Secrets & Scandals: Reforming Rhode Island, 1986-2006 - Softcover

H. Philip West Jr.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0990629317 ISBN 13: 9780990629313

Verlag: Rhode Island Publications Society, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

Between 1986 and 2006 Rhode Island ran a gauntlet of scandals that exposed corruption and aroused public rage. Protesters marched on the State House. Coalitions formed to fight for systemic changes. Under intense public pressure, lawmakers enacted historic laws and allowed voters to amend defects in the state s constitution.

Since colonial times, the legislature had controlled state government. Governors were barred from making many executive appointments, and judges could never forget that on a single day in 1935 the General Assembly had sacked the entire Supreme Court.

Without constitutional checks and balances, citizens suffered under single party control. Republicans ruled during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; Democrats held sway from the 1930s into the twenty-first century. In their eras of unchecked control, both parties became corrupt.

Secrets & Scandals tells the inside story of events that shook Rhode Island s culture of corruption, gave birth to the nation's strongest ethics commission, and finally brought separation of powers in 2004. No single leader, no political party, no organization could have converted betrayals of public trust into historic reforms. But when citizen coalitions worked with dedicated public officials to address systemic failures, government changed.

Three times in 2002, 2008, and 2013 Chicago s Better Government Association has scored state laws that promote integrity, accountability, and government transparency. In 50-state rankings, Rhode Island ranked second twice and first in 2013 largely because of reforms reported in SECRETS & SCANDALS.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Rhode Island Publications Society
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0990629317
• ISBN 13: 9780990629313
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 799
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar