The Continuing Saga of Municipal Reform: New York City and the Politics of Ethics Law

Type of Work

Article

Date

1992

Journal Title

Urban Affairs Quarterly

Journal ISSN

0042-0816

Journal Volume

27

Journal Issue

4

First Page

580

Last Page

603

DOI

10.1177/004208169202700405

Abstract

Governmental responses to corruption are embedded in urban politics and public administration. Rather than attempting a general theory of official corruption in local government, the authors present a case study of New York City's response to a severe corruption scandal in the late 1980s. They show how public administration is driven by responses to scandals and attempts to deter them. Ethics reform from the Progressive Era to the present fit into three ideal-typical anticorruption strategies. The authors explain how these strategies have changed over time and focus particularly on the increasing dominance of the crime-control strategy.

Hamilton Areas of Study

Government, Public Policy

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