No, not at all levels of government. If you are an ordinary person who has decided to work for the government, you have to live by a moral and ethical code that is far more strict than the majority of what you find in the private sector. You cannot, for example, invite vendors to come demonstrate their products and allow them to bring lunch for everyone, because that would constitute taking bribes from the vendors to buy their products. (Because a $10 lunch is the deciding factor whether I buy that $150,000 instrument.) You take ethics classes annually to teach you all of the ethical pitfalls waiting for you. If anything even looks like it might be unethical, we can't do it.
I believe that one reason the ethics laws are so strict for ordinary government employees is that the political class, our top level bosses, often commit egregious ethical violations.
those ethics have migrated into many corporations.
in my job, I can not accept gratuities. also, the companies with which I deal are not allowed to buy me lunch generally but often do, cheap lunch. the one on one benefits more than the prohibition.
Except when there are the vendor’s customer”s reps involved and the lunch quality can grow and I am permitted to join the group for the better lunch.
This past week, the guy I was visiting had to take time out for an ethics training session . the subject of lunch was not mentioned and was an apparently settled set of procedures.
No question about it. I remember a very high level Air Force civilian delivering a contract to her soon-to-be private employer, as “a present.” Everyone way down the hierarchy had to take ethics classes as a result.
Years ago I used to be in civil service working for the Air force and Marine Corps. I ended up at the Marine corps base in Albany Georgia as Admin Officer in the Material division and learned many crooked schemes that everyone went to “go along to get along” was.
Believe me, I’m no fool when it comes to corruption in the government...I cut my teeth there.
I used to be in the procurement division also and I could tell you some stories about that. I finally had my fill of governmental politics, quit in 1979 and formed the business I have to this day.