The Role of Statutory Regulation of Public Service Ethics in Great Britain and the United States

Two areas of controversy, post-employment limitation of former public servants and whistleblower protection of public servants, provide insight into the differences between the American and British experience in controlling public service ethics. This article compares the American system of ethical controls in the public service through statutory regulation to that of the British system, which relies on limited informal sanctions. The author suggests that the British system of controls, which relies greatly on self-restraint of individual civil servants, provides an opportunity to examine the role of law in the establishment and preservation of public service ethics in the United States ..