<p>Most books of relevance to local government ethics deal with administrative ethics, that is, the ethical behavior of government administrators, rather than with conflicts or government ethics programs. However, they do deal partially with government ethics, and it is valuable to see how government ethics fits in the larger context of administrative ethics. Most of the books on government ethics deal primarily with the federal and state levels; the ones that focus on local government are either old or international.</p>

<p>According to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nys-senate-leader-dean-skelos-…; target="_blank">an article in today's New York <i>Daily News</i></a>, an investigation by the U. S.

<h3>Mixing Election Oversight and Professional Contracts</h3>

<p>I just read a classic work of philosophical psychology, <em><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oX0taPXw9CwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=f…; target="”_blank”">Self-Deception</a> </em>(Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969), wherein Herbert Fingarette takes an interesting approach to a phenom

<p>This is the fourth of four blog posts on Zephyr Teachout's excellent new book, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dctwBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=one…; target="”_blank”"><em>Corruption in America</em></a>: <em>From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United</em> (Harvard Univ. Press).<br />
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<p>This is the third of four blog posts on Zephyr Teachout's excellent new book, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dctwBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=one…; target="”_blank”"><em>Corruption in America</em></a>: <em>From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United</em> (Harvard Univ. Press).<br />
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<p>This is the second of four blog posts on Zephyr Teachout's excellent new book, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dctwBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=one…; target="”_blank”"><em>Corruption in America</em></a>: <em>From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United</em> (Harvard Univ. Press).<br />
<br />

<p>This is the first of four blog posts in which I will look at Zephyr Teachout's excellent new book, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dctwBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=one…; target="”_blank”"><em>Corruption in America</em></a>: <em>From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United</em> (Harvard Univ.

<p>An example I often use for why government ethics laws are only minimum requirements is that these laws cannot include friendships or romantic relationships, because these are impossible to define with any precision. When a relationship is not included because it is undefinable, this does not mean that one should not treat this relationship like any other special relationship and withdraw from matters involving that individual. One should go beyond the minimum requirements of the law and withdraw.