The public perceives the two parties as about equally ethically challenged. Some Democrats, and some journalists, simply aren’t doing their jobs.
The public sees no big ethical difference between the two parties. That says something about the competence both of Democratic politicians and spinmeisters and of the press. Maybe a flood of indictments against Congressional Republicans would change things. But it’s astonishing that the most corrupt party organization since at least the days of Teapot Dome hasn’t left a stain on the party’s reputation.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman