CODES OF CONDUCT FOR PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCATES

Codes of conduct are common in many professions and occupations. Codes of conduct provide guidance to individuals on responsible and ethical professional practices. They define rules of behaviour based on core principles and ethical standards for members of the profession or occupation. They increase peer pressure on professionals to comply with certain generally accepted standards. They can also enhance the reputations of individuals by publicizing the principles for which they stand, and provide a means of evaluating the ethics of individuals who practise in the profession.

A number of professions go further, developing self-governing bodies that establish and enforce qualifications for membership. Some set high standards of behaviour and discipline members for infractions. The regulation of public policy advocacy is particularly challenging, due to several factors. First, it is difficult to identify public policy advocates. Unlike in the legal, accounting, or other self-regulating professions, there is no formal system of certification for public policy advocates prior to their being able to practice. There are no centralized lists identifying practitioners. Public office holders have no obligation to confirm that a public policy advocate is registered prior to communicating with them. The diversity and dispersion of the public policy advocacy community make it difficult for the profession to define a set of shared professional standards, because there is a lack of a common culture within which those agreed-on standards might naturally evolve.

Public policy advocacy codes of conduct can function as a public education strategy to raise awareness about the role of advocacy in public policy decision-making, and provide an incentive to conduct public policy advocacy according to generally accepted standards.

Codes of conduct typically address the relationships inherent in public policy advocacy amongst public policy advocates and their clients or employers, public office holders, and the general public. While existing codes of conduct differ in detail, they all incorporate similar principles, such as the need for frank disclosure, appropriate confidentiality, and the avoidance of real or perceived conflicts of interest.

To help preserve and advance public trust and confidence in democratic institutions and the public policy advocacy process, professional public policy advocates have a strong obligation to act always in the highest ethical and moral manner in their dealings with all parties. Public policy advocates also have a duty to advance public understanding of the public policy advocacy profession.

TRANSPARENCY

By definition, transparency means a condition in which something can be seen through. Transparency in public policy advocacy laws means that members of the public can visit the public policy advocate's registry to see who is advocating whom, on what issues, and for what purpose.

However, public office holders who are approached by public policy advocates may be unaware that they are in fact, being advocated. They may be unaware of the particulars of public policy advocacy laws and the legal obligations of the public policy advocates they encounter to register. Some codes of conduct address this gap by requiring public policy advocates to identify themselves as public policy advocates  when they approach a public office holder, and to disclose the identity of the client or employer for whom they are working and the purpose of the advocacy. In other words, disclosure obligations mandated by a code require that public policy advocates be frank about their intentions when approaching public office holders.

ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS

Codes of conduct also govern how public policy advocates present information to public office holders. Most codes require public policy advocates to provide accurate, current, and complete information. Codes require that public policy advocates not knowingly provide false or misleading information, and to take all possible steps to ensure that inaccurate information is not inadvertently provided to public office holders, clients or employers, or the public. In the same spirit, some codes expect that public policy advocates present their case persuasively without resorting to manipulating information in ways that could reasonably be interpreted as dishonest or false.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Many professional codes also contain clauses about confidentiality and require public policy advocates to be principled in the ways they acquire and use confidential client information. Typically, public policy advocate codes prohibit public policy advocates from sharing – without the informed consent of affected persons or organizations – confidential information they acquire through public policy advocacy activities, and stipulate that they not use confidential or insider information they learned through advocating in ways that might harm the clients, employers, or organizations for which they work.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

In the public policy advocacy context, a conflict of interest can arise in two ways: (1) conflicts that pertain to public policy advocates themselves; and (2) situations in which public policy advocates' activities place a public office holder in a real or perceived conflict of interest.

Codes often require public policy advocates to avoid conflicts of interest in representing different clients. For example, codes of conduct discourage public policy advocates from representing competing interests. Public policy advocates must not represent two clients in the same industry or two clients with opposing objectives, without the informed consent of those affected.

With respect to public office holders, conflicts of interest occur when tension between a person’s personal interests and public duties threatens their neutrality or judgement. The nature of the relationship between public policy advocates and public office holders makes it especially vulnerable to conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest. Public policy advocates might have previously worked for elected officials as public servants or as political staff. Public policy advocates might also have worked on the electoral campaigns of elected officials. These relationships have the potential to place a public office holder in a conflict of interest situation. Conflicts of interest can compromise sound public policy decision-making, if they lead to decisions being made based on narrow personal interests rather than the broader public interest.

UNDUE INFLUENCE

The goal of public policy advocacy regulation is to promote sound public policy decision-making through facilitating advocacy, while minimizing undue influence.

Black’s Law Dictionary defines “undue influence” as “unfair persuasion of a party who is under the domination of the person exercising the persuasion or who by virtue of the relation between them is justified in assuming that the person will not act in a manner inconsistent with his welfare.”

Codes ban public policy advocates from attempting to influence public office holders by means other than communicating evidence and valid arguments. For example, they often prohibit public policy advocates from offering gifts or benefits, or using any other means that might be seen as currying favour or creating a sense of obligation in their attempts to influence public office holders.

Public policy advocates and public office holders who have frequent contact might naturally develop cordial working relationships. Cordial business relationships often evolve into personal relationships. The lines between the two can become blurred. Codes of conduct can help public policy advocates operate so that the line between these relationships is not crossed, and does not even appear to be crossed, in the professional context.