Case study High ranking city officials in and out of uniform are often asked to endorse commercial p...........

 High-ranking city officials, in and out of uniform, are often asked to endorse commercial products or professional services. Most cities and professional codes of conduct either prohibit or discourage such endorsements, but not everywhere. The former chief of police in Tampa, Florida, routinely endorsed products from a vendor who sold the city $2.37 million worth of surveillance equipment. The same firm donated

$50,000 co the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives when the chief ask for a donation. The former chief is now a consultant to the vendor. An investigation by city council concluded that the chief had not violated any legal or ethical policies. Why? The Tampa Police Department policy then in effect allowed endorsements with the prior approval of the chief of police. The new police chief rejects this policy. As he puts it, "We''re not going to be in the business of selling other people''s products with our uniforms. I believe in keeping the vendors at arm''s length."

In India we have our own issues , consider the case of a member of parliament Hema in purifier gurgle

SANJAY K. JHA

New Delhi, Aug. 14: The incurable chatterbox used to caustic queries like “Tumharanaamkyahai, Basanti''” has raised a question that raises many more. RajyaSabha MP HemaMalini today sprang a question on reverse osmosis water purifiers in Parliament, setting tongues wagging on whether she was plugging the products or pushing the interests of any particular company. The unstarred question — those that get written answers — she asked was “whether the government is considering to bring the… parts used in manufacturing of reverse osmosis-based purifiers… at par with finished purifiers at nil rate of excise duty in order to compete with the imported finished products”. The actress also sought to know if it was a fact that there was no excise duty on such water purifiers. “If so, what are the reasons for charging full rate of excise duty on the… parts being used in water purifiers; whether it is also a fact that charges of excise duty on… parts of water purifiers will make finished products costlier than the finished imported products; and if so, the government’s reaction thereto.”

BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra declined comment on Hema’s motive in asking such questions, saying he would have to “study the matter”. But party sources said the leadership would speak to her soon. The actress may not have been aware of the consequences of asking such questions as politics was not her first love, they said.

Whatever the case, the way the questions have been drafted suggests she might have been helped by experts in the field. They could also be seen as concealing some kind of business interest as Hema appears in an advertisement for a water purifier along with daughters Esha and Ahana. Such “suspicions” could also be fanned by the practice of using question hour to settle corporate rivalries and influence government policy. Whether Hema intended any mischief is anyone’s guess but it is a fact that MPs are often tricked into asking questions in the House. The cash-for-query scam — in which MPs were paid to ask questions — is an example. Hema got written answers from junior finance minister S.S. Palanimanickam.

Discussion questions

1. Most cities place commercial advertisements on city-owned buses and some cities put advertisements on the city''s web site. How does this commercialization of a product differ from an endorsement by a city official?

2. Book authors, including academics, often seek favorable comments from a public official that are placed on the cover of the bock or posted on the publisher''s web site. Is this kind of endorsement different than a police.chielendorsing, say, a stun gun manufactured by a firm?

3. Do you think Member of Parliaments are justified in endorsing products and lobbying on the behalf of the company in the parliament? What kind of ethical guidelines should be followed in the Indian Parliament?

By: Mona Kaushal