by Dennis F. Thompson

About the author: Dennis F. Thompson, a former Brookings Institution scholar, is a professor of political philosophy and the director of Programs in Ethics and the Professions at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Although both elections and courts serve as important tribunals for the enforcement of the standards of conduct for legislators, neither can substitute for Congress itself. Ethics committees are here to stay, and Congress must look for ways to make their procedures better fulfill the principles of legislative ethics. The most important reform would establish a new outside commission, as described later in this viewpoint. But even without this commission, a number of changes could improve the way the committees conduct their business. Even with such a commission, the other changes could help...