Ethics program oversight: the United States Office of Government Ethics

Abstract

The United States Office of Government Ethics has responsibility for oversight of the ethics program of the executive branch of the government of the United States. The foundation for the program is a combination of requirements established by statutory law, regulation, and Presidential Orders. In the United States, the executive branch ethics program is administered through a network of approximately five thousand ethics officials, working in the one-hundred-thirty components of the executive branch. The United States Office of Government Ethics establishes policies, provides advice and training, and monitors implementation of relevant laws and regulations.

A central objective of any public ethics program is to promote public confidence in the integrity of governmental decisions and processes. Certain elements are essential to effectively achieving implementation of programs designed to enhance public ethics. Common challenges and objectives are shared by public ethics institutions in all countries. While the public ethics system in the United States is based on rules, the experience of the Office of Government Ethics since its inception in 1978 has convincingly demonstrated that narrowly focusing on compliance with rules is not enough to ensure the successful implementation of an integrity system. Ethics program effectiveness can be achieved only by building and maintaining an ethical organizational culture that recognizes the importance of compliance. Program goals must reach beyond mere compliance with minimum requirements.

When considering policies and practices to develop and maintain effective ethics systems, three topics that warrant discussion are: the role of agency-level leadership in enhancing public ethics, the evolution of program monitoring activities from a financial audit model to an approach based on promoting compliance through cooperation and consultation, and the use of survey instruments to better understand and address the challenges of enhancing public ethics.

In the United States, implementation and oversight by the United States Office of Government Ethics of a comprehensive system of financial disclosure for high-level government officials is a critical component of the ethics program. A key aspect of the system is the processes involved in the collection and public distribution of personal financial information relating to the highest-level officials in the executive branch -those appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

Enduring public ethics reform can occur only when all aspects of civil society - including citizens, news media, non-government organizations, and the academic and business communities - accept responsibility for establishing and maintaining the success of efforts to enhance public ethics.