Identifying Conflicts of Interest in Government
Financial Disclosure Requirements for Federal Employees
In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton addressed the potential for rulers to abuse their power at the expense of the collective good. In an attempt to discourage financial conflicts of interest, American public service is predicated on the principle that decisions, advice and recommendations made by public officials ought to be free from personal financial interests. Historically, the federal government dealt with financial conflicts of interest using an ad hoc approach, adopting statutes “one at a time, over a long period of time, in response to specific evils which, from time to time were important political issues.” Since the late…
