Assessing the effectiveness of ethics legislation in influencing parliamentary attitudes toward corruption: a cross national comparison between the UK and Ireland

Medientyp: E-Artikel

Titel: Assessing the effectiveness of ethics legislation in influencing parliamentary attitudes toward corruption: a cross national comparison between the UK and Ireland

Beteiligte: Smith, Gillian

Erschienen: Wiley, 2011

Sprache: Englisch

DOI: 10.1002/pa.390

ISSN: 1472-3891; 1479-1854

Schlagwörter: Political Science and International Relations ; Public Administration

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Beschreibung: The 1990s saw political corruption emerge as a priority for political parties in Ireland. The scandals that emerged from a succession of tribunals created the impetus for change. New legislation was introduced by the Rainbow Coalition (1994–1997) in an effort to prevent corruption, creating clearly defined rules concerning funding of politicians and political expenditure during elections. The legislation also facilitated increased transparency surrounding political and bureaucratic decision making, which limits the scope for corrupt activity. There is currently a call from several political parties, from the Public Relations Institute of Ireland, and from others, to introduce legislation concerning the position of lobbyists in the Irish policy‐making process. Some see a register of lobbyists as a means to increase transparency and improve the public perception of lobbyists. To assess whether legislation can have an effect on the interplay of politicians and lobbyists, it is helpful to examine whether the ethics legislation that was introduced in the 1990s has had any effect on legislative attitudes to corruption. This effect of the ethics legislation was assessed by surveying legislators' attitudes to corrupt scenarios and comparing them to UK legislators' attitudes. This was carried out by creating a typology of Oireachtas Members similar to previous UK studies. A cross national comparison of legislative attitudes suggests that Irish legislators' attitudes are shaped by their constituency role. This has a stronger influence on them than the ethics legislation. The ethics legislation has not been very effective and it has not created a political culture that is intolerant of corruption. Similarly it may take more than legislation to alter the perceptions of lobbyists. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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