Association.
By the 1930s, government had grown so large that this vision and the professional codes of ethics it sought to engender no longer seemed viable. Thus came the Scientific Administration Vision, which called for anti-corruption investigators who tracked down offenders in government service. The Panoptic Vision took over from 1970-1995, mandating more rules and regulations whenever a scandal arose. However, as no one attempted to integrate all the rules and smooth over their inconsistencies, the codes became a convoluted mess. By the 1990s, a stifling moralistic bureaucratic culture had arisen, in which an overabundance of rules and regulations seriously compromised the efficiency of public administration. Furthermore, the strict rules discouraged many companies from getting contracts to work, as seen in the construction business; larger companies grabbed much of the available work, and operated unscrupulously without fear of censure. Codes of conduct had, in fact, come to paralyze governmental function and allow corruption to spread.
When Rudolph Giuliani became the city's mayor, he instituted a policy of Rational Deregulation to cut down the number of rules that clogged the system. His term also saw the creation of the Procurement Policy Board, which restored competition between companies for contracts. Ideas of reform soon arose on a national level, including Double Loop Learning, which encouraged organizations to assess their own effectiveness and honesty frequently. Administrations also adopted the notion of Transparency, making their inner workings apparent to the public. The internet has become useful in this capacity, with city governments going so far as to display budgets and contracts.
Anechiarico mentioned finally the recent creation of Independent Private Sector Inspectors General, or IPSIGs. First introduced to probe corruption in the NYC construction business, IPSIGs have come to be used more widely in the US and across the world. This unit performed outstandingly in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, for example. The city was able to bring in contractors who could most effectively and quickly manage the clean up, even if they had dishonest records, because the IPSIGs closely monitored their behavior, kept tabs on their records, and immediately rectified fraudulent conduct. The use of IPSIGs has increasingly helped restore the notion of productivity and efficiency alongside business integrity, long thought mutually exclusive.
This lecture was sponsored by the Dean of Faculty Office.
-- By Greg Gencarello '06
