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is free to participate. If a gift provision has an exception for educational purposes, that <br />doesn't mean an official should accept from a contractor an all-expenses-paid trip to a <br />Scottish golf course that happens to be hosting a seininar on waste disposal. <br />A local official should not insist that she didn't do anything wrong because she <br />followed the law. If she entered into a relationship with someone seelang special benefits <br />from the local government, she should have asked an ethics adviser �vhat to do. Similarly, if <br />an official believes the law has unintended consequences with respect to a particular matter, <br />the official should ask the ethics commission for a waiver. <br />6. Government Ethics and Politics <br />There is one big exception to the rule that government office should not be used for the <br />benefit of its holder and those to whom the holder has obligations. That big exception is <br />politics. A politician (as opposed to an administrator or employee) is permitted to give <br />precedence to his political obligations and to benefit his political career and his political <br />colleagues, with some exceptions. Our democratic system allows elected and some <br />appointed officials to wear the additional hat of the politician. <br />Elected officials and their appointees often act to benefit their parties and factions, <br />and their own political futures. Many elected officials do what they can to get re-elected or <br />elected council president or mayor. And many mayors have their eyes on higher office. <br />Board and commission members often think of running for council, or making sure their <br />party remains in control of the government. <br />Although partisan strife and broken promises do undermine public trust, they are not <br />part of government ethics. Conflicts between political obligations and obligations to the <br />public are dealt with in other ways, such as nonpartisan elections, the council-manager form <br />of government, and limits on interference by elected officials with administrative matters <br />such as hiring, land use decisions, contracts, and grants. <br />7. The Psychology of Government Ethics <br />The importance of psychology to bovernment ethics cannot be emphasized too much. <br />People have a lot of personal blind spots. That is, for many reasons they cannot see about <br />themselves what they can easily see about others, and what others see about them. This is <br />t2 <br />