Pathways to Happiness are policy suggestions for communities using the Happiness Index and scoring low in an area. Each one suggests policies and programs for when a community scores low in one area.

1. Pathways to Happiness
for communities that feel
their government is corrupt

2. Pathways to Happiness are ways
to address corruption in government

3. Communities
everywhere
score
low
in
Government100= happiest

4. Let’s look at one aspect of government:
people’s sense of
corruption in a town, city
or local region

5. what is corruption?
illegal forms- bribery, fraud, crime
dishonesty & stonewalling
exacting high fees, abusing the system
not illegal forms of corruption
exempting from laws for personal gain
nepotism & cronyism
public decisions behind closed doors

6. like with pornography
“you know it when you see it”
even if it’s legal

7. Over time, our
sense of
corruption in
local
government is
increasing
a score below 40 means we feel local officials are corrupt, below 60 means we feel indifferently

8. Courageous Policies

9. Anti-corruption policies
Transparency
Community monitoring

10. Anti-Corruption Policies
and insist on a system of accountability to the policies
if you local government does not have an anti-corruption policy
policies are only as good as enforcement
or the policy is too general to be useful
insist your local government adopt anti-corruption policies.

11. Resources for Anti-Corruption Policies
Municipal “Best Practices”: Preventing Fraud, Bribery and Corruption by Elizabeth Anderson
http://icclr.law.ubc.ca/sites/icclr.law.ubc.ca/files/publications/pdfs/Municipal%20Best%20Practices%20-%20Preventing%20Fraud,%20Bribery%20and%20Corruption%20FINAL.pdf
short white paper on corruption:
anti-corruption tools:
Southampton City Council’s Anti fraud and anti corruption policy and strategy
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/council-democracy/corp-governance/antifraud-anticorruption-strategy.aspx
example city policy:
Practical Tools to Fight Government Corruptions by Carla Miller for Harvard University Center for Ethics:
http://ethics.harvard.edu/blog/practical-tools-fight-government-corruption

12. Transparency
no-cost and easy access
public access to all governmental records & processes
and no-cost easy access to the data
metrics to measure public official & service performance

13. Resources for Transparency
Open Government – Local Government from Transparency Accountability Initiative
http://www.transparency-initiative.org/news/open-government-local-government
about transparency:
example transparency programs:
Campaign for Transparency in Maldives Pays Off from Transparency International
https://blog.transparency.org/2014/07/10/campaign-for-transparency-in-maldives-pays-off/
read how tweets forced one government to adopt transparency
Indiana Transparency Portal:
http://www.in.gov/itp/2341.htm
Local transparency guidance from Local Government Association
http://www.local.gov.uk/practitioners-guides-to-publishing-data

14. Community Monitoring system
use facebook, google maps or other public sites to post and follow
Like a wiki-project
information on, for example:
campaign contributions
People monitor and post information together
contracts awarded
quality of public services
an example: Interaktivni zemljevid projekta Transparentnost lokalnih volitev v Srednji in Vzhodni Evropi – in
Transparency International - Slovenia
http://integriteta.si/aktivnosti-drustva/projekti/aktivni-projekti/transparentnost-lokalnih-volitev-v-srednji-in-vzhodni-evropi

15. Other Pathways to Happiness in Government:
campaign finance reform
participatory government
vote holiday
compassion training for police
political festivals
see more about these polices in our other pathways tools

16. What’s it
going to
take?

17. dig & broadcast
investigate your government bureaus
who gets hired into your local governmental positions?
how do your local government office fees differ from others, from past?
which consultants are hired more than once by your local government?
who donates to local elected officials and have they benefited after the election?
ask a tough question, like…
and when you find evidence of corruption
write about it, talk about it, post about it. let people know.

18. call a spade a spade
raise the issue of corruption
in conversations, in print, in social media
put words to power
help others give language to what may be a foggy notion
and listen to others so your ideas develop

19. distinguish between
selfish people have a disregard for the well-being of others
self care puts one in a better position to help
selfishness
self care does not take advantage of anybody
self care
and

20. public meetings (or just meeting)
hold public meetings to discuss corruption
and what can be done
build alliances
work with others to implement them
co-create solutions

21. Other policies in the Pathways to Happiness tool series
Campaign finance reform
Guaranteed basic income
Media reform
Massive public transportation
Local food reliance
Village living (cities and rural)
Multi-use zoning
Public spaces
Political festivals
Participatory governance
Participatory budgeting
Anti-corruption policies
Transparency in government
Compassion training for police
Community-based monitoring
Sousveillance
Vote holiday
Vacation laws & Vacation Incentives
Family & Sick leave laws
Flex time and job share laws
Telecommuting policies
Babies at work policies
Intergenerational care
Department of Neighborhoods
Volunteer programs
Mindfulness practice in schools
Social justice awareness raising
Mental health –priority counseling
Same Sex Marriage Laws
Public child care
Age-friendly cities
Loneliness awareness campaign
Heritage Programs
Rural Colleges
Arts & Culture Policy
Lifelong Learning Programs
War on Adult illiteracy
Low Cost & Tuition Free College

22. We envision a world where all beings can
thrive.
Can you envision it too?
happycounts.org