Corruption, Accountability and Discretion

Nancy S. Lind|Cara E. Rabe-Hemp

Emerald

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Paperback / softback

9781838679286

04 November 2019

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9781787435568

25 October 2017

$116.99

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9781787435551

25 October 2017

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9781787435698

25 October 2017

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About

The corruption of public officials in the United States and its corrosive impact on public policy, political stability and democratic institutions, earns it a spot among the most critical public crises of the last decade. There have been scandals involving elected officials across the political spectrum from local elected officials up to the White House, involving conflicts of interest, campaign fundraising and political elections. At the heart of many scandals is the discretionary power of public officials to make decisions based on personal interest, often leading to corruption. Understanding the nature and etiology of corruption is important to drafting controls on discretion and rules for accountability. While strict regulation and oversight mechanisms have previously been designed to encourage ethical decision-making and punish violators, it is the media and citizens that have increasingly become modern mechanisms of accountability. Corruption of public governance not only undermines the effectiveness of the political system; it also results in corrupt public policymaking on the most pressing issues facing Americans today.

This timely and insightful book provides the key elements needed to understand the nature and prevalence of corruption in public governance, as well as the devastating public policy consequences. The chapters explore the implications of public governance corruption on political stability, public trust, and policymaking, as well as recommendations for how to establish controls on discretion and strict regulation to increase accountability and corruption control in public governance.

Part One: Etiology 1. Transparency International's "Corruption Perceptions Index"; April K. Clark 2. The Price of Corruption in Congress; Michael J. Pomante Ii and Scot Schraufnagel Part Two: Permeation of Corruption in Governance 3. Legislative Scandals in the United States; Kerri Milita and Jaclyn Bunch 4. Campaign Contributions and Vote Buying; Renee Prunty and Mandy Swartzendruber 5. Do Contributions to Judicial Campaigns Create the Appearance of Corruption?; Thomas E. Mcclure 6. Media Coverage of Corruption and Scandal in the 2016 Presidential Election: Fantasy Themes of Crooked Hillary and Corrupt Businessman Trump; John P. McHale Part Three: Policy Issues 7. Crime, Injustice and Politics; Cara E. Rabe-Hemp, Philip Mulvey and Morgan Foster 8. Mayors’ and Citizen Attitudes Toward Sexual Harassment in Police Departments; Eric E. Otenyo and Earlene A. Smith 9. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: Contractor Corruption and Election Campaigns; Eric E. Otenyo and Parwez Besmel Part Four: Oversight and Accountability 10. Citizens United and Political Accountability; Benjamin Bricker 11. Judicial Review; Elizabeth Erin Wheat 12. National Security Whistleblowers and the Journalists who tell their Stories: A Dangerous Policy Dance of Truth-Finding, Truth-Telling, And Consequence; Maria A. Moore, John Huxford, and Jennifer B. Bethmann

Political science, criminal justice, and other scholars from the US present 12 chapters on the nature and prevalence of corruption of public officials in the US and the impact on public policy, political stability, and public trust, and as well as how to establish controls on discretion and stricter regulations to increase accountability and corruption control. They consider the measurement of public corruption and how scandal in Congress influences congressional disapproval and the eroding of trust in the national government; the influence of corruption, discretion, and accountability on public governance at different levels, in the legislative system in terms of the Jack Abramoff scandal, campaign finance and the Citizens United decision, contributions to judicial campaigns in Illinois, and the effects of media coverage of corruption in terms of the 2016 presidential election; issues involving the role of crime, politics, and media imagery in the making of criminal justice policy, mayors’ and citizen attitudes towards sexual harassment in police agencies, and contractor corruption in leadership in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and recommendations for oversight and accountability, including accountability after Citizens United, judicial review, and national security whistleblowers and journalists.
- Annotation ©2017

Nancy S. Lind is Professor of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, USA where she has taught for over 30 years. She has won University Distinguished Teaching and Service Awards and had edited/co-edited/co-author over a dozen books as well as written several peer reviewed journal articles. Her specialties are Public Administration and Policy and American Politics.

Cara E. Rabe-Hemp is Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences at Illinois State University, USA. Her research interests include police diversity, citizen perceptions of the police, and police deviance and corruption. In 2010, Cara was awarded the University Research Initiative Award, in 2014 she was inducted into the College of Applied Sciences and Technology Academy of Achievement, and in 2016 she was awarded the College of Applied Sciences and Technology Outstanding Researcher Award.