Courses

    Can a society ensure ethical behavior by its political leaders through law and regulation? All established governments have "ethics laws" and criminal statutes designed to ensure the ethical behavior of their political leaders. It is the foundation of representative government that those who are elected to or appointed to positions of public trust operate in an ethical manner. The course will look at the laws and regulations in the United States to determine if, both in content and interpretation, they reflect the moral standards of the community. We will look at the criminal statues, the regulations governing ethical conduct. We will also review requirements established by the international community, and responses to requirements of the international conventions. We will focus on a number of "scandals" to see whether the laws and regulations in these areas adequately provide for appropriate punishment for misconduct. We will also review the role of the free press and its impact on ensuring that laws and moral standards are maintained.

After examining the model in the United States, we will study the way other countries handle standards of conduct for government officials. We will look at a number of countries with well-established legal systems and a number of newly emerging nations to see how they are establishing standards. We will look at the role of resources, traditional values and cultural standards in shaping laws designed to regulate the conduct of public officials. We will invite speakers who deal with these issues and attempt to get reactions from domestic regulators, enforcers, those who have worked with foreign governments to help them comply with international conventions and the press. Because resources and political capital are often very limited we will see if we can develop model standards of conduct for various nations. In doing so, we will discuss how cultural, religious, and moral differences might effect the usefulness of these standards. The overall focus is to determine if established law and regulations successfully govern ethical conduct and behavior as defined in societies world-wide.