Failure™ Magazine

In Wisconsin, it’s anarchy

Written by Jason Zasky as part of Failure Analysis

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board—the state agency responsible for running elections, monitoring campaign finance and investigating ethics violations—has a new logo [left], and it bears a striking resemblance to the symbol for anarchy.

When the resemblance was pointed out to board director Kevin Kennedy by a reporter at Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel, he claimed that there are “significant differences” between the logo and symbol. At the same time, he also embraced the link between his agency and anarchy, saying, “Our role is to bring accountability to what could otherwise be anarchy.”

Anarchy is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “Absence of government; the state of society where there is no law or supreme power; a state of lawlessness; political confusion.”

This isn’t the first time the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has had to answer for an “image problem.” Last year the board launched a new Web site that featured the Wisconsin Capitol alongside an impressive skyline—the Minneapolis skyline.