The pursuit of absolute integrity
Subtitle: how corruption control makes government ineffective
By: Frank Anechiarico and James B. Jacobs.
Contributors: Jacobs, James B.
Series: Studies in crime and justice
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 274
Subjects: Political corruption -- United States; Corruption investigation -- United States; Civil service reform -- United States; Whistle blowing -- United States; Government productivity -- United States
Description: Anticorruption reforms provide excellent political cover for public officials, but do they really reduce corruption? And do the benefits outweigh the costs? In this comprehensive and controversial case study of anticorruption efforts, Frank Anechiarico and James B. Jacobs show how the proliferating regulations and oversight mechanisms designed to prevent or root out corruption seriously undermine our ability to govern.

Using anticorruption efforts in New York City to illustrate their argument, Anechiarico and Jacobs demonstrate the costly inefficiencies of pursuing absolute integrity. By proliferating dysfunctions, 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.

This book begins a new and vital discourse on how to free public administration from burdensome corruption controls without sacrificing government integrity. It will interest scholars in political science, sociology, public administration, policy studies, and criminology.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-266) and index.