Conflict of Illinois
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been arrested by the FBI for selling the influence of his office. The most interesting part of the legal claim against him is that he intended to profit from his power in naming the U.S. Senator to replace Barak Obama.
But the legalities are not as important as the ethics involved. Blagojevich’s accused failure is just another example of how conflicts of interest dominate public office. Ethically significant conflicts of interest are explained in detail here. The basic issue is that whenever a person’s self-interest (particularly in the areas of power defined by money and sex) contradicts his entrusted interest in others, there can be no confidence in that person’s ability to act morally. They may or may not actually do something wrong, but the conflict is sufficient to remove confidence either way. So, Blagojevich could argue that his appointment would be the same with or without the money or opportunities, but the unethical conflict is still present, and precludes confidence in him. Such conflicts are known as influence peddling, and are universally condemned and contemptible, although they are ubiquitous in the U.S. Congress—a complaint for another day.
Unfortunately, Illinois has been so long besieged by such conflicts of interest that even Louisiana (with its Huey Long legacy) looks pristine in comparison. One of the great things about real democracy is that it requires civil servants at the head of government rather than rulers. Altruism is rightly expected of civil servants—an expectation apparent in the title itself. Egoism might not be predictably all-consuming in rulers, but is certainly expected. When those who govern think of their actions as ruling rather than serving, warning flags should rise. Where is Illinois in the spectrum? Suffice it as an example here to say that one of Governor Blagojevich’s declared reasons to run for office was to counter the corruption of his predecessor, Governor George Ryan, currently in prison.
Not to worry, though, for those of us outside Illinois. After all, there is no one with deep roots in Illinois politics and a tendency toward government control on the national level…. Is there?
Three words: conflict of interest. There is no more comprehensive or practical tool for identifying ethically indefensible behavior than conflict of interest. Yet its significance is often overlooked and its implications ignored. The New York Times 
