You Are In: USINFO > Products > Webchats > ley_18_jan_2007

Official Discusses U.S. Government Anti-Corruption Mechanisms

USINFO Webchat transcript, January 18

Jane Ley, deputy director of the Office of International Assistance and Government Initiatives at the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE), answered questions in a January 18 USINFO democracy dialogue webchat on anti-corruption mechanisms that exist within the U.S. government.  This is the second in a series of chats on combating corruption.

Following is the transcript:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
USINFO Webchat Transcript

Democracy Dialogues: Anti-Corruption Mechanisms within the U.S. Federal Government

Guest:     Jane Ley
Date:       January 18, 2007
Time:      9:00 a.m. EST (1400 GMT)

Moderator: Welcome to today's webchat. You may begin sending in your questions now by typing into the box below. We look forward to hearing from you. There are a lot of questions coming in this morning and I have submitted them all to our guest Ms. Jane Ley. She will be joining the chat in about 30 minutes to respond to your questions.

Thank you for participating.

Shamim Ahmad: Moderator I like to join live webchat on today’s subject. Mr. Ahmad: You are now participating in today's webchat. Ms. Ley will arrive in about 15 minutes to start answering questions. Thank you.

Jane Ley: Hello, this is Jane Ley, Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. I'm happy to be chatting with you this morning and I thank you for your interest. I'll be answering your questions for the next hour.

Q [Mr. Rabenasoloso] (Madagascar): Are there any code of conduct/ethics/deontology among U.S. civil servants?

A [Jane Ley]: Yes, at the federal level each branch of government has a code or codes of conduct and the officers and employees are covered by a series of criminal conflict of interest laws. Most state and local government officials are subject to codes instituted by their state and local governments and also have criminal statutes governing their activities.

Q [val pop]: What mechanisms do you have in investigating potential conflicts of interests and incompatibilities among government officials and legislators? Romania has committed itself to establish an Integrity Agency with independent inspectors to cover this area. Do you think it would be an efficient measure?

A [Jane Ley]: In the executive branch of the U.S. government the functions of prevention and investigation have been separated somewhat. My office tries to educate, train and promote integrity but when we find that has failed in an individual case, we refer that misconduct to investigative arms such as agency Inspector General offices and the Department of Justice. We do however, have a financial disclosure system which we can use to detect not only potential conflicts of interest or violations of law but actual violations. We still refer those matters for a more complete investigation to the investigatory arms. At the state government level, the functions of prevention, detection and investigation are often in one body, however, so there are various models.

Q [Danilo Nalá]: Thank you for inviting me to discuss today’s subject. I am here with 10 of my colleagues from Mozambique Customs. Do you believe that the U.S. anti-corruption mechanisms can also be useful to eradicate pervasive corruption in many third world countries including Bangladesh?

A [Jane Ley]: Our anti-corruption mechanisms are based on systems of transparency and accountability. For example, most government processes must follow standardized and public procedures and there is a way to complain effectively if those procedures are not followed. Then we also try to ensure that the individual employees who carry out government functions are aware of their duties and responsibilities to carry them out with integrity. But I now see I forgot to directly answer your question. Yes, I think that our basic systems adapted to your government structure could be of assistance, but that is true of other governments' programs that are based on transparency and accountability. Any country needs political will as well.

Q [Guest]: How many cases of corruption are detected annually in USA and how many are punished?

A [Jane Ley]: There is no central data bank for this type of information because both the federal government and the state governments can prosecute officials. If you would like to see a description of cases of conflicts of interest that have been prosecuted at the federal level, my office publishes a summary each year. You can go to our website www.usoge.gov, go to DAEOgrams and look for a prosecution survey in each year.

Q [Mr. Rabenasolo]: Does there exist an ombudsman (an organ who cares about complaints from civilians unsatisfied with civil services? Thanks a lot.

A [Jane Ley]: The U.S. federal government does not have an Ombudsman as I know is common in other countries. We try to build in all of our processes a way to appeal government decisions. We also have in most agencies an office of Inspector General that can take complaints, even anonymous complaints, when a citizen or another official thinks that a government official has engaged in misconduct.

Q [IRC Cairo]: What about the correlation between freedom of information and eliminate corruption?

A [Jane Ley]: The more open a government is the less opportunity there is for corruption. It doesn't eliminate corruption though because where there are people you will still have corruption so I don't think one can ever totally eliminate corruption. One can lessen it substantially and make it hurt when it is found.

Q [Orlando2]: Good afternoon. Some people say that the main concern regarding corruption issues is the physical integrity of the officials and those who disclosure the cases. How do you deal with this in U.S.?

A [Jane Ley]: We are fortunate in the U.S. not to have, as a general matter, the same concerns for physical security when disclosing corruption as we recognize exists in other places in the world. At the federal level, we have a Whistleblower Protection Act that is intended to prevent and redress reprisals in the workplace and in more extreme circumstances; our Department of Justice does have a witness protection program. We do have ways for individuals both government officials and private citizens to make anonymous statements to investigators in order to help protect their identity but still get the information to the attention of an appropriate office.

Q [Danilo Nalá]: Can you please tell us what are the basic pillars or main strategies you are applying within your Government.

What do you suggest for developing countries like Mozambique.

A [Jane Ley]: The basic pillars of an anti-corruption program are prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution. We have those functions covered by various agencies within the U.S. executive branch. But transparency and consistency of government processes and information is a large part of the prevention aspect in any anti-corruption effort. There has to be a concerted effort in all parts of the government. Fighting corruption and promoting integrity can't just be the responsibility of one office. For example, setting up standardized processes for getting permits, making the processes public, and telling citizens how to complain if the processes were not followed properly, and making sure there is some real consequence to not following the standardized process goes a long way in helping to prevent corruption in that process.

Q [Marcelo]: I am from Mozambique. My name is Marcelo Mosse, working for an anti-corruption and good governance NGO, Center for Public Integrity, in Maputo. What is the solution when a country has several anti-corruption laws but no enforcement? What can we do as a NGO?

Thank you for this opportunity.

A [Jane Ley]: You can try to determine if the lack of enforcement is due to a lack of will to enforce, or resources to enforce, or if it is a defect in the laws. (Some laws look pretty but are completely unenforceable.) Any one or more of these reasons can be the cause of lack of enforcement. Making these defects publicly known and making suggestions where you have some is certainly helpful. Engaging the government in a public dialogue on these issues might help to change whatever the cause is.

Q [Guest]: How far your mechanism has been proved effective in preventing corrupt practice?

A [Jane Ley]: Measuring how often something doesn't happen when you don't know how many times it would have to begin with is always difficult. There are two things that I can say about this, though. One is a personal observation and another is just to tell you a little bit about a survey program we are doing at my office. When OGE was created there still were occasionally cases of corruption uncovered that involved many individuals and could be considered almost systemic to a particular process, for example, certain types of defense contracts. Now we see individuals engaging in corrupt activities, but we don't see the same systemic concerns, so I consider that a positive sign that the anti-corruption systems are working to alleviate corruption (not eliminate though since I don't think that is ever entirely possible, human nature being what it is.) In our office we have been surveying executive branch agency employees about their perceptions of the effectiveness of the ethics program in their agency and we are getting useful data about what they perceive to be the ethical culture of the agencies in which they work. We are using this information to enhance the requirements of the ethics program that my office designs for the executive branch.

I'm sorry that I have not had time to answer all of your questions this morning. Many of them could be an all-day discussion. Thank you for your interest in our program and for providing such thoughtful questions. It's been my pleasure to "chat" with you today.

Moderator: Ms. Ley’s webchat is the second in a series of chats on Combating Corruption. Go to the webchat station for a list of upcoming chats.

Topics will include USAID’s Work on Anti-Corruption, the Role of NGOS, and the International Legal Framework for Fighting Corruption (Work of U.S. and UN)?

We wish to thank Ms. Ley for joining today's webchat. The webchat is now closed. Please visit our USINFO Webchat Station homepage where today's webchat transcript will be posted within one business day.

(While guests are chosen for their expertise, the views expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.)