State ethics reform: The Oklahoma Ethics Commission

Abstract

On June 30, 2001, the Ethics Commission of Oklahoma concluded its first decade of operations. The Ethics Commission (EC) was authorized in 1990 when the people voted by a sizable majority in favor of State Question No. 627, adding Article XXIX to the Oklahoma Constitution. It began work July I, 1991, and has since become a significant component of state government. Oklahoma is not alone among the states in having such a body, but it is virtually alone in having created one with such extensive powers and such a carefully-designed structure. I offer the following study as an attempt to build a preliminary record about this major experiment in political reform. I aim to describe the powers and activities of the EC and the circumstances under which it originated. The latter are quite revealing about the political culture of the state, so I discuss in some detail the events and maneuvers which led to the creation of the agency as well as to the unfolding of its powers in the first several years of activity. In the latter part of this study, I comment on some of the broad issues of governmental ethics that are illuminated by the work of the EC and consider some of the obstacles encountered in the project to enforce ethics within a system of constitutional democracy.