Inspectors General in the News: Neutrality, Publicity, and Separation of Powers

• In Event: Presidents and Executive Politics & Public Policy Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual Poster Session: Presidents and Executive Politics Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

IGs have become increasingly prominent actors in government oversight. Neutrality and insulation from politics are defining features of effective IGs. What are the implications of growing publicity? This paper looks at the evolution of the public roles federal agency IGs play under the constitutional separation of powers. Publicity brings to light basic tensions inherent in the institutional design of federal IGs between Congress and executive, accountability and performance, and politics and administration. This paper is organized in three sections. The first section builds on a growing body of scholarly research examining the growth and institutional development of federal agency IGs. Created by Congress as statutory appointees specializing in oversight and accountability under the separation of powers, IGs have diffused across federal agencies during the 1980’s merging and insulating agency auditors and investigators. The paper’s second section describes content analysis examining all articles mentioning federal IGs in the New York Times and Washington Post over four a decade period, from 1981 to 2020. We show significant growth in media coverage of IGs, particularly in the last decade, and explore variations across presidential and congressional terms. The third section employs case studies of media coverage of two IGs, the State Department and General Services Administration, to describe and analyze factors contributing to IG publicity. Our analysis of IGs shows how oversight institutions are not settled or static mechanisms for bureaucratic control, but agents adapting to varied and changing political and administrative environments. Changing coverage also raises questions about the roles federal IGs play in government and politics and the limits of the unitary executive in practice.

Authors

• Matthew M. Dull, Virginia Tech

• Yousof Azizi, Virginia Tech

• Patrick S. Roberts, Virginia Tech