From: "Leader Ethics Wisconsin" <admin@leaderethicswi.org>
Subject: The Ethics Report, November 2019
Date: December 13, 2019 at 4:03:08 PM CST
To: "Lee Rasch" <Leerasch42@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Lee Rasch" <leaderethicswi@gmail.com>

Badass Grandmas, America in One Room, the First Amendment is not a License to Lie 	

The Ethics Report - November 2019 

	
 
The Ethics Report for November will focus on stories of encouragement, highlighting the role of committed and determined citizens.
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Badass Grandmas
Transparency with public information is vital for a healthy democracy. It can be a challenging area for elected leaders under the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, many states seek to elude transparency through vague laws that are designed to have minimal impact. Such was the case in North Dakota prior to 2018. The Republican Party held a super-majority in the legislature, including all statewide elected offices, for many years. Republican leaders had the support of 76 percent of adults, including the powerful state chamber of commerce. With the booming oil industry, there were public concerns regarding campaign finance manipulation and corruption. The State of North Dakota received a grade of D- by the Center for Public Integrity in 2015. Unfortunately, the state lacked an ethics commission and transparency laws were vague and ineffective. There appeared to be little chance for change.
Led by four retired women, a new group was formed in 2018...North Dakotans for Public Integrity. Encouraged by efforts in the State of South Dakota, they were determined to press forward with a Constitutional Amendment to restore integrity in North Dakota governance. In early 2018, they filed a petition to amend the State Constitution. Through and extensive grassroots effort, they startled political pundits in November 2018 by approving a new article (Article XIV) in the state constitution with three strong anti-corruption policies. Article XIV: a) reveals who is spending money to influence voters, b) prohibits gifts and other undue influence on public officials and c) establishes an ethics commission. Despite being outspent by a 20 to 1 margin, the North Dakotans for Public Integrity succeeded in garnering 53% of the vote. Article XIV passed!
Ellen-Earle Chaffee, co founder of the group offered some thoughts and suggestions following the vote. 
The time is right. Regardless of party, voters are demanding honest government.
Democracy has many more voices than votes. When people who hate corruption realize that democracy is being threatened, they choose democracy over party.
Retirees are a rich source of time, talent and treasure for reform. In this generation, many do not see the democracy that we were reared to believe in.
Make it safe for people to vote their values. Networking in small groups and private conversations can help to build a sense that “we are not alone in seeking change”.
Take the high road. Be authentic. Nonpartisan political work is not “politics”.
Give the people what they want. After gathering considerable public input, Article, XIV was limited to the top three priorities among those providing input.
You can do this...you are not alone. Philanthropic and organizational support for democracy reform are at the highest levels.
It should be noted that the Republican Party dominates state government in North Dakota. However, the Democratic Party maintains dominating power in other states. The threat to democracy is not tied to one particular political party. It should also be noted that following the passage of Article XIV, the legislature took steps to “water down the impact”. Despite this set back, members of the “Badass Grandmas” are not discouraged. They point out that the Ethics Commission is now in place. Ellen-Earle Chaffee summed it up by saying “These guys (legislators) are mad, and they’re not used to losing. They are not used to losing to old ladies. So, it’s going to be a long, long battle. The implementation phase is going to be at least ten years”. And she added, “What we have to do is change the culture of state government, because it has really deteriorated. It’s going to take people paying attention.”
  
The Badass Grandmas of North Dakota deserve a big green light for their efforts and determination. They should be an inspiration for us all. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
America in One Room
In previous editions of  The Ethics Report, we discussed the growing partisan divide. As we reported in the March 2019 edition of The Ethics Report, a study by the Bipartisan Policy Center demonstrated that the increased divide in government resulted in reduced effectiveness according to their Healthy Government Index. And recent PEW Research (As reported in the April 2019 edition of The Ethics Report) showed that political party loyalty was the main factor in the increased partisan divide. For citizens who are concerned about the integrity of the American democracy, these are concerning reports. What does the future hold for a severely divided nation? Actually, there are some encouraging signs that deserve our attention...notably the America in One Room project.
The project America in One Room was a national experiment to find out whether people with strongly held political beliefs could be brought together, leading to a better understanding of opposing political beliefs. Over a long weekend in September, the project had a scientific sample of 523 registered voters from around the country gather in Dallas. (The event was organized by Helena, a nonpartisan problem-solving institution, By the People Productions and the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University, and participants were recruited by NORC at the University of Chicago.) The project set out to determine whether people with strong beliefs (conservative and liberal) could be brought together in a format that would lead to a better understanding and acceptance of opposing views. The results were encouraging.
The project used a technique known as deliberative polling. Researchers selected a representative sample of Americans to come to a single location and spend four days discussing the merits of five issues at the heart of American politics today: health care, immigration, the economy, foreign policy and the environment. They answered survey questions about their views on those topics, and on the major party candidates running for president in 2020, both before and after their weekend of deliberation
The overall “pre-event/post-event” results were encouraging. Prior to the session, 30% of the participants felt that American democracy is working well. This number rose to 60% afterward. There was evidence that the participants also became less skeptical about the motivations of those with different political views. The percentage who thought people who disagree strongly with their policy views have "good reasons" for their positions rose from 37% to 54%, while the percentage who thought their political opposites were "not thinking clearly" dropped from 51% to 33%. Furthermore, 95% of the participants reported that they had "learned a lot about people very different from me” as as result of the event.
The America in One Room project appears to validate the efforts of another organization...Better Angels. This organization was formed after the 2016 national election and they now have a presence in nearly every state. They bring together participants with strongly held conservative and liberal views and in a facilitated retreat, work to develop better acceptance to opposing views. Participants report a significant improvement in their understanding and acceptance of opposing views. The Better Angels project does not scientifically measure their results while the America in One Room project did measure outcomes.
The America in One Room project as well as the Better Angels organization deserve a green light for their efforts to bring people together. They demonstrate that people have the capacity to overcome bias if they receive support in becoming better listeners. They also reinforce the need to work at the local level, even the person-to-person level, in order to reduce the political divisiveness in America. 

 
 
 
The 2020 Citizen's Guide for Ethical Leadership Among Elected Officials 1.0.
Look for the December 4, 2019 release of the new 2020 Citizen's Guide. The guide will offer practical suggestions for raising awareness regarding the importance of ethical leadership and the American democracy. Information about the 2020 Citizen's Guide will be available at the La Crosse Chapter event. Event information follows.
News Literacy in a Climate of Disinformation and Election Interference
News literacy is vital to American democracy. This program will focus on teaching all generations how to sift through news and disinformation to become well informed and ready to act. The program will discuss how people are wrestling with this issue, as well as discuss tools we can use in order to effectively deal with the circumstances surrounding news literacy. As we enter the 2020 election cycle, you won't want to miss this program!
Location: Black River Beach Neighborhood Center
December 4, 2019
5:30pm to 7pm
 
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The First Amendment Is Not a License to Lie
The attached is a reprint of an editorial letter published in the La Crosse Tribune. Tom Lister is a member of the LeaderEthics-Wisconsin Panel of Judges.
Recently, Facebook reiterated its deplorable policy of not removing misleading or bogus political ads. Corporations, ever since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, are considered “persons.”
Given that status, perhaps corporate leaders, legislators and prosecutors should be reminded of Wisconsin statute section 12.05, entitled: “False Representations Affecting Elections.” Our law reads:
“No person may knowingly make or publish, or cause to be made or published, a false representation pertaining to a candidate or referendum, which is intended or tends to affect voting at an election.” . . . “Whoever violates . . . 12.05 . . . may be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 6 months or both.”
Our legal enforcement system has no more important nor immediate duty than protecting the integrity of our elections.
Thomas E. Lister, Middleton, Wisconsin	

Office: P.O. Box 371, La Crosse, WI 5 4601 email: leaderethicswi@gmail.com
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