A Watchdog from the Academy

Until 1978, John William Ward '45 had no practical experience in state politics. But Ward, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Politics, is now heading an IOP seminar on corruption and reform in Massachusetts.

Ward, president of Amherst College until 1979, picked up first-hand knowledge of the intricacies of Massachusett's contract awarding system after his appointment by former Gov. Michael Dukakis three years ago to head an investigative commission on state-funded construction.

The committee, which submitted its final report to the state legislature last December, found that corruption had become "a way of life" throughout the state system of public works.

Ward graduated from Harvard in 1947 after two years of military service and never pursued a political career. He chose, instead, to pursue an academic career in history, his field of graduate study. He accepted professorships first at Princeton and then at Amherst before becoming Amherst's president in 1971. The 1978 bill creating the anti-corruption commission required that the governor appoint a college president as chairman; Ward admits that Amherst's prestige and its distance from the state capital made him a natural choice.

The pattern of graft and illegal campaign contributions which Ward's commission discovered is providing the source material for his IOP study group, which is examining the investigation's findings on a case-by-case basis.

Widespread tolerance in Massachusetts of the corrupt system has kept it alive, Ward says. The former American history professor believes the public's corruption may stem from the "political culture" of Massachusetts. Because immigrant ethnic groups in Boston found themselves oppressed and shut out of government upon their arrival in America. Ward explains, they developed a political system "based on friendship, neighborhood, ethnicity, creating a tolerance for favoritism and shady dealings."

Although Ward found the investigation rewarding on a personal level, he is disappointed at the pathetic reaction of the public and the state legislature to the report. The stories of corruption did receive publicity for a short time--hey filled an entire section of one day's Boston Globe--and the legislature eventually did enact three laws to reform the system for awarding contracts. But Ward questions the determination of state officials to attack the problem, recalling that the first appointee to the new watchdog office of Inspector General, a post created in response to the commission's report, said in his first press conference that he did not think there really is much corruption in Massachusetts. Remarks like that turn away the "sharp young lawyers" a reformer's office badly needs, Ward says, adding, "They know it's not for real."

In the report, Ward state that because contracts have gone to political cronies instead of competent builders, "shoddy and debased" standards of construction are now "the norm." Of the nearly 3000 public buildings constructed in Massachusetts from 1968 to 1980, the commission found that 76 per cent have severe defects.

There is little likelihood, Ward notes sadly, that the corruption has stopped. He cites the recent bribery case involving the Boston School Board. But in spite of the continuing nature of the problem, Ward has no plans to return to state government, opting instead to continue his academic career. Ward's experience on the commission has led him to believe that state governments should rely on existing offices like that of the Inspector General to stop corruption, rather than create commissions of impartial non-politicians lie Ward's. "One of the most creative acts for any organization," says Ward--whether that organization be a government, a university, or a corporation--is for it to find an effective way to police itself.

There developed in Boston a political system 'based on friendship, neighborhood, ethnicity, creating a tolerance for favoritism and shady dealing.' --John William Ward