Legislative Ethics and Codes of Conduct

Introduction: The Need for Ethics Regimes Why? Past decade, citizen satisfaction with democracy declined in several democracies. Citizen satisfaction down because: Corruption scandals involving politicians; Irresponsiveness of political elites; Non-accountability of politicians; Voters’ perceived loss of political efficacy.

Introduction: The Need for Ethics Regimes (Cont.) Voters feel politicians: Are exclusively concerned with power; Do not care about what people think; Citizens cannot affect decision-making. Politicians took action! ETHICS REGIMES!

Functions of Ethics Regimes Ethics regimes serve two functions: Internal Function: To regulate the behavior of legislators and prevent misconduct; External Function: To rebuild public trust in the political system.

Two Forms of Ethics Regimes Codes of Ethics or Ethics Codes: Produced by professional associations; Quality assurance for society; Standards for conduct for members of the profession. Codes of Conduct or Conduct Codes: More concrete and practical; Legislatively defined Enforceable behavioral standards; Establish sanctions for violations of the code.

Characteristics of Codes of Conduct A formal document Regulates the behavior of legislators establishes what is acceptable behavior Establishes what is not! Prevents misconduct Prevents conflict of interests

Codes of Conduct Require Parliamentarians to Disclose: Tax returns Sources of patrimonial income and Investments Real estate interests and ownership of business Credits Fees and honoraria Professional licenses Reimbursement of travel expenses Names of immediate family members The financial interests of the spouse

Codes of Conduct May Impose Restrictions on… Public position for obtaining personal benefit Benefits to influence official actions Confidential government information Post-tenure employment Receipt of gifts Receipt of fees and honoraria Financial conflicts of interest Nepotism

Effectiveness of Codes of Conduct Historic thinking: The existence, severity and administration of sanctions determined the effectiveness of Codes of Conduct. Research shows: Sanctions are never severe enough to prevent a violation. Cultural values are more important: Code needs the same ethical standards as culture on what represents proper conduct.

Improving the Effectiveness of Codes of Conduct through Training Training… Clarifies what is misconduct Discusses studies on the causes of misconduct Explains why eliminating misconduct is important Identifies how misconduct can be eliminated So… ethical standards must be established first!

Conclusions: Politicians enact ethics reforms to regain the trust of the citizens, and they do so by adopting either ethics codes or conduct codes. Conduct codes differ from ethics codes in two major respects: they formulate specific dispositions and establish sanctions for violations of those dispositions. Common ethical standards are more important to the success of codes of conducts than sanctions. Legislative training is key to obtain such standards.