The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity: How Corruption Control Makes Government Ineffective

Frank Anechiarico, James B. Jacobs

ISBN 10: 0226020517 / ISBN 13: 9780226020518

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1996

About this Item

[ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ][ Ships Daily ] [ Underlining/Highlighting: NONE ] [ Writing: NONE ] [ Edition: First ] normal wear and tear, previously a library copy Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub Date: 12/15/1996 Binding: Hardcover Pages: 292 First edition.

Seller Inventory # 6735487

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity: How Corruption Control Makes Government Ineffective
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226020517
• ISBN 13: 9780226020518
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Anticorruption reforms provide political cover for public officials, but do they really work? This text seeks to show how the proliferating regulations and oversight mechanisms designed to prevent or root out corruption seriously undermine the ability to govern. Over the last century, the authors argue, society has become enmeshed in alternating cycles of corruption and reform. Governments attribute the absence of scandal to existing regulations, and see their reoccurrence as proof of the need of additional laws. Using the anticorruption efforts in New York City to illustrate their argument, the authors seeks to deomonstrate the costly inefficiencies of pursuing absolute integrity. They assert that by constraining decision makers' discretion, shaping priorities, and causing delays, corruption control - no less than corruption itself - has contributed to the contemporary crisis in public administration.

About the Author

Frank Anechiarico is the Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law at Hamilton College.