The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity

How Corruption Control Makes Government Ineffective

Frank Anechiarico author James B Jacobs author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The University of Chicago Press

Published:4th Dec '98

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity cover

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 anti-corruption 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.

ISBN: 9780226020525

Dimensions: 23mm x 17mm x 2mm

Weight: 454g

292 pages