There are three elements to a corruption reduction process. I say ‘reduction’ because eliminating corruption is not desirable.
Every system has flaws, sometimes very bad flaws, and corruption is necessary at the margins to cope with these flaws. As an example: most residential zoning laws are hostile to carrying on commerce in a residential area. This is a serious flaw as anyone who now does Zoom business at home or, in the past, started a business in the garage or did contracting or consulting from home. Enforcing this zoning is in defiance of reality. Corruption in this case was non-enforcement.
The three elements to reduce corruption are:
- Random selection of legislatures.
- Clear and open ‘random’ selection process.
- A special school for Anti-Corruption Inspectors General.
Random Selection of Legislatures
Most corruption arises from bribery in the election processes and bribery of the electors.
I have written a book on random selection called A Citizen Legislature. All legislative bodies need to be selected from the population of non-institutionalized adults. I make an exception for two-body legislatures where one represents the powerful organizations in society, like a Senate. These Senates need to remain. Individuals also need representation for their groups such as colleges, unions, businesses and lobbies such as gun rights and animal rights organizations. That form of representation is also expressed in executive elections for president, governor and mayor.
Clear and Open ‘Random’ Selection Process.
I’ve learned from the failure of random selection for the 2000 Redistricting Council in California where the process was overridden by the corrupt legislators.
The definition of ‘population for selection’ (of potential legislators) must be written into the law and reviewed by the courts. It is currently not clear whether citizenship and residence are part of the definition of the ‘represented population.’
The ‘random selection’ must conform to the statistical definition of ‘random’, meaning a numerical process derived from infinite irrational numbers.
Terms of service in the legislature must be short and limited. Roughly three years.
The selection process must be periodically reviewed by an Anti-Corruption Inspector General.
A Special School for Anti-Corruption Inspectors General
I have little or no confidence in the current model of Inspectors General.
What is needed is a special school for training Anti-Corruption Inspectors General. With the important proviso that each graduating class meets at regular intervals to discuss their experiences and maintain an esprit de corps for the profession. (I don’t know how to make this institution safe for many decades.)
These Anti-Corruption Inspectors General need to operate within Federal laws with severe penalties for elections for Federal office.
With these three innovations, I believe that corruption in the American system, with our existing moral value system, can be reduced.