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The Case of John Swallow, Utah Attorney

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The Case of John Swallow, Utah Attorney View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of Utah: J. Willard Marriott Digital Library ASSESSING A CULTURE OF POWER: THE CASE OF JOHN SWALLOW, UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL by Christopher B. Russell A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science The University of Utah August 2016 Copyright © Christopher B. Russell 2016 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of Christopher B. Russell has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Christopher A. Simon , Chair 12/11/2015 Date Approved Mark Button , Member 12/11/2015 Date Approved Richard T. Green , Member 12/11/2015 Date Approved Peregrine Schwartz-Shea , Member 12/11/2015 Date Approved Caren J. Frost , Member 12/11/2015 Date Approved and by Mark Button , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of Political Science and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT This qualitative-interpretive case study explores the topic of administrative ethics. It centers on allegations of corruption concerning Utah’s former Attorney General, John Swallow, who resigned from office in December 2013. This study addresses how key components of a culture of power contribute to public corruption. Semistructured interviews and archival research comprise the methods utilized. Administrative ethics approaches—the public interest approach, the social equity approach, the virtue approach, and the relational approach—serve as lenses to further assess the case study findings. The first finding is that the placing of high priority on material gains and status is a likely source of public corruption in elective office. The second finding is that the power inherent in the campaign finance system as well as the position of leadership contributes to corruption. The last finding is that relationships encourage trust and loyalty between the public official and his/her social network, often distorting judgment and leading to corruption. These findings indicate that a particular ideology enabled, and compensated for, a lack of commitment to virtuous behavior in office. This study contributes to the literature by providing a fuller understanding of the nature of public corruption, particularly in a one-party dominant political environment. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of culture and its role in contributing to corruption. This dissertation is dedicated to my family for their constant support. In particular, I would like to give special thanks to Kristi, Katelyn, Sara, Alisa, and Alex for their continual patience and encouragement. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................vii Chapters 1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 The John Swallow Case...........................................................................................6 The Problematic Nature of Authority, Culture, and Power.....................................8 Research Question.................................................................................................17 Theoretical Frameworks........................................................................................19 Conclusion.............................................................................................................21 2 METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................23 A Case Study Approach........................................................................................23 Positionality...........................................................................................................27 Evidence................................................................................................................30 Interviews..............................................................................................................35 Analytical Strategy................................................................................................38 Conclusion.............................................................................................................42 3 THE CASE OF JOHN SWALLOW..............................................................................43 The Culture of Power.............................................................................................60 Macrofactors..........................................................................................................63 Conclusion.............................................................................................................67 4 CASE STUDY FINDINGS...........................................................................................69 Proposition 1..........................................................................................................70 Proposition 2..........................................................................................................77 Proposition 3..........................................................................................................87 Summary of Findings............................................................................................98 Applying the Theoretical Approaches.................................................................100 Conclusion...........................................................................................................128 5 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................133 Contributions.......................................................................................................133 Virtue Ethics Versus Behavioral Ethics..............................................................137 One-Party Dominant States and Power...............................................................140 Recommendations...............................................................................................141 Final Thoughts.....................................................................................................150 APPENDIX: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS......................................................................151 REFERENCES................................................................................................................153 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to give special thanks to the members of my committee—Christopher Simon, Richard Green, Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, Mark Button, and Caren Frost—for their contributions in full. Each one of them gave helpful advice, according to their fields of expertise and experience. Furthermore, each one of them offered encouragement, support, and flexibility throughout the various stages of the project. In particular, I would like to thank Christopher Simon, the chair of the committee, for his guidance and helpful advice throughout the years. Dr. Simon displayed much patience as I changed dissertation topics and struggled, initially, to develop the research question for this particular project. During that time, I appreciated not only his advice but his willingness to listen. I would like to thank the Graduate Writing Center at the University of Utah for their helpful advice throughout the writing process. In particular, I would like to thank Loni Manning, who spent countless hours reading drafts of the dissertation and offering helpful advice to improve my writing. Lastly, I would like to express thanks to the Purchasing department at the University of Utah. As my employer during the time of this project, Purchasing allowed me the flexibility and support necessary to work on this project and to take advantage of the resources available on campus. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on government; but experience has taught mankind the importance of auxiliary precautions. (Jay, Goldman, Hamilton, & Madison, 2008, p. 257) This dissertation addresses the topic of administrative ethics, focusing on abuses of power by public officials. My qualitative study utilizes a case study, primarily focused on former Utah Attorney General, John Swallow,1who resigned from office in December 2013 amidst allegations of corruption. I assess the findings of the case using four different theories of administrative ethics—public interest, social equity, virtue, and relational. My research question is the following: What key components of a “culture of power” contribute to corrupt behavior (Barton & Yang, 2000, p. 873)? This dissertation addresses a culture of power in reference to partisanship and ideology. Utah is a “red 1 Neither John Swallow, nor his Attorney General predecessor, Mark Shurtleff, has begun their corruption trial in a court of law. However,
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