The manager's musings.(Political corruption)

Expectation

What should Americans expect of public-sector officials? Given the recent wave of greed-driven sleaziness in both our public and private sectors--from Wall Street to governors' offices, city halls, and county commissions--one gets the sense that the ethical foundations laid in place stone by stone by the nation's founding fathers is as badly in need of repair as our country's aging infrastructure.

From my perch in south Florida, I've followed reporting on public-sector corruption in Palm Beach County over the past three years. Here in "Corruption County" as The Palm Beach Post has dubbed the jurisdiction, people have come to suspect that many public servants (elected, appointed, and career civil service employees) get into this line of work for personal gain. That is, their principal motivation for making a decision or taking an action is how it will benefit them and their family, friends, and associates--either directly or (through laundering) indirectly. Clearly, while such corruption can be found from coast to coast, this is not the behavior most Americans expect of their public officials, nor is it the vision of the United States we wish to project to our children and the rest of the world.

So, to get us started thinking along these lines, much of the spring issue is devoted to such matters as advancing trust in government, transforming bureaucratic cultures, and other change management topics. For example, our lead article by Michael Stahl, "New Imperatives for Public Managers," proposes that successfully addressing public problems demands a more strategic, entrepreneurial, and reflective approach to managing programs and organizations.

Trust

Next, Cal Clark and Don-TerryVeal (both with Auburn University) kick off the first of two forums in this issue with their introduction to five articles on transparency, performance management, and the public trust. Adapted from presentations at a 2007 symposium, this forum offers perspectives on how promoting greater transparency in government can help restore Americans' trust in the public sector. Irene Rubin weighs in on how to bring transparency to the public budgeting process. Sandra Fabry adds her views on using the Internet to create transparency in state budgets. Richard Greene shows how measuring government performance can promote transparency. David Weil lays out a strategy for "targeted transparency." And Christopher Hoene focuses on how to ensure that local governments include the public in their priority setting in his article on transparency, governance, and civic engagement.

Our readers might be interested to know that Auburn's Center for Governmental Services is planning a conference on "Advancing Transparency and Trust in Government" to be held in New Orleans, April 27-28, 2009 (www.auburn.edu/outreach/governmentalexcellence/), The conference is cosponsored by ...