Revolving Door Policy: Annotated Bibliography and Review

Introduction and Scope

This annotated bibliography extends a literature review on revolving door policy in the United States federal government. The sources collected here span government accountability reports, nonpartisan watchdog analyses, presidential executive orders, legislative ethics chronologies, and think-tank resources. Each annotation describes the nature and purpose of the source and explains its specific utility for researching revolving door practices, post-employment restrictions, conflicts of interest, and reform proposals.

Tracking and Transparency Resources

Revolving Door Members (2011). First Street — Where People and Policy Interact. Retrieved from http://firststreet.cqpress.com/content/Revolving_Door_Members.aspx

This intelligence tool follows members of Congress who pass through the revolving door. Members of Congress who have disclosed their lobbying activity, as well as members who previously worked as lobbyists, are tracked in the First Street database. The information contained includes the organizations they represent and the type of work they have done and are presently doing. Subscribers to this database include advocates from law firms, member-based associations, lobbying organizations, and others. The research dashboard can be customized and saved, contact lists can be established, and bookmarks can be created for people, issues, and organizations of interest. The resource is comprehensive and is of value to anyone needing to conduct serious research. For the purposes of this project, the site is useful for demonstrating the transparency available to any party interested enough to pursue research online. At a minimum, interested parties should follow the organization's Twitter and Facebook pages.

Watchdog Organizations and Oversight

Project on Government Oversight (POGO). (2011). Retrieved from http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/alerts/financial-oversight/fo-fra-20110601.html

This nonpartisan, independent watchdog organization champions reforms for good government by investigating corruption, conflicts of interest, and misconduct. POGO's goal is to achieve a more accountable, effective, transparent, open, and ethical federal government. The organization's experts work with government insiders and whistleblowers to document evidence of corruption, fraud, waste, or abuse. POGO has utility for the proposed research as it reveals instances where revolving door policy regulations are ignored or circumvented — for example, a recent article on irregularities in the SEC's implementation of post-employment and conflict-of-interest regulations.

Independent Assessment of Department of Defense Review of Post-Employment Restrictions. (2011, September). National Academy of Public Administration. Retrieved from

The National Academy of Public Administration is a nonprofit, independent organization of top public administration managers and leaders who address the most critical and complex public management challenges facing the country. The Academy is trusted and uniquely qualified to counsel government officials, provide objective advice, and develop practical solutions based on systematic research and expert analysis. Established in 1967, the Academy assists federal, state, and local governments in responding effectively to change, and has been charged to do so by a Congressional charter of 1984.

The importance of this organization to the current research project lies in its ability to conduct a deep examination of processes and documentation that would be off-limits to other entities. For example, the National Defense Authorization Act mandated that the Department of Defense Panel on Contracting Integrity review the post-employment restrictions policies applying to the DoD "to determine if such policies adequately protect the public interest without unreasonably limiting future employment options of former Department of Defense personnel." In accordance with its function, the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) will conduct an independent review of the recommendations and findings of the DoD Panel report, and will extend that charge to an in-depth review of effective practices at other federal entities in order to inform key recommendations and an implementation plan.

Legislative and Executive Ethics Frameworks

Carey, M.P., and Hogue, H.B. (2011, April 20). Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Independent and Other Agencies During the 110th Congress.

This paper examines the nomination and appointment process for positions in independent and other types of agencies, and particularly examines the length of time between nominations and confirmation. The relevance of this content to the topic of revolving door policy is the discussion of the power that Senators wield with regard to advising the President on the selection of appointees. It should be noted that Senators have delayed or effectively blocked the consideration of nominations when they believe that pre-nomination consultation has been insufficient.

Cheatham, C.S. (2010, November 18). Ethics Developments in the U.S. Congress since 1958: Selected Resources. The Judge Ben C. Green Law Library, [University] School of Law.

Triggered by a Congressional hearing to determine whether evidence against two Democratic Senators was sufficiently clear and convincing to charge them with gross violations of standards, this source provides a comprehensive chronology of laws and Congressional rules related to ethics and conflicts of interest involving members of Congress and federal employees. This compilation is particularly relevant to the topic of revolving door policies as it illustrates the evolution of regulations and the steady progression toward more specific and more constraining rules.

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 15 / Monday, January 26, 2009 / Presidential Documents 4673. Executive Order 13490 of January 21, 2009.

This document, titled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel," outlines the Ethics Pledge that every appointee in every executive agency must sign and agree to. It also establishes the Lobbyist Gift Ban, the Revolving Door Ban for all appointees entering government, for all lobbyists entering government, and for all appointees leaving government to lobby, as well as the Employee Qualifications Commitment and the Assent to Enforcement. This presidential executive order is important because it expresses the regulations regarding conflicts of interest in plain language that can be easily understood and remembered by all parties to whom it applies, and it ensures that all parties have formally read and acknowledged those regulations.

Associated Press Notes About the 111th Congress.

This document is a listing of facts and figures spanning a wide variety of topics and information about members of Congress. Its application is limited, as sources are not identified and the document contains no references.