5. Integrity also means compliance with the unwritten rules
Compliance with the letter and spirit of the rules is insufficient for integrity. In addition to the written rules, SPs should comply with the unwritten rules, such as etiquette, conventions, and implicit values and norms. If integrity were purely complying with the written rules, then it would not exist in their absence. By knowing and following the unwritten rules, which vary from one culture to another, SPs show respect for their position.
“I followed the rules obediently. You can’t accuse me of anything.” This is a common defense from people accused of lacking integrity. If you want to behave with integrity, it is necessary to follow the letter and spirit of the rules. However, there are not only written rules but also unwritten rules. Integrity demands that SPs also comply with these unwritten rules.
Unwritten rules go beyond the spirit of the rules. The spirit of the rules encompasses the values and norms surrounding them. Unwritten rules can also relate to behavior for which no written rules exist. This behavior relates to implicit codes that are not formalized or set down on paper, such as morals, manners, and customs. For instance, mayor of New York Bill De Blasio met with fierce criticism when media photos appeared of him at a restaurant eating a pizza with a knife and fork. According to many New Yorkers true New Yorkers eat pizza with their hands.30 As the wife of the US president, Michelle Obama was also criticized when she went on a summer vacation in Spain with her daughter. In the US there is an unwritten rule that the incumbent of the White House does not go overseas for summer vacations. Reasons for this unwritten rule are the extra costs of transport and security, as well as the denial of the beauty America has to offer.31 Similarly, despite there being no rules on the matter, municipal councilors have been criticized for being dressed untidily or offensively for meetings.
Unwritten rules can relate not only to etiquette, such as how SPs should eat, where they should go on holiday, how they should dress, and who should sit or stand where during meetings, but also to conventions such as the way SPs should treat one another. For instance, SPs should not turn to hand to hand fighting in a meeting when they disagree, and colleagues should not kiss on the mouth to show appreciation. When Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi paced back and forth with his phone in front of cameras at the entrance of the location of a NATO summit, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood waiting on the red carpet to welcome him as hostess, this was seen as contemptuous behavior.32 Similarly a candidate for chancellor was criticized when he was photographed during the elections with a raised middle finger as a sign of condemnation of his opponent’s policy. Many people felt that this fell short of standards of decency.
There are also unwritten rules on time management, team work, dealing with information and third parties, keeping promises, and taking responsibility, things that one should or should not do. In many countries there is an unwritten rule that ministers should offer their resignation if congress loses confidence in them, that politicians should not publicly express opinions on the issues represented by other party members, that verbal agreements should be fulfilled, and that SPs should not conspicuously deal with private matters during public meetings (sending a private email can be acceptable, whereas conspicuously filling out crossword puzzles is not). A party leader was discredited when he wrote to the minister of health, who was a member of his own party, appealing for the admission of two medicines to the market. There was uproar when congress found out, because the party leader was also a member of the supervisory board of the manufacturing company wanting to introduce these medicines onto the market. Despite the fact that no explicit rules had been broken, personal and professional interests and relationships had become mixed up. The party leader stated in his defense that this was his duty as supervisor and that everything was permitted that was not excluded by the law. His party saw it differently, considering it damaging to his integrity and that of the party. Similarly a politician came under fire when it was discovered that he had set up multiple Twitter accounts so that he could retweet his own tweets, thereby increasing his impact and popularity on social media. Again, his defense was a statement that he had not broken a single rule.33
The idea that anything not prohibited by the rules is permitted is not consistent with integrity. That would mean that integrity was restricted to the existing rules. Anyone who thinks that way should imagine what would happen in the absence of rules. Would eve