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In the first book of its kind, Leo Huberts provides a critical synthesis of cutting-edge research on public sector integrity exploring issues such as the definition and importance of public sector integrity, the various methodological approaches to the field as well as considering the causes of for the violation of values associated with integrity

Essentially, this book discusses 'the relevance, limitations and/or applicability of specific values to the 'quality of governance'. This chapter focuses on 'integrity' as the basic value, reflecting on its relationship with quality. This is not a simple endeavor. Integrity and quality of governance relate to a multitude of topics and disciplines. Basic questions concern the precise meaning and relevance of 'governance,' of 'integrity of governance' and of 'quality of governance' (including many of the values addressed in this book, including legitimacy, accountability, transparency, lawfulness, and effectiveness). Our basic line of reasoning seems to be that integrity is an important (public) value amidst (many) others, while quality refers to all relevant values. This chapter focuses on some questions-perhaps even blind spots-in our interpretation of integrity within such a quality framework. A number of topics or questions will be addressed in the next paragraphs: (1) What is 'governance'? (2) What is 'integrity (of governance)'? (3) What is 'quality of governance' as used in research into public values, good government, and good governance? (4) What is the meaning/content of integrity in the context of quality of governance or good governance, taking into account the different phases of governance? The process of answering these questions will prompt suggestions for our research agenda.

Integrity and corruption have become important issues in the practice and theory of politics, public administration, law, economics and social life. Consequently, they have also become significant topics for law enforcement organisations. Indeed, these organisations play a crucial role in the struggle against corruption in society, and, in order to do that, their own integrity must be beyond doubt. This volume, with contributions by 35 authors from 13 countries in five continents, offers a comprehensive overview of "corruption, integrity and law enforcement". The related papers were presented at the Second Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity that took place in The Hague in May 2001. The content and extent of the problem of corruption are presented via case studies from individual countries. Furthermore, corruption and integrity in the law enforcement system itself are highlighted, and the legal instruments that are available to combat corruption and to safeguard integrity are discussed. Special attention is paid here to independent institutions that operate in several countries. Finally, several contributions focus on the global dimension of the subject: the international organisations and initiatives that play an important role in the world-wide struggle against corruption. This volume is therefore of great relevance for policy makers and academic researchers, as well as for practitioners

In the first chapter, the editors introduce the content and the relevance of this book to the quality of governance and why and how public values matter. Central concepts are defined, the meaning and phases of governance are addressed, including an introduction of the significant public values stemming from the literature. These values are dealt with in relation to good and bad governance in the chapters of the book: democratic legitimacy, accountability, transparency, integrity, lawfulness, effectiveness, professionalism, and robustness.

This article reports on a survey study of 382 managers from a variety of public and private sector organizations, on the values that guide sectoral decision making. Just as some important classical differences emerge, a number of similarities between the public and private sector appear to result in a set of common core organizational values. Furthermore, the data support neither increasing adoption of business values in public sector organizations nor flirtation with public values by business sector managers. This contradicts expectations in the literature on new public management and corporate social responsibility, suggesting public—private value intermixing. Value solidity seems the dominant feature in both sectors. Additional analysis shows that "publicness," the extent to which an organization belongs to the public or the private sector— rather than age, gender, years of service or a past in the other sector—strongly determines value preferences.

Research into the harassment of politicians and other public officials in Northern America and Western Europe demonstrates that 30–93% of politicians report having experienced harassing or stalking behaviour which can comprise serious risks for the integrity of democracy and government. This leads to intriguing questions such as: what types of threats do politicians face and how do they respond to those threats? This article presents the results of research on those questions in The Netherlands. Semi-structured interviews and Q- methodology were applied to gain insight into the different types of threats and the ways in which aldermen cope with these threats and harassments. The types of threats and harassments are diverse from verbal abuse to physical violence. Q-methodology shows three types of rather different strategies towards threats and harassment. The first attitude is combative and decisive. The second attitude is vulnerable and cautious. The third attitude is down to earth and accepting. These findings are relevant because threats and harassment, unfortunately, are becoming an inevitable part of political life nowadays. More insight into the strategies used by politicians are relevant for fighting threats and harassment towards politicians and to strengthen the resilience of politicians.