[Spacek moderated Concurrent Panel on “Succession Building” at 2015 Conference] Powerpoint discusses Past and Present-day American Public Servant Corruption; Public Servant Convictions in the 12-State Northeastern US (NeCoPA) Area; Definitions and Notions, of Public Servant Corruption; Measuring Public Servant Corruption "Culture" in the Northeast USA: a "Reality Check."

1. Evaluating and Lessening Public Servant Venality in NECoPA’s 12 States:
Moderator, Concurrent Panel on “Succession Building”
Steve Spacek
MPA, Texas State University
The Northeast Conference on Public Administration
Founders Hall
George Mason University @ Arlington, Virginia Campus
November 7, 2015

2. This Presentation BEGINS…with a Quote by Virginian, Founding Father, 4th United States President,
JAMES MADISON
"It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the
society; not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a
handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their
powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the
honorary title of republic.”
…FEDERALIST No. 52

3. The Saga of Past and Present-day American Public Servant Corruption
“Corruption is a universal phenomenon.”
“…that Corruption is endemic in all governments is practically
certain.“
“Misconduct in state and local government used to be simple; hard to track.
Generally, only one person---typically a white male---breached a position of public
trust. These days, seems misconduct's all over the place. Broadcasts and articles tell
of yet another tax-paid official(s)—women and men, and from diverse origins–
charged or sentenced. Technology has democratized and speeded up odds for one to
engage in and be caught doing “bad behavior.”
Sources: C. Freidrich in “Corruption: Terms, Concepts and Definitions-An Introduction,” by A. Heidenheimer in M. Johnston, eds, PUBLIC
SECTOR CORRUPTION, Volume 1; J. Martinez-Vazquez et al, FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR; S. Spacek, “Any
State, Local Employees in America Not Corrupt?”

4. Public Servant Convictions in Present-day America
Today, a typical public servant corruption case involves stealing and lying
by “low‐level” County and/or City officials. Since the 1990’s convictions in
America among this crowd rose sharply– now accounting for 30 percent of
total public servants sentenced.
Virtually all state and local-occurring public servant corruption cases are
handled by independent federal prosecutors within the Department of
Justice, and tried in federal courts under consistent legal standards.
Source: A. Cordis and J. Milyo, Measuring Public Corruption in the United States: Evidence from Administrative Records
of Federal Prosecutions.

5. Public Servant Convictions in the 12-State NeCoPA Territory
The New York Times reviewed FBI data on convicted public officials from 1998-2007. For that
period and within NECoPA states, NEW YORK led in having the largest number of sentenced
Federal, State and Local public servants, at 744. PENNSYLVANIA followed with 555; NEW
JERSEY with 418; VIRGINIA, 303. The fewest convictions were 13 at VERMONT; NEW
HAMPSHIRE with 14; MAINE, 25.
This and the next slide, show a small sampling of public servants from within the NECoPA region
boundaries sentenced for State and Local Corruption.
NEW JERSEY
Raymond O’Grady Middletown Township Committeeman Bribery Convicted October 2006
John Lynch Senate President Mail Fraud, Tax Evasion Convicted September 2006
PENNSYLVANIA
Ted Leblanc Mayor, Norristown Bribery, Bank Fraud, Tax Evasion Convicted April 2006
Frank Gigliotti House Representative Extortion, Mail Fraud, Tax Evasion Convicted April 2000
DELAWARE
Thomas Gordon New Castle County Executive Tax Evasion Convicted June 2005
MARYLAND
Sheila Dixon Mayor, Baltimore Fraud Convicted December 2009
Jack Johnson Prince Georges County Executive Bribery, Extortion Convicted December 2011
VIRGINIA
Gwendolyn Cheek Hedgepeth Richmond City Council Bribery, Extortion Convicted July 2004
Robert McDonnell Governor Improper Gifts Recipient Convicted September 2014

6. Public Servant Convictions in the 12-State NeCoPA Territory
NEW YORK
Thomas Spargo State Supreme Court Extortion, Bribery Convicted August 2009
Larry Seabrook NY City Council Money Laundering, Extortion, Fraud Convicted January 2013
CONNECTICUT
Joseph Ganim Mayor, Bridgeport Racketeering, Extortion, Mail Fraud Convicted March 2003
John Rowland Governor Illegal Campaign Contributions, Falsifying Records Convicted March 2005
RHODE ISLAND
Gordon Fox House Speaker Bribery. Wire fraud, Fraud Tax Filing Convicted June 2015
Buddy Cianci Mayor ,Providence Racketeering Convicted Sept 2002
MASSACHSETTS
Chuck Turner Boston City Council Bribery, Perjury Convicted Oct 2010
Diane Wilkerson State Senator Extortion Convicted June 2010
VERMONT
Brian Burns Lieutenant Governor Fraud Convicted July 1995
NEW HAMPSHIRE
None
MAINE
Joseph Barnes Police Chief, Pleasant Point Indian Tribe Funds Theft Convicted June 2011

7. Definition of Public Servant Corruption: Quotes
There's ample literature exploring public servant corruption.
We favor three works that have received considerable world and national peer praise:
Jorge Martinez-Vazquez et al, FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR [M-Z]
Michael Johnston, PUBLIC SECTOR CORRUPTION (Volumes I, II, III, IV) [MJ]
Zephyr Teachout, CORRUPTION IN AMERICA [ZP]
J. Peter Eubes, “Corruption”
Oxford Dictionary: “Decay, degeneration, disintegration, debasement” [MJ-I]
“Corruption is…a failure of ethics and moral standards of public officials…is rational and self-interested…a crime of
self-enrichment by public officials—perpetrator generally exercises state power over the victim.” [M-Z]
Corruption is…"an abuse of public power for private benefit" (Jens Charles Andvig) and "those acts whereby
private gain is made at public expense" (Bruce Gronbeck)…Corruption requires an explicit deal between a giver
and receiver.” [ZP]
Corruption: “…Violating a public trust; activities by public officials that depart from norms, laws, expectations of
their offices, from which they realize gains” (Mark Warren) [MJ-I]
Corruption: The “sale by Government officials of Government property for personal gain” (Andrew Shleifer and
Robert Vishy) [MJ-III]
Basic Ingredients of Corruption FORMULA:
CORRUPTION = MONOPOLY + DESCRETION – ACCOUNTABILITY (Robert Klitgaard) [MJ-II]

8. NOTION of Public Servant Corruption: Quotes
Corruption is “a global…multifaceted phenomenon, has impact on its place of origin and
other countries, regions.” [M-Z]
“Corruption is a disease of the body politic” (Dennis Thompson). [MJ-I]
“Most corruption requires moral choices, depending on human capacity for avarice and evil”
(J. Patrick Dobel). [MJ-I]
The “’Roots of Corruption’: …Unequal distribution of resources in a society. Economic inequality provides fertile
ground for corruption, leading to further inequalities” (Eric Uslaner). [MJ-III]
"The business of corruption...requires time as well as means." (Alexander Hamilton). [ZT]
“A concept of corruption means identifying as immoral or criminal a subset of transactions and relationships
within a set that, generally speaking, is fundamentally beneficial to mankind, both functionally and intrinsically.
for god, for country, or for me” (Daniel Lowenstein). [ZT]
"There is one human motivator that is both universal and central to explaining the divergent experiences of
different countries. That motivator is self-interest, including an interest in the well-being of one's family and
peer group. Corruption indicates a failure to leverage self-interest for productive purposes.”
(Susan Ackerman). [ZT]
“Corruption in American tradition encompassing many situations politicians and pub institutions serve private
interests at the public's expense.” [ZT]

9. Measuring Corruption Culture in the 12-State Necopa Territory
In Michael Johnston’s PUBLIC SECTOR CORRUPTION Volume I, Robert Williams writes, “Culture has
something to do with corruption.”
We now offer, below, two different measurements of Public Servant Corruption for the
12-state NECoPA Territory:
-------------------------
StateIntegrity.org
2012 Highest Corruption Risk States
1 VA (47)
2 ME (46)
3 MD (40)
4 NY (37)
5 NH (35)
6 VT (26
7 DE (22)
8 PA (20)
9 MA (12)
10 RI (9)
11 CT (2)
12 NJ (1)
Sharkansky Political Culture Scale Score
1 VA 7.86
2 DE, MD 7.00
3 PA 4.28
4 NJ 4.00
5 NY 3.62
6 MA 3.66
7 CT, RI 3.00
8 VT, NH, ME 2.66

10. Lessening Public Servant Venality in the 12-state NECoPA TERRITORY
“America was a country founded on anti-corruption concerns, the Declaration of Independence a declaration from
freedom from corruption…They enlisted law to reclassify non-corrupt, normal behaviors from Europe as corrupt
behaviors in America.” [ZT]
You, Jong-sung and Sanjeev Khagram write, “One task of…public action is to shape institutions and social conditions
so that people behave honestly because they believe that the basic structure of that society is just.” [MJ-III]
Robert Klitgaard provides Measures to control corruption, including “A Select agents for honesty and capability; B
Change Rewards and Penalties facing “agents and clients”;C Gather, Analyze information to raise chances corruption
will be detectable; D Restrict the “Agent/Client” relationship to reduce corruption (reduce the monopoly-discretion-
accountability formula above) E Change attitudes about Corruption.” [MJ-III]
Curbing corruption requires a comprehensive approach. Anti-corruption strategies should focus on economic
incentives and opportunities to be corrupt, and how it will affect the local/state economy. There should be strict
adherence to code of conduct, integrating ethics sensitization in hiring and promotions. Monitoring of officials,
encourage whistleblowing; collect anonymous reports; disclosure of assets, stringent prosecutions; computerized
paper trails. Internal and external audits.” [M-V]
Structuring laws makes Corruption less likely by outlawing behavior that might lead to corruption, with clearly
defined rules made up of objective elements with little room for differing interpretation. " It is valuable and possible
to aspire to a society where those in government are concerned on a daily basis with the well-being of the public.“
[ZT]

11. Lessening Public Servant Venality in the 12-state NECoPA TERRIOTORY
Other Factors to Consider, from GovLoop Blog by Steve Spacek
–POLITICAL CULTURE-ECONOMY: A majority of states with fewer
government workers sentenced to prison than others (WA, NE, VT, WY, NH, ME,
MT, OR, MN) have a prevalent Moralistic Political Culture. In those places, society’s
well-being is held as paramount; governance promotes “public good;” politicians are
expected not to profit from politics. They'll have a strong Political Economy –
reporters, citizen groups, prosecutors, judges, religious leaders are willing to actively
speak out and root out, any rampant corruption in their midst.
–ADMINISTRATIVE METHOD: The Center for Public Integrity’s research found
that states scoring high for honorable Procurement, Internal Auditing, Lobbyist
Disclosure, Redistricting, Ethics Enforcement and State Budget processes had lesser
risk of employee degeneracy.

12. Conclusion: Reality Check
We end this presentation with a "reality check" written by staff at the D.C.-based
Corporate Crime Reporter, who published a project that measured state and local
corruption in America:
“There's…little correlation between strong laws
and integrity–if a public official wants to violate
his or her trust, the laws don’t stand in the way.”