79. Integrity can be calculated formally or informally, but the accounts are not always settled
Besides a lack of integrity leading to the fall of an SP, there can be other consequences such as reprimand, fines, curtailment of office, prison sentences, and, in some countries, the death sentence. In addition to these formal sanctions, there are informal sanctions, such as social exclusion, loss of support, not being reappointed or gaining a new position, and demotion. A lack of integrity can also have substantial negative consequences for a person’s private life. All the same, behavior lacking in integrity is not always sanctioned and behavior showing integrity is not always appreciated. For this reason, integrity is primarily of intrinsic importance.
We have seen that integrity leads to power, but can also be a weapon, tripping people up and depriving them of their positions, but there are other ways of settling the account on a lack of integrity.
On the one hand there are formal sanctions. People who act without integrity may stay in office, but their behavior can lead to a reprimand or penalty. A member of a municipal council was reprimanded by a mayor for civil disobedience after partially removing traffic measures as an act of protest, under the watchful eyes of the press.438 Another council member was fined €1,000 for acquiring 30 voting passes for council elections to distribute among his family members,439 and a third was fined €750 for citing confidential committee negotiations on a possible nightclub closure.440
Bad behavior can lead to SPs losing part of their portfolio, or being placed under supervision or legal restraint. The first appointed mayor of Toronto Rob Ford had to give up some of his powers due to his excessive behavior. SPs can also be punished with prison. A British politician received an 18-month prison sentence for submitting £18,350 in false expenses claims, a mayor of Detroit received a 28-year prison sentence for corruption, a Greek mayor was sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement, the Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor received a prison 50-year sentence for complicity in war crimes, and ex-presidents Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisia) were sentenced to life imprisonment because they were considered responsible for the deaths of demonstrators.441 Finally, in many countries the punishment can even be death, as in the case of former Romanian head of state Nicolae Ceaușescu and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein for their repressive and degrading regimes.442 The Chinese minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, was also condemned to death for bribery for around six million pounds over 25 years and abuse of power by helping an investment company achieve big profits.443
At the same time SPs can often call on immunity to prevent legal consequences. In a monarchy the monarch generally has immunity, meaning that the ministers have to account for the monarch’s actions, even with respect to private behavior and criminal acts. Immunity does not place monarchs above the law; even a king or queen is bound by law. Heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs also enjoy immunity throughout the world, but this only holds while they remain in office. The immunity of an incumbent president can often be broken by means of impeachment in the case of serious crimes. Two presidents of the United States have been subject to impeachment: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999.444 Carlos Menem, former president of Argentina, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for illegal weapons dealing, but he did not have to go to prison because he had become senator in the meantime and therefore enjoyed immunity from prosecution. The judge then requested that the Argentine senate suspend him so that his immunity would end.445 In the case of former Zambian president Rupiah Banda the vast majority of parliament voted for the motion to revoke his immunity so that he would be submitted to the due process of the law on the allegations leveled against him, including abuse of authority and corrupt acquisition of public property.446
On the other hand, there are many imaginable informal sanctions. People are ignored and passed over because their integrity is damaged. They are left out of the group, losing the support of some (even if others claim to stand by them),447 and come to be declared outlaws or target practice. As an SP said in this connection, “I was a pariah, I was a lame duck.” Another SP saw his social network and even his circle of friends shrink substantially.448 Even if no direct sanctions follow, if the opportunity arises the negative consequences of behavior lacking integrity may crop up at a later date, for instance at the end of the term of office, when it is time to decide whether a new term will follow. Then the lack of integrity revealed previously can be the decisive factor in an SP not having a new term. For this reason people may no longer be placed on election