Americans for Decency in GovernmentA Nonpartisan Nonprofit Donate
Programs · Public Official Scorecard

Basic Human Decency Scorecard

Evaluates the conduct of public officials using pre-established, uniformly applied criteria. The score does not assess ideology, party affiliation, or policy positions.

The scorecard is under development. It will not be released until independent experts validate it as fair, repeatable, and nonpartisan.

Purpose

  • Turn abstract expectations for decency into something measurable and comparable, applying the same criteria to every official so conduct can be judged on evidence rather than impressions.
  • Educate citizens about what basic human decency in public life looks like, and hold officials accountable through transparent evaluation.
  • Shift incentives so decent conduct is rewarded and indecency carries a visible cost.

Methodology

  • Focus on observable conduct, documented actions, and verifiable public behavior over time.
  • Evaluate public officials based on their demonstrated good-faith effort to act and speak with basic human decency in public life.

PRELIMINARY Behavioral Criteria

The following criteria are preliminary. ADG is developing a process for applying the criteria, as well as validating their effectiveness and its ability to collect data consistently to support fair scoring across party lines.

25%

Respect for All

Positive indicatorsCivil, bipartisan public statements; participation in cross-party dialogue or conflict resolution; recognition for civility by credible third parties.
Negative indicatorsMajor: documented harassment, demeaning language, ethics findings. Moderate: repeated inflammatory remarks, substantiated formal complaints. Minor: isolated uncivil exchanges or uncorrected inappropriate statements.
25%

Integrity and Honesty

Positive indicatorsVoluntary corrections of public misstatements; public support for impartial ethics investigations; transparent reporting beyond legal requirement.
Negative indicatorsMajor: court/ethics finding of dishonesty, interference with investigations. Moderate: repeated false statements, opportunistic reversals. Minor: single verified misstatement or minor transparency failure.
20%

Honor

Positive indicatorsSuccessful bipartisan legislation sponsorship; leadership in cross-party problem-solving; recognized governance effectiveness.
Negative indicatorsMajor: abuse of office, sustained obstruction without constituent justification. Moderate: persistent procedural obstruction, chronic absenteeism. Minor: missed votes or minor procedural misconduct.
15%

Humility & Accountability

Positive indicatorsPublic acknowledgment of mistakes; corrective action for errors; proper credit to collaborators; voluntary cooperation with ethics reviews.
Negative indicatorsMajor: retaliation, refusal to comply with oversight, repeated blame-shifting. Moderate: failure to acknowledge significant errors. Minor: isolated defensiveness or delayed responses.
15%

Responsible Affiliation

Positive indicatorsPublic distancing from problematic organizations; adoption of formal vetting criteria for affiliations.
Negative indicatorsMajor: leadership role in organizations with repeated misconduct. Moderate: repeated voluntary appearances with problematic actors. Minor: isolated associations avoidable with reasonable judgment.