Organizations of Interest

New York Organizations

Organizations of interest whose focus in on public integrity issues in New York City and New York State

Citizens Union: Citizens Union is a century-old nonpartisan and nonprofit organization advocating for better governance in New York City and New York State. Their issue areas include transparency, government accountability, civic engagement, and reducing the undue influence of money in politics. Their activities range from issue briefs to public surveys to conferences. In addition, Citizens Union publishes the Gotham Gazette, an online news source related to New York public integrity issues, with an associated free daily newsletter.

NYOpenGovernment.com: The NYOpenGovernment.com website is a project by the New York State Office of the Attorney General to facilitate citizen access to public information. The website has links and directions for finding information on legislation, campaign finance, registered lobbyists, charities, and freedom of information requests.

Open Book New York: Open Book New York is a website from the New York State Comptroller’s Office that compiles financial information for New York State. It contains information on local government, state spending, and state contracts, and provides financial information about public authorities.

Open New York: Open New York is a state-run website that compiles publicly-available reports and other information, mostly from New York State agencies. For example, the topic of integrity contains Enforcement Actions by the NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Registered Lobbyist Disclosures, reports by the NYS Inspector General, and information filed with the NYS Board of Elections, among other things. 

SeeThroughNY: SeeThroughNY is a project of the Empire Center for Public Policy to facilitate citizen access to information about taxation and spending in New York State, and in areas, such as government contracts, payrolls, and expenditures.

US Organizations

Organizations of interest whose focus is on public integrity issues at the national level or in other states

Association of Inspectors General (AIG): AIG is a professional membership organization largely comprised of current and former Inspectors General in the U.S., but open to others interested in the work of oversight agencies in the U.S. The AIG website includes its Green Book, Principles and Standards for Offices of Inspector General, which is a thorough guide to how IGs should conduct their offices and investigations. It also serves as model legislation for establishing an Inspector General office and a directory of U.S. oversight agencies.

Better Government Association: The Better Government Association (BGA) is a nonprofit watchdog organization led by veteran journalists dedicated to spotlighting corruption in Illinois. Activities include in-depth investigations, promoting policy reforms, and citizen education. Together with Alper Services LLC, a Chicago-based consultancy for financial and insurance services, BGA produces a periodic Integrity Index, which ranks and assesses each U.S. state for its compliance with best practices for public access to information, open meeting laws, whistleblower protections, and management of conflicts of interest. Read the most recent index released in 2013.

Brennan Center for Justice: A research and advocacy center at New York University, the Brennan Center covers a range of legal and political issues related to advancing democracy and egalitarianism in the U.S. The Brennan Center’s money and politics issue area promotes public integrity reforms on issues like campaign finance and disclosure laws with a special focus on implementing New York City’s public campaign finance model statewide.

Center for Public Integrity: The Center for Public Integrity is a major nonpartisan and nonprofit investigative journalism organization in the United States dedicated to exposing abuses of power and breaches of duty by powerful public and private institutions. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a CPI project, involves an expansive global network of journalists exposing corruption. Major topics include tax havens, illicit trade, and international bribery. The consortium publishes a regularly updated blog of global corruption stories called The Global Muckraker.

City Ethics: City Ethics is a small nonprofit organization founded in Jacksonville, Fla. in 2000 to provide a centralized storehouse of information and resources for local government ethics programs in the United States. City Ethics hosts useful, free resources for municipal integrity management, including model ethics codes, handbooks and training materials, and best practices. In addition, the City Ethics team provides consulting services to help communities implement or improve ethics programs. There is also a blog and public discussion forum.

Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE): CIGIE gathers training and other information for and about the more than 70 federal Inspectors General in the United States and contains a directory of all federal IGs at the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency's website.

Common Cause: Common Cause is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1970 advocating for open and accountable government in the U.S., with 400,000 members and 38 state chapters. The affiliated Common Cause Education Fund conducts research, education, and outreach on related issues. Sample advocacy goals include new whistleblower protections, increased lobbying disclosure requirements, and supporting state-level public campaign finance.

Ethics Resource Center (ERC): Founded in 1922 in Washington, the ERC is a nonprofit research center dedicated to supporting the development of high ethical standards and practices in public and private institutions. The ERC has a free bimonthly electronic newsletter about current topics in organizational ethics as well as various webcasts and online materials by the ERC team, outside sources, and ERC research fellows. The ERC also conducts periodic surveys of ethics practices in the U.S., some of which are publicly released. Although the ERC focuses primarily on private organizations, many of its research findings apply to public entities as well.

FACT Coalition: The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition promotes an honest and fair corporate tax code, greater transparency in corporate ownership and operations, and commonsense policies to combat the facilitation of money laundering and other criminal activity by the legitimate financial system. The Coalition consists of civil society representatives from small business, labor, government watchdog, faith-based, human rights, anti-corruption, public-interest, and international development organizations. FACT is dedicated to eliminating loopholes in the United States’ tax code that incentivize corporations to shelter profits and jobs abroad, strengthening and standardizing anti-money laundering laws, and requiring ownership information of all business entities be made available to law enforcement and the public.

Integrity Florida: Integrity Florida was established in Tallahassee in 2012 as an independent nonprofit research institute. Integrity Florida conducts and publishes investigative reports and other research aimed at promoting integrity and exposing public corruption in Florida. Subjects include access to information, ethics reform, campaign finance reform, and reducing cronyism.

Levin Center at Wayne Law: The goal of the Levin Center at Wayne Law is to educate future attorneys, business leaders, legislators and public servants on their role overseeing public and private institutions and using oversight as an instrument of change. Through academic programming, training and scholarship, the center will equip future lawyers, legislators and leaders with an understanding of how effective legislative oversight can lead to significant and meaningful changes in public policy.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University: The center was established in 1986 in Santa Clara, Calif. with government ethics as one of its five focus areas. Free online materials include a training course on the basics of government ethics as well as articles, case studies, commentaries, webcasts, and podcasts. The center conducts a quarterly roundtable on emerging issues related to public ethics in local government and targeted ethics training for local government officials.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL): The NCSL was established in 1975 as a bipartisan support center for state legislators and their staffs in the U.S. The NCSL’s Ethics Center, founded in 1999, compiles information on ethics laws, committees, and commissions in all 50 states. In addition, the center has state-by-state charts of rules and practices governing conflict of interest, lobbying, and gifts. The NCSL also provides guidance on legislation and campaign finance practices.

The National Institute on Money in State Politics: Based in Montana, the Institute maintains a searchable database of campaign contributions and lobbyist disclosures among each state, along with a growing trove of local-level data.

Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University: The Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics is a research center focused on practical ethics, sponsoring events, fellows, courses, and research. The center’s Research Lab, launched by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig in 2009, is a five-year research project to conduct intensive normative and empirical investigations into the problem of institutional corruption, defined as “the economy of influence” that impedes institutions and degrades public trust. The Lab’s research focuses on gathering data, gauging perceptions, and determining causes, effects, and possible solutions. The Research Lab website includes publications, talks, blogs, podcasts, and teaching tools.

International Organizations

Organizations of interest whose focus is on public integrity issues internationally

American Bar Association: Rule of Law Initiative: The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative is a nonprofit organization supporting justice sector reforms worldwide. Their anti-corruption work includes capacity-building, legislative support, public education, and inter-agency coordination.

Anti-Corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD): ACAD is an academic project which encourages the inclusion of anti-corruption curriculum in universities and other academic institutions. A collaborative effort between Northeastern University, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Bar Association (IBA), the initiative is led by an expert group of academics and governmental experts. ACAD offers a wide range of teaching materials, including best practices and models for quantifying the impact of corruption.

Basel Institute on Governance: The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent nonprofit organization associated with the University of Basel that supports global efforts to fight corruption and money laundering, and to promote corporate governance and the recovery of stolen assets. The institute publishes studies and practice guides, supports capacity-building efforts, and conducts conferences and trainings. Unique online materials include online courses in asset recovery and an index of money-laundering risks worldwide.

The Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL): COGEL is a leading professional organization for government ethics administrators in the U.S. and Canada, based in Athens, Ga. COGEL’s roughly 200 members include individuals, public bodies, educational institutions, and private organizations working in the fields of governmental ethics, access to information, elections, lobbying, and campaign finance. COGEL has held annual conferences since the 1970s to facilitate networking and information exchanges among members of state and local ethics boards. Their website also features an online community for its members that features a blue book directory, a discussion forum, and a career center.

Financial Transparency Coalition: The Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) is a global network of civil society, governments, and experts spanning five continents working to curtail illicit financial flows through the promotion of a transparent, accountable, and sustainable financial system. Through intensive research and advocacy efforts, FTC urges international organizations, governments, and the financial community as a whole, to substantially improve transparency in the global financial. The Coalition focuses on issues of beneficial ownership, exposing the enablers of illicit financial flows, and promoting open data.

Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC): GIACC is an England-based resource center for anti-corruption efforts in the infrastructure, construction, and engineering sectors. Resources on GIACC’s website include informational materials about corruption, online training manuals and modules in several languages, model contracts and policies, examples of corruption risks, and an implementation strategy for anti-corruption actions by professional or business associations.

Global Integrity: Launched in 1999 as a project of the Center for Public Integrity and made independent in 2005, Global Integrity is a nonprofit research organization tracking trends in public integrity worldwide. Global Integrity works with a diverse global network of researchers to assess the state of public integrity across different countries, producing their signature Global Integrity Report, based on a range of qualitative and quantitative indicators. Global Integrity also produces other publications, a blog, and new tools for collaborative research.

Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC): A nonprofit organization based in Canada, GOPAC is an international network of legislators that champions anti-corruption initiatives worldwide. Its programmatic activity covers areas such as anti-money laundering, parliamentary ethics, and gender equity in legislative bodies. The organization also publishes position papers and tools aimed at educating legislators.

Good Governance Africa (GGA): Good Governance Africa is a research and advocacy organization founded in 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa and dedicated to promoting democracy, accountability, transparency, the rule of law, and pro-growth economic policies across Africa. GGA’s publications—available online—include a monthly, theme-based policy journal as well as an annual compendium of facts and trends among African countries. In the long-term, GGA intends to host annual conferences and build an allied network of contributors and experts.

The Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO): GRECO was established by the Council of Europe in 1999 to monitor member state compliance with anti-corruption standards. GRECO publishes periodic field-based evaluations of its member states. Its website also includes laws and resolutions as well as links to other centers.

Innovations for Successful Societies (ISS): Innovations for Successful Societies is a research center at Princeton University studying reform implementation in challenging contexts worldwide. Their anti-corruption materials include interviews, in-depth case studies, and cross-cutting research on anti-corruption agencies and civil service reforms.

International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA): Sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Anti-Corruption Academy conducts training programs for practitioners, mostly in its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Its programs include tailored trainings as well as open courses and an intensive summer academy. Participants become part of an alumni network. The IACA also maintains an online library of corruption-related databases and other resources.

International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA): The IAACA was founded in 2006, after the United Nations Convention Against Corruption took effect. Headquartered in Beijing, the IAACA has more than 100 dues-paying members from around the world whom it supports with training, networking opportunities, and annual conferences. Its website it is still under construction, but has links to anti-corruption laws from around the world.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): The OECD has online tools, publications, and other resources on corruption. Topics include procurement, asset recovery, mutual legal assistance, tools for public auditors, integrity frameworks and reviews, and anti-corruption agency models. There are also resources about the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention of 1997, including monitoring reports and compliance guidelines for practitioners.

The Quality of Governance Institute: The Quality Governance Institute of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, is a research center founded in 2004 to promote good governance worldwide. The site has resources for practitioners, researchers, journalists, and teachers. Materials include research tools, publications, and data sets, particularly for European countries.

Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center of George Mason University (TraCCC): TraCCC conducts research on the global nexus between organized crime, corruption, terrorism, and money laundering, particularly in Eurasia. Their activities include publications, conferences, interviews, and a blog.

Transparency International: Transparency International is a large and longstanding NGO in the field of transparency and government integrity. TI prepares a yearly Corruption Perceptions Index of countries around the globe and numerous other reports. Within TI is the Anti-Corruption Research Network, containing anti-corruption research articles and books, as well as international conferences and training sessions. TI also prepares the Daily Corruption News with current news involving international corruption; one can sign up from the TI home page to receive the DCN over email.

U4 Anti-Corruption Centre: The U4 is a research center jointly funded by several countries, based at the Christian Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway. The U4 publishes many briefs and papers aimed at supporting the work of donor agencies and their in-country partners to fight corruption, on topics such as natural resource management, evaluating and measuring corruption, and the corruption risks of foreign aid. A unique U4 project is the Helpdesk, which is run by Transparency International, which provides research-based responses to practitioner questions, many of which are published online.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: The UNODC contains publications, tools, and other resources related to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Within the UNODC is TRACK, a resource database geared towards those interested in international corruption. TRACK includes a legal library of statutes for numerous countries, lists of Anti-Corruption Agencies worldwide, and a Practitioner’s Corner for practitioners to interact and collaborate online.

World Legal Information Institute: The World Legal Information Institute has a searchable global database of anti-corruption laws, scholarship, and related links.