Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

130 Managing Conflict of InterestMoreover, contribution records and reports are now filed electronically,making this information more accessible and easilydisseminated. 2Following the Money Trail: Watchdog Groups and Candidate/Donor ProfilingAs election costs soar, so have concerns that increasing contributionsfrom special interest groups have compromised the objectivityof public sector decision making. Civil society watchdog groupshave a long history of tracking and raising public awareness regardingthe flow of campaign funds. The hope is that greater transparencywill lead to greater accountability, ensuring that whether or notcorporate or special-interest groups are “paying the bills,” publicofficials’ decision making remains objective and in the public interest.Before the Internet, the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP)published a comprehensive book on candidates, donors, and contributionscalled Open Secrets. The book was 1,300 pages and costUSD190, with circulation limited to Washington, DC, and major universitylibraries. In the mid-1990s, the Internet helped to transformthe monitoring and reporting process, providing unlimited, free“pages” and limitless distribution. 3Since then, CRP has helped to advance the level of sophisticationin reporting, taking the lead in developing candidate anddonor profiles and a multilayered trend analysis of the flow of fundsand possible links to candidates and public officials’ voting records.CRP collects contribution data from the Federal Election Commission,cleans the data on donors and employers, categorizes contributionsby industry and interest group, and produces profiles ofpoliticians, industries, and major donors, which are then disseminatedwidely through the press and the Internet.2US senators are not required to file their reports electronically because technicallytheir reports go to the secretary of the Senate, not the Federal ElectionCommission. Recent attempts to close this loophole, and require senators tofile electronically, have been rebuffed in the Senate through arcane parliamentarymaneuvering.3The Sunlightfoundation.com/resources site provides an inventory of links andresources on government transparency. This listing provides a broad range ofinformation available for tracking government and legislative information, campaigncontributions, and the role of money in politics in the United States.ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific