Now that former Illinois Governor George Ryan is officially a free man, the Land of Lincoln has only a single former Chief Executive in prison.

In their book Fixing Illinois: Politics and Policy in the Prairie State, authors James D. Nowlan and J. Thomas Johnson tackle the problem of corruption.

As Johnson recently told Mark Reardon on KMOX Radio the culture of corruption in Illinois extends beyond our convicted political criminals.

“We use a very broad definition of corruption in our book.  It’s not only illegal acts,” Johnson said. “But it’s those ethical lapses that are tied to doing something for yourself instead of doing something for the good of the people. So I think we have to address that issue first.”

The good news is that Johnson and Nowlan identify some solutions to tackle a culture of ethical dubiousness in Illinois.

“This is a book about hope,” Johnson told Reardon. “So I hope it has some traction. Not only for our political leaders but for the public generally in our state.”