Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:58:07.362Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beyond Quid Pro Quo: What's Wrong with Private Gain from Public Office?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Andrew Stark
Andrew Stark*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The longstanding debate over whether officials should be permitted to profit personally from public office has moved to the center of public discourse in the United States. As the House Ethics Manual put it recently, it is of concern simply when an officeholder “cash[es] in on official position,” regardless of whether his or her official performance was in any way impaired as a result. Although the question of private gain from public office is richly implicative of a number of fundamental issues in political theory—in particular the ongoing controversy over where to draw the borders between private and public as well as the nature of official fiduciary responsibility—it has yet to undergo political-theoretic analysis. In what follows, I examine both the conceptual and normative issues emergent in the debate over private gain from public office.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 108 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Applbaum, Arthur Isak. 1992. “Democratic Legitimacy and Official Discretion.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 21 (Summer):240–74.Google Scholar
Association of the Bar of the City of New York. 1960. Conflict of Interest and the Federal Service. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Baker, Russell. 1995. “And Only a Pittance, Too.” New York Times, 01 7, sec. A.Google Scholar
Benda, Peter M., and Rosenbloom, David H.. 1992. “The Hatch Act and Contemporary Public Service.” In Agenda for Excellence: Public Service in America, ed. Ingraham, Patricia W. and Kettl, Donald F.. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Brauer, Carl. 1987. “Tenure, Turnover and Postgovernment Employment Trends of Government Employees.” In The In-and-Outers: Presidential Appointees and Transient Government in Washington, ed. Mackenzie, G. Calvin. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Brudney, Victor, and Clark, Robert Charles. 1981. “A New Look at Corporate Opportunities.” Harvard Law Review 94 (03):997–1062.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, John P. 1986. Bureaucratic Responsibility. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carson, Thomas. 1994. “Conflicts of Interest.” Journal of Business Ethics 13 (05):387–404.Google Scholar
Chew, Pat K. 1989. “Competing Interests in the Corporate Opportunity Doctrine.” North Carolina Law Review 67 (Spring):435–502.Google Scholar
Clark, Kathleen. 1996. “Do We Have Enough Ethics in Government Yet?: An Answer from Fiduciary Theory.” University of Illinois Law Review 1996 (1):57–102.Google Scholar
Cobb, Roger W., and Elder, Charles D.. 1972. Participation in American Politics: The Dynamics of Agenda-Building. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Cooper, Terry L. 1990. The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Denhardt, Kathryn G. 1988. The Ethics of Public Service: Resolving Moral Dilemmas in Public Organizations. New York: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Devroy, Ann, and Babcock, Charles R.. 1991. “Sununu Travel Rules Tightened.” Washington Post, 06 22, sec. A.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. [1927] 1981–1991. The Public and Its Problems. In The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925–1953. 17 vols. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
Dobel, J. Patrick. 1990. “Integrity in the Public Service.” Public Administration Review 50 (05/June):354–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederickson, H. George. 1991. “Toward a Theory of the Public for Public Administration.” Administration and Society 22 (02):395–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldman, Alan H. 1980. The Moral Foundations of Professional Ethics. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Goodpaster, Kenneth E. 1991. “Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis.” Business Ethics Quarterly 1 (01):53–74.Google Scholar
Goodsell, Charles T. 1994. The Case for Bureaucracy. 3d ed. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Gortner, Harold F. 1991. “How Public Managers View Their Environment: Balancing Organizational Demands, Political Realities, and Personal Values.” In Ethical Frontiers in Public Management: Seeking New Strategies for Resolving Ethical Dilemmas, ed. Bowman, James S.. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Pp. 34–63.Google Scholar
Gray, C. Boyden. 1991. “Memorandum for Governor Sununu, Chief of Staff to the President, Results of Our Review of Your Travel on Military Aircraft,” from the Counsel to the President, 05 9.Google Scholar
Henderson, Nell. 1992. “Kelly Says She Regrets Taking Fee.” Washington Post, 06 27, sec. B.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Albert O. 1991. The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hook, Sidney. 1980. Philosophy and Public Policy. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
House Committee on Governmental Reform and Oversight, Subcommittee on Management. 1995. Simplifying and Streamlining the Federal Procurement Process. 02 28. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. 1992. House Ethics Manual. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust. 1960. Hearings, Conflict of Interest. 02 26. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations. 1992. Office of Government Ethics Regulations on Private Travel Payments. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
House Ethics Committee. 1995. Letter to Speaker Newt Gingrich. 12 7.Google Scholar
Jehl, Douglas. 1993. “Job Plans of Clinton Aides Renew Debate on Lobbying.” New York Times, 12 7, sec. A.Google Scholar
Johnson, Haynes. 1986. “Private Gain, Public Trust.” Washington Post, 05 14. Sec A.Google Scholar
Kass, Henry D. 1990. “Stewardship as a Fundamental Element in Images of Public Administration.” In Images and Identities in Public Administration, ed. Kass, Henry D. and Catron, Bayard L.. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Kelman, Steven. 1993. “What Is Wrong with the Revolving Door?” In Public Management: The State of the Art, ed. Bozeman, Barry. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Manning, Bayless. 1984. “The Business Judgment Rule in Overview.” Ohio State Law Journal 45 (3):615–27.Google Scholar
McElwain, Edwin, and Vorenberg, James. 1952. “The Federal Conflict-of-Interest Statutes.” Harvard Law Review 65 (04):955–83.Google Scholar
Nolan, Beth. 1992. “Public Interest, Private Income: Conflicts and Control Limits on Outside Income of Governmental Officials.” Northwestern University Law Review 87 (Fall):57–147.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Bruce. 1985. “The Big Business of Being Henry Kissinger.” Business Week, 12 2. Pp. 76–7.Google Scholar
Pierce, Richard J. Jr. 1989. “The Role of the Judiciary in Implementing an Agency Theory of Government.” New York University Law Review 64 (12):1226–85.Google Scholar
Potts, Stephen D. 1995. “Memorandum to Designated Agency Ethics Officials from the Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.” 06 26.Google Scholar
Rich, Frank. 1995. “Newt's Big Buck.” New York Times, 12 23, sec. A.Google Scholar
Roberts, Robert N. 1988. White House Ethics: A History of the Politics of Conflict of Interest Regulation. New York: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Rohr, John A. 1989. Ethics for Bureaucrats: An Essay on Law and Values. New York: Dekker.Google Scholar
Rose-Ackerman, Susan. 1978. Corruption: A Study of Political Economy. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Safire, William. 1985. “Dodging the Graft.” New York Times, 09 28, sec. A.Google Scholar
Safire, William. 1994. “Royalties in Office.” New York Times, 12 23, sec. A.Google Scholar
Sanjour v. EPA. 1992a. 86 F. Supp. 1033 (D.D.C., 1992).Google Scholar
Sanjour v. EPA. 1992b. 997 F. 2d 1584 (D.C. Cir. 1992).Google Scholar
Sanjour v. EPA. 1995. United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. No. 92-5123.Google Scholar
Seelye, Katharine Q. 1995. “Murdoch, Joined by Lobbyist, Talked of Regulatory Problem at Meeting with Gingrich.” New York Times, 01 15, sec. A.Google Scholar
Smith, Rogers M. 1988. “Political Jurisprudence, the ‘New Institutionalism,’ and the Future of Public Law.” American Political Science Review 82 (03):89–108.Google Scholar
Stark, Andrew. 1995. “The Appearance of Official Impropriety and the Concept of Political Crime.” Ethics 106 (01):326–51.Google Scholar
Thompson, Dennis F. 1995. Ethics in Congress: From Individual to Institutional Corruption. Washington, DC: Brookings.Google Scholar
U.S. Office of Government Ethics. 1989. Informal Advisory Letters and Memoranda and Formal Opinions of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (1979–1988). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
U.S. Office of Government Ethics. 1990. Informal Advisory Letters and Memoranda and Formal Opinions of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (1990).Google Scholar
United States v. National Treasury Employees Union 1995. 115 S. Ct. 1003.Google Scholar
Vaughn, Robert G. 1990. “Ethics in Government and the Vision of Public Service.” George Washington Law Review 58 (02):417–50.Google Scholar
Walzer, Michael. 1972. “Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 2 (Winter):160–80.Google Scholar
Walzer, Michael. 1987. Interpetation and Social Criticism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Weinrib, Ernest J. 1975. “The Fiduciary Obligation.” University of Toronto Law Journal 25 (Winter):1–25.Google Scholar
Williston, Samuel. 1937. A Treatise on the Law of Contracts, rev. ed. New York: Baker.Google Scholar
Wines, Michael. 1991. “Chief of Staff's Air Travel Practices and Questions about Their Propriety.” New York Times, 06 24, sec. A.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.