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Managing Politics? Ethics Regulation and Conflicting Conceptions of “Good Conduct”
Author(s) -
Cowell Richard,
Downe James,
Morgan Karen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/puar.12135
Subject(s) - politics , misconduct , corporate governance , resistance (ecology) , power (physics) , government (linguistics) , public administration , identity (music) , political science , information ethics , public relations , law and economics , sociology , law , economics , management , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , acoustics , biology
Concern for fostering trust in public institutions has prompted many governments to invest in systems of ethics regulation, embracing various dimensions of good governance. This article assesses the impact of ethics regulation on the conduct of English local politicians using Foucauldian perspectives on government, power, and resistance. The research finds that ethics regulation encountered problems when politicians resisted the models of political identity and behavior that it was perceived to promote. Particular concentrations of misconduct complaints were identified in which politicians believed that changes to political management structures, designed to make local governance more effective, caused a loss of voice for elected representatives. Ethics regulation itself sometimes served as a device for controlling others and effecting resistance. The article concludes with reflections on how far we should expect political conduct to be managed by such regulatory practices .