Introduction 1
Why Study IGs? 2
Methods of Inquiry 4
Plan of the Book 5
PART I. Frameworks 9
1. The Newest Monitors 11
Paths to Accountability 12
Monitoring toward Accountability 16
Conclusion: An Era of Limits 21
2. The Rise of the IG Concept 23
An Introduction to the IG Act 23
A Brief History 25
A Statutory Prototype 28
A Nonstatutory Alternative 31
PART 2. Designing the Concept 37
3. Why Congress Acted 39
The Three Horsemen of the IG Concept 39
The Politics of Fraud Busting 43
The Information Imperative 48
Conclusion: The Choice of Compliance 57
4. Creating a Strong Right Arm 58
What Might Have Been 59
The IG Job Description 61
Institutionalized Ambivalence 68
PART 3. Implementing the Act 79
5. The Class of 1979 81
Carter's Choices 82
An Abbreviated Term 90
Conclusion: Too Much to Do, Too Little Time 100
6. Glory Days 102
Fear of Firing 103
Getting Started...Again 104
The Seeds of Alliance 111
Conclusion: A Match Made in Heaven? 118
7. Backlash 121
The Class of 1985 121
Fine-Tuning 128
Into the Bush Years 131
Conclusion: Uncertain Futures 145
PART 4. Organizing for Accountability 147
8. A Drift toward Investigation 149
Auditors and Investigators 150
The Investigatory Impulse 160
Conclusion: Protecting IGs 169
9. The Organizational IGs 175
An Organizational History of the OIGs 177
The Organizational Future 189
The IGs as Institutional Memory 200
PART 5. Questions of Effectiveness 201
10. Measuring the Impact of IGs 203
Measures of Effectiveness 204
Conclusion: Questions of Performance 220
11. The Future of the IG Concept 224
The IG Act Innovations 225
A Reprise on Reform 229
A Safe Harbor for Analysis 234
Appendix: Interview Contacts 236
Notes 241
Index 265