The Integrity Of American Governmental Institutions

The anthology The Integrity of American Governmental Institutions: The Role of Ethics in Public Service combines general theories, functions, and practices of government with specific examples of issues confronting government today. The readings prompt students to think critically about the challenges public servants face in their work. Students learn about the role of ethics and character in the presidency, how negative ads are used in campaigns, and how campaign finance changed after the Citizens United case. They consider race in politics, the role of committees in governing, and opinions written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts. Review questions which can be used in-class or as prompts for written assignments, follow each reading. Website resources have been provided for students who want to learn more about specific topics. The Integrity of American Governmental Institutions moves beyond familiar titles and roles to help students recognize elected officials and members of the judiciary as public servants who are regularly required to engage with hotly contested issues. The book is well-suited to classes in political science, law and society, and world politics.

The integrity of knowledge that emerges from research is based on individual and collective adherence to core values of objectivity, honesty, openness, fairness, accountability, and stewardship. Integrity in science means that the organizations in which research is conducted encourage those involved to exemplify these values in every step of the research process. Understanding the dynamics that support â€" or distort â€" practices that uphold the integrity of research by all participants ensures that the research enterprise advances knowledge. The 1992 report Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process evaluated issues related to scientific responsibility and the conduct of research. It provided a valuable service in describing and analyzing a very complicated set of issues, and has served as a crucial basis for thinking about research integrity for more than two decades. However, as experience has accumulated with various forms of research misconduct, detrimental research practices, and other forms of misconduct, as subsequent empirical research has revealed more about the nature of scientific misconduct, and because technological and social changes have altered the environment in which science is conducted, it is clear that the framework established more than two decades ago needs to be updated. Responsible Science served as a valuable benchmark to set the context for this most recent analysis and to help guide the committee's thought process. Fostering Integrity in Research identifies best practices in research and recommends practical options for discouraging and addressing research misconduct and detrimental research practices.

Policymakers and program managers are continually seeking ways to improve accountability in achieving an entity's mission. A key factor in improving accountability in achieving an entity's mission is to implement an effective internal control system. An effective internal control system helps an entity adapt to shifting environments, evolving demands, changing risks, and new priorities. As programs change and entities strive to improve operational processes and implement new technology, management continually evaluates its internal control system so that it is effective and updated when necessary. Section 3512 (c) and (d) of Title 31 of the United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Managers? Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA)) requires the Comptroller General to issue standards for internal control in the federal government.

The OECD Public Integrity Handbook provides guidance to government, business and civil society on implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity. The Handbook clarifies what the Recommendation’s thirteen principles mean in practice and identifies challenges in implementing them.

During the 2016 presidential election, America's election infrastructure was targeted by actors sponsored by the Russian government. Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy examines the challenges arising out of the 2016 federal election, assesses current technology and standards for voting, and recommends steps that the federal government, state and local governments, election administrators, and vendors of voting technology should take to improve the security of election infrastructure. In doing so, the report provides a vision of voting that is more secure, accessible, reliable, and verifiable.

Public accountability is critical to a democracy. But as government becomes ever more complex, with bureaucracy growing ever deeper and wider, how can these multiplying numbers of unelected bureaucrats be held accountable? The answer, more often than not, comes in the form of inspectors general, monitors largely independent of the management of the agencies to which they are attached. How, and whether, this system works in America is what Nadia Hilliard investigates in The Accountability State. Exploring the significance of our current collective obsession with accountability, her book helpfully shifts the issue from the technical domain of public administration to the context of American political development. Inspectors general, though longtime fixtures of government and the military, first came into prominence in the United States in the 1970s in the wake of evidence of wrongdoing in the Nixon administration. Their number and importance has only increased in tandem with concerns about abuses of power and simple inefficiency in expanding government agencies. Some of the IGs Hilliard examines serve agencies chiefly vulnerable to fraud and waste, while others, such as national security IGs, monitor the management of potentially rights-threatening activities. By some conventional measures, IGs are largely successful, whether in savings, prosecutions, suspensions, disbarments, or exposure of legally or ethically questionable activities. However, her work reveals that these measures fail to do justice to the range of effects that IGs can have on American democracy, and offers a new framework with which to evaluate and understand them. Within her larger study, Hilliard looks specifically at inspectors general in the US Departments of Justice, State, and Homeland Security and asks why their effectiveness varies as much as it does, with the IGs at Justice and Homeland Security proving far more successful than the IG at State.

How politics in America works today, how it got that way, and how it's likely to change through reform--these are the themes that pervade every chapter of Cal Jillson's highly lauded American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change. Even in the midst of current challenges, America's past is present in all aspects of the contemporary political system. Jillson uses political development and the dynamics of change as a thematic tool to help students understand how politics works now--and how institutions, participation, and policies have evolved over time to produce the contemporary political environment. In addition, Jillson helps students think critically about how American democracy might evolve further, focusing in every chapter on reform and further change. New to the 10th Edition Assesses the characteristics and early results of the Trump administration. Covers the 2018 midterm elections and looks ahead to the 2020 presidential race. Explores the political and judicial fights over ballot integrity and gerrymandering. Examines challenges to civil liberties in the wake of Charlottesville, the Muslim ban, and NSA warrantless surveillance. Discusses the MeToo movement in the context of civil rights. Includes important Supreme Court events and decisions including the confirmation of Justice Gorsuch. Presents new material on race, ethnicity, gender, and political participation, especially in the context of social media. Details Republican tax cuts and their likely impact on deficits and debt. Discusses the Trump administration's climate change strategy and the December 2017 National Security Strategy of the United States, looking ahead to security challenges in Korea and the Middle East. Updates all data in tables and figures through the 2018 midterms. Features In a streamlined presentation, Jillson delivers a concise and engaging narrative to help students understand the complexities and importance of American politics. Along the way, several pedagogical features foster critical thinking and analysis: Key learning objectives at the beginning of every chapter focus students on the central learning objectives. "The Constitution Today" chapter opening vignettes illustrate the importance of conflicting views on constitutional principles. Key terms are defined in the margins on the page where they appear help students study important concepts. Colorful figures and charts help students visualize important information. "Let's Compare" boxes analyze how functions of government and political participation work in other countries--now framed by new critical thinking questions. Reformatted "Pro & Con" boxes bring to life a central debate in each chapter and highlight competing perspectives; new discussion questions in each box prompt students to weigh the different arguments and weigh in. End-of-chapter summaries, suggested readings, and web resources help students master the material and guide them to further critical investigation of important concepts and topics.

This book comments on serious social, economic, political, historical, environmental and other issues which have tested our elected governments from both parties. It points out areas of Constitutional conflict, political inertia, selective law enforcement and others that pose a real peril to our republic. Whether in our foreign, economic, immigration, health care, agricultural or other policy choices, it finds a common thread which ties our elected representatives to the service of interests that are special rather than national. At the root of these failed policy and legislative efforts is an equally damaging failure of our electoral system whereby money is dominant and delivers a Congress that enjoys an incumbency reelection rate of over 90%. Not all of our problems are internal, however. The role assigned to America as sole superpower following the collapse of the USSR has been one which called for our assumption, but for which we were psychologically and historically less than suited. The point is not whether others could do better, but rather that it has had a negative impact upon our national character and actions. This book makes clear that unless we are willing to make a real effort to return to the principles and ideals of our founding and literally "pull ourselves together", our enviable experiment in representative democracy will no longer be able to meet the needs of its citizens and will fail due to our lack of will, not its merit.