Ethical Conduct and Perceptions of Public Probity in Britain

1
Ethical Conduct and Perceptions of Public Probity
in Britain

• The Story so Far

2
Introduction

• Important to distinguish two levels of the
  impact of corruption
• We cannot know what counts as corruption without
  knowing about moral codes
• Moral codes are central to how the authorities
  respond to corruption

3
Structure of paper

• Evidence of growing levels of concern about
  corruption/integrity and what has been
  responsible for it
• What we know about public perceptions (esp. types
  of behaviour seen as acceptable how far
  behaviour in fact seen as acceptable how far
  officers holders perceived as accountable)
• Impact on perceptions of policy response

4
(1) Growing levels of concern

• Prima facie, concern has been rising evidence
• Three sets of indicators serve to establish the
  point
• 1) survey data
• 2) media reports
• 3) committees of enquiry and government
• initiatives

5
CPI data
6
Media reports
7
Official measures

• 1948 Lynskey Tribunal
• 1969 Select Committee on Members Interests
• The Poulson Affair ?Redcliffe-Maud inquiry
  Salmon enquiry two parliamentary enquiries
• Nolan differed from previous initiatives in
  terms of (a) longevity (b) nature of its
  recommendations (c) impact of its work

8
Causes of growing concern

• End of Cold War and its impact on the nature of
  party competition
• Shift from party- to candidate-centred
  campaigning and development of mass media
• Unprecedentedly rapid change in values
• Objective increase in midconduct (as legacy of
  Thatcher and decline in party membership)?

9
(2) Public perceptions

• The standards of behaviour people expect of
  public officials strict and unrealistic?
• Perceptions of the extent to which public
  officials live up to the expectations different
  perceptions of front-line vs remoter officials
• Little confidence in mechanisms for holding
  officials to account media perceived as more
  effective than the authorities

10
How are we to interpret the data?

• Perceptions tend to be stable over time
• Therefore we seem to be in the presence of
  generalised impressions rather than specific
  beliefs informed by knowledge
• Therefore peoples beliefs are contradictory
• Therefore they strike us as immature

11
What are the characteristics likely to give rise
to the syndrome?

• Socio-demographic variables are not significantly
  related to it
• Attitudinal characteristics are
• Logistic regression suggests the two most
  important are
• 1) degree of interpersonal trust
• 2) sense of political efficacy

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(3) The role of the policy response

• The way in which policy has been formulated
• The substance of the policy enacted and
  implemented
• The effectiveness and impact of the policy

13
The way in which policy has been formulated

• Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for
  Standards (1995)
• Propriety and Ethics Team in Cabinet Office
• Office of the Commissioner for Public
  Appointments (1995)
• Electoral Commission (2000)
• Standards Board for England (2001)

14
The substance of the policy enacted and
implemented

• 1995 code of coduct for MPs
• 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act
• 2000 Local Government Act
• 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums
  Act
• Advisory Committee on Business Appointments
• 2000 Freedom of Information Act
• 2001 Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act

15
The effectiveness and impact of the policy

• Despite the volume of legislation, impression is
  that concern remains high (paradoxically perhaps
  because of the legislation)
• Integrity remains high on the political agenda
  because of the expansive way the Standards
  Committee has carried out its remit
• Integrity remains high on the political agenda
  because of the inherent difficulties of rules
  designed to deliver it

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Conclusion

• Causes of growing concern the way in which
  political/social changes have impacted on media
  agenda setting
• Growing concern has given rise to generalised
  cynicism
• Paradoxically, efforts to address anxieties keep
  anxieties alive self-negating prophecy

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Conclusion

• Political corruption and similar forms of
  misconduct are an extreme form of the sacrifice
  of principles to the demands of practical
  politics. We suspect that public perceptions and
  attitudes are unlikely to change until such time
  as a way can be found to supplant the
  non-ideological, practical politics of early
  twenty-first century Britain with the more
  principled disagreements that animated politics
  before the rise of Margaret Thatcher and her New
  Labour imitators.