ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that much like the dark public integrity times experienced by the country in the past, opportunities do exist for the United States to build a new public integrity out of the despair created by intense political, social, and cultural polarization. The new public integrity embraces a fundamental belief in the strong relationship between public integrity and justice and equality in American society. The new public integrity involves much more than holding public officials accountable for official misconduct. It requires a reexamination of how to protect the nation’s democratic institutions from political leaders that violate constitutional values and powerful special interests that use private resources to corrupt our nation’s democratic institutions. The chapter argues that Congress must strengthen institutions designed to uncover the abuse of official power to protect them from intimidation from within and outside of government. This will require a shift of emphasis from so-called high-road ethics to nuts and bolts of low-road ethics regulations. The chapter also argues that governments need to take additional steps to protect the neutral competence of career public servants. This means providing career public servants greater protection to make public their concerns regarding official misconduct and the abuse of bureaucratic power.
