The Successes and Failures of Whistleblower Laws

Robert G. Vaughn, Professor of Law and A. Allen King Scholar Emeritus, American University, Washington College of Law, US

Drawing on literature from several disciplines, this enlightening book examines the history of whistleblower laws throughout the world and provides an analytical structure for the most common debates about the nature of such laws and their potential successes and failures.

‘. . .Vaughn provides a first-rate account of decades of successes and failures. There is nothing else like it.’
– James McRitchie, Corporate Governance

‘The Successes and Failures of Whistleblower Laws is carefully argued and comprehensively referenced. It is the work of a lawyer in its attention to detail and precedent, but it accessible to non-lawyers who are willing to put in the effort. It is a long book, and most impressive in it exposition of arguments and evidence for and against various facets of whistleblower legislation. Anyone who puts in significant effort promoting whistleblower laws – for example, writing to or talking with politicians – can benefit from studying relevant parts of the book.’
– Brian Martin, The Whistle

‘If you’re a lawyer, academic, student, or someone who is fascinated by this continuingly fascinating subject, you should enjoy this book. It covers all pertinent aspects of whistleblower laws from various perspectives, societal as well as legal and includes actual stories of whistleblowers. . . Exciting, topical, as well as precisely analytical, this book examines a vast range of incidents and issues related to whistleblowing. It will appeal not just to practitioners and other professionals, but to a wider public internationally. . . It may well be destined to become a classic.’
– Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor, The Barrister Magazine

‘A new roadmap for understanding the diverse perspectives and disparate bodies of law involved in any legal regime aimed at encouraging people in organisations to speak up about wrongdoing, making it possible for them to do so, and supporting and protecting them when they do. More than just a rich and readable history of whistleblowing laws, in the USA and around the world. Steeped in Robert Vaughn’s personal experience as a lawyer and researcher over a 40 year period, this book stands to help solve some of the greatest conundrums in this vital area of legal regulation – one of the most complex in modern society, but one of the most crucial to integrity, accountability and organisational justice in all institutions. Compulsory reading for all policymakers, regulators, corporate leaders, researchers and activists engaged in improvement and implementation of public interest whistleblowing laws.’
– A.J. Brown, Griffith University and Transparency International Australia

‘Unlike other books on whistleblowing that simply describe and analyze whistleblowing laws, Robert Vaughn’s new book provides an in-depth and unique historical account of the roots of the whistleblowing movement in such disparate events as the Mai Lai massacre, the civil rights movement, and the experiments of Stanley Milgrim. As important, he then uses that history to illuminate the competing perspectives and pressures that influenced the passage and interpretation of modern whistleblower laws. Vaughn provides a first-rate account of the varied and complex reasons for the successes and failures of these laws during the last forty years.’
– Richard Moberly, University of Nebraska College of Law, US