Devaney: Accountability Starts At The Top

Earl Devaney, the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, and Chris Martinez, a member of his staff, have an extremely interesting article entitled "The Buck Stops Here" in The Journal of Public Inquiry. A copy of Devaney's article is attached, while a complete copy of all 8 Mb worth of articles from the Spring/Summer 2007 issue is available at the web site of the President's Council for Integrity and Efficiency.

The thesis is that the key to government integrity is holding senior managers accountable for lapses that occur on their watch, on something close to a strict liability basis. The Introduction summarizes this idea:

By far, the most effective way for government to prevent ethical and legal abuses within its ranks is not to focus myopically on individual instances of wrongdoing as they occur, but to imbue one’s workforce with an affirmative, all-permeating sense of integrity – to shine a light of excellence that dispels the shadows from which malfeasance sprouts. This article is a discussion of quotes from notable historical figures, provisions of law, and other authoritative sources establishing the theoretical basis for holding high level officials accountable for cultures of waste, fraud, abuse, or other indiscretion within their organizations. That is to say, this standard of supervisory responsibility does not depend on whether the official knew or should have known of the bad acts of his or her subordinates, or participated in them to any degree. Instead, it is the high official’s duty to actively prevent, seek out, and eradicate the harmful mentalities that can result in such negligence or misdeeds. Furthermore, because no duty truly exists without a consequence for having failed it, this article also provides a theoretical basis for holding such senior officials to account for their unwillingness or inability to prevent a harmful culture from growing within their organizations.