13.0AdministrativeResponsibility.pptxAdministrative Responsibility
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Faith in our Government means trusting in advance
what will only make sense in reverse!
Our Goal…..
Let us teach ourselves and others that politics can be not only the art of the possible, especially if “the possible” includes the art of speculation, calculation, intrigue, secret deals, and pragmatic maneuvering, but that it can also be the art of the impossible , namely the art of improving ourselves and the world.
Law + Ethics = Confusion
What are the internal and external mechanism employed to ensure responsible administrative behavior and accountability when fulling their duties and responsibilities as a public servant?
The responsibility of a public servant can best be understood by posing the following questions:
Responsibility in what form?
Responsibility to what or whom?
Responsibility for what?
Note: the ability to have a “sense of duty or responsivity” is a value that mentally drives one’s behavior, while the legal answerability of one’s external conduct is an ethical or a measurable behavior.
Internal Forms of Responsibility
Professionalism for public officials requires mastery of and continued competency in the technical expertise needed to operate public organizations and administer public policy.
However to be involved in the public policy process they have the duty to be a voice
and tell the majority and it’s elected representatives when they are wrong.
A third internal responsibility is the commitment to ethical considerations which involves:
forms of civil virtue and issues of personal morality with an emphasizes on obligation and duty.
An additional internal form is the ability to recognize and manage a situational paradox.
Are the Ends as Important as the Means?
Should the public interest override the values of liberty, equality or democracy in order to satisfy the immediate needs of the many?
Is the good of the nation as a whole more important than the goals of a smaller constituencies?
One needs to remind oneself of the need for the interest in the national good in order to filter out the narrow and contentions factions that play such a critical role in legislatures and particularly in legislative committees.
Situational ethics is a vehicle for applying critical values in such a way as to maintain cohesion in work groups.
Is their a conflict of interest (or loyalty) when key folks who work in the private companies are recruited to work for a government office that determines who gets what and when?
How does a nonprofit employee or organization get it’s just rewards?
External Mechanisms of Responsibility
External forms of responsibility include at least organizational or supervisory obligations, executive control, legislative supervision, and judicial dispute resolution.
Hierarchical chain of command
The informal group command and control of its membership
Executive control and legislative oversight
Judicial review and oversight
Despite the many shortcoming of our legal systems, the rule of law operates here. Quote:
“No man in this country is so high that he is above the law. All the officers of government , from the highest to lowest, are creatures of the law , and are bound to obey it.”
Chief Justice Marshall.
Sovereign Immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts.
A similar, stronger rule as regards foreign courts is named state immunity.
In its older sense, sovereign immunity is the original forebear of state immunity based on the classical concept of sovereignty in the sense that
a sovereign could not be subjected without his or her approval to the jurisdiction of another.
There are two forms of sovereign immunity:
immunity from suit (also known as immunity from jurisdiction or adjudication)
immunity from enforcement.
Immunity from suit means
neither the sovereign/head of state in person nor any in absentia or representative form of him (nor to a lesser extent the state) can be a defendant or subject of court proceedings,
nor in most equivalent forums such as under arbitration awards and tribunal awards/damages.
Immunity from enforcement means
that even if a person succeeds in any way against their sovereign or state, they and the judgment may find itself without means of enforcement.
Separation of powers or natural justice coupled with a political status other than a totalitarian state dictates there be broad exceptions to immunity such as
statutes which expressly bind the state (a prime example being constitutional laws) and judicial review.
Furthermore, sovereign immunity of a state entity may be waived. A state entity may waive its immunity by:
prior written agreement
instituting proceedings without claiming immunity
submitting to jurisdiction as a defendant in a suit
intervening in or taking any steps in any suit (other than for the purpose of claiming immunity).
Sovereign Immunity in the United States
In United States law, the federal government as well as state and tribal governments generally enjoy sovereign immunity, also
known as governmental immunity, from lawsuits.
Local governments in most jurisdictions enjoy immunity from some forms of suit, particularly in tort. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act provides foreign governments, including state-owned companies, with a related form of immunity—state immunity—that shields them from lawsuits except in relation to certain actions relating to commercial activity in the United States.
The principle of sovereign immunity in US law was inherited from the English common law legal maxim rex non potest peccare, meaning "the king can do no wrong."
In some situations, sovereign immunity may be waived by law.
Sovereign immunity falls into two categories:
Absolute immunity: When absolute immunity applies a government actor may not be sued for the allegedly wrongful act, even if that person acted maliciously or in bad faith; and
Qualified immunity: When qualified immunity applies the government actor is shielded from liability only if specific conditions are met, as specified in statute or case law.
Absolute immunity applies to acts that, if subject to challenge, would significantly affect the operation of government, such as
would occur if a legislator could be sued for core legislative acts, and is also typically extended to statements made on the floor of the legislature. Similar protections apply to judges who are acting in a judicial capacity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity_in_the_United_States
20th Century Increase in Suits against Government
Reasons that have contributed to this increase:
The growing importance of government at all levels in the daily lives of citizens and operations of business;
An increasing awareness of the harm that a government official or unit can infrlict;
Judicial reactions to continuous and widespread criticism of sovereign and official immunity;
Developing legal and political sophistication on the part of individuals and groups;
Expanding availability of legal resources to those who wish to litigate;
Proven cases of official’s dramatic abuse of office that involved the victimization of citizens
the presence of justices on the Court who seemed determined to develop some kind of doctrine to guide judicial forms of government responsibility;
Enactment of a host of statues that used a civil rights model of implement and authorized the use of compensatory and even in some case punitive damage suits as the basis for action.
Whatever the causes, the Supreme Court has face a continuing requests to deal clearly and directly with the need for judicial remedies while simultaneously addressing the need to protect
the public officers and agencies from the fear and the burdens not only of money damage judgements but also of numerous, often groundless litigation.
List of American Federal Politicians Convicted of Crimes
This list consists of American politicians convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government. It includes
politicians who were convicted or pleaded guilty in a court of law;
and does not include politicians involved in unprosecuted scandals (which may or may not have been illegal in nature),
or politicians who have only been arrested or indicted.
The list also does not include crimes that occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office.
It does not include convictions which were vacated (e.g. Ted Stevens (R)).
Although the convicted politicians are arranged by presidential terms starting with the most recent, many of the crimes have little or no connection to who is president. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes
List of American State and Local Politicians Convicted of Crimes
This list includes American politicians at the state and local levels who have been convicted of felony or misdemeanor crimes committed while in office.
At the bottom of the article are links to related articles which deal with politicians who are involved in scandals (political and sex), as well as differentiating among federal, state and local convictions.
Also excluded are crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure in office unless they specifically stem from acts during his time of service.
Entries are arranged by date, from most current to less recent, and by state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_state_and_local_politicians_convicted_of_crimes
List of Federal Political Scandals in the United States
This article is organized by presidential terms in reverse order, recent to older, and then divided into scandals of the federal executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
Members of both parties are listed under the term of the president in office at the time the scandal took place, even though they may not be connected with the presiding president.
Politician (a person who is professionally involved in politics) includes not only those elected, but also party officials, candidates for office, their staffs and appointees. Please note that every president directly selects, appoints or hires several thousand people. Each of them selects thousands more.
Private citizens should only be mentioned when they are closely linked to the scandal or politician, such as Jack Abramoff. This list also does not include crimes that occur outside the politician's tenure (such as before or after his tenure) unless they specifically stem from acts made while in office and discovered later.
Scandal is defined as "loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety". Scandals are separate from 'controversies', (which implies two differing points of view) and 'unpopularity'. Many decisions are controversial, many decisions are unpopular, that alone does not make them scandals.
Breaking the law is a scandal. The finding of a court is the sole method used to determine a violation of law, but it is not the sole method of determining a scandal.
Also included as scandals are politicians who resign, quit, run, or commit suicide while being investigated or threatened with investigation.
Notoriety is a major determinant of a scandal, that is, the amount of press dedicated to it. So a relatively unimportant scandal such as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal is included, even though no crime was committed.
Misunderstandings, breaches of ethics, unproven crimes or cover-ups may or may not result in inclusion depending on the standing of the accused, the amount of publicity generated, and the seriousness of the crime, if any.
Drunk driving may be a conviction, but is usually too minor and too common to mention unless there are multiple convictions and/or jail time.
Given the political nature of congress in which the leading party has determining power, politicians who are rebuked, admonished, condemned, suspended, reprimanded, found in contempt, found to have acted improperly or used poor judgement,
are not included unless the scandal is exceptional or leads to expulsion or conviction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States
Lobbying in the United States
Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interests hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress.
It is a highly controversial phenomenon, often seen in a negative light by journalists and the American public, with some critics describing it as a legal form of bribery or extortion.
While lobbying is subject to extensive and often complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail, the activity of lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings
as constitutionally protected free speech and a way to petition the government for the redress of grievances, two of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Since lobby rules require extensive disclosure, there is a large amount of information in the public sphere about which entities lobby, how, at whom, and for how much.
Lobbying takes place at every level of government, including federal, state, county, municipal, and even local governments. In Washington, D.C., lobbying usually targets members of Congress, although there have been efforts to influence executive agency officials as well as Supreme Court appointments.
Lobbying can have an important influence on the political system;
A report in The Nation in 2014 suggested that while the number of 12,281 registered lobbyists was a decrease since 2002, lobbying activity was increasing and "going underground" as lobbyists use "increasingly sophisticated strategies" to obscure their activity.
Analyst James A. Thurber estimated that the actual number of working lobbyists was close to 100,000 and that the industry brings in $9 billion annually.
Jack Abramoff
Jack Allan Abramoff born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, movie producer and writer.
He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation that led to his conviction and to 21 people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and Congressional aides.
Abramoff was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981 to 1985, a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, allegedly financed by apartheid South Africa, and served on the board of directors of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank.
From 1994 to 2001 he was a top lobbyist for the firm of Preston Gates & Ellis, and then for Greenberg Traurig until March 2004.
After a guilty plea in the Jack Abramoff Native American lobbying scandal and his dealings with Sun Cruz Casinos in January 2006, he was sentenced to six years in federal prison for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, and tax evasion.
He served 43 months before being released on December 3, 2010.
After his release from prison, he wrote the autobiographical book Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From America's Most Notorious Lobbyist which was published in November 2011.
Abramoff's lobbying and the surrounding scandals and investigation are the subject of two 2010 films:
the documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money, released in May 2010, and the feature film Casino Jack, released on December 17, 2010, starring Kevin Spacey as Abramoff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff
Monetary influence of Jack Abramoff
The monetary influence of Jack Abramoff ran deep in Washington, as Jack Abramoff spent millions of dollars to influence and entertain both Republican and Democratic politicians.
Abramoff had a reputation for largesse considered exceptional even by Washington standards.
In addition to offering many Republican members of Congress expensive free meals at his restaurant, Signatures, Abramoff maintained four skyboxes at major sports arenas for political entertaining at a cost of over $1 million a year.
Abramoff hosted many fundraisers at these skyboxes including events for Republican politicians publicly opposed to gambling, such as John Doolittle.
Abramoff gave over $260,000 in personal contributions to Republican candidates, politicians, and organizations, and funded numerous trips for politicians and staffers and gave none to Democrats.
From 2000 to 2006, funds and Leadership PACs of numerous Republican candidates for Congress.
Under his guidance, his Indian tribe clients loosened their traditional ties to the Democratic Party, giving Republicans two-thirds of the $2.9 million they donated to federal candidates since 2001.
He raised $100,000 for the reelection of George W. Bush, making him a Bush Pioneer. Abramoff and his wife gave $10,000 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund, shortly before Abramoff joined Greenberg Traurig, which forgave over $314,000 in legal fees incurred by the Bush Campaign in the 2000 Florida election recount.
Of the approximately $85 million in tribal money entrusted to Abramoff, his employers, or his related organizations (see Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal for more), over $4.4 million since 1999 were directed to at least 250 members of Congress, primarily Republicans in leadership positions or on relevant committees, and Democrats with standing connections to Native American interests (in a 2:1 GOP ratio).
These contributions have since become tainted by their association with Abramoff's criminal behavior.
Abramoff was associated with Tom DeLay's and Grover Norquist's K Street Project to bring Republican dominance to Washington lobbying
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_influence_of_Jack_Abramoff
