Political ethics regulation is a phenomenon on the rise (see, for instance, Atkinson and Mancuso 1991; Saint-Martin 2008; Bolleyer & Smirnova 2017). Similar to other policy areas, regulating political ethics has been marked by the usual traits of regulatory isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell 1983; Gilardi 2005; David-Barret 2015), policy diffusion (Crepaz 2017), and policy churn (Monios 2017).
Reforms have been triggered by the combination of domestic and international drivers. Legislation has been enacted to foster public integrity, touching many sensitive areas, such as political financing, conflicts of interest, asset and interest disclosure, gifts and hospitality, and lobbying. New ethics regulators (e.g., integrity and/or compliance officers, ethics committees/commissions, registers of interests and gifts, lobbying commissioners, etc.) have been established foremost in parliaments, but also, to a lesser extent, at the cabinet level and within party organisations.
Building on different strand of literature, this panel aims at conceptualising and theorising on political ethics regulation, mapping and comparing different regulatory strategies, analysing, in practice, how political ethics regulation is contributing to mitigate integrity risks in politics, improving the reputation of political actors and institutions, and restore levels of trust in political institutions.
In detail, this panel aims to deepen knowledge over the following questions: (i) What are the common features of political ethics regulations across jurisdictions and institutional contexts? (ii) Are these regimes adequate and effective in championing rules, principles and procedures and fostering compliance? (iii) Are the rules effectively implemented, overseen, and ultimately enforced? And (iv) what role do international review mechanisms play in this process? Answering these and other questions, this panel welcomes comparative works set across areas of risk, jurisdictions and/or institutional contexts, as well as case studies inductively advancing knowledge over the afore-listed areas of enquiry.
This panel bring a novel and critical insight into political ethics regulation, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative methods. Envisioned as an inter-disciplinary forum, this panel aims not only to establish synergies among scholars in ethics regulation but also in the broader realm of regulation, governance, political science, public policy and political economy.