Ethics Government And Public Policy

Ethical concerns are among the most common problems public administrators face, yet the issues are often complex, and the correct choices are not always clear. Living up to the public trust is much more than just an act of compliance. It also involves perceiving, preventing, avoiding, and resolving accusations of illegal or unethical behavior, including appearances of inappropriate behavior. Ethics Moments in Government: Cases and Controversies examines how to identify, assess, and resolve the ethical issues and dilemmas that often confront those who govern the cities, counties, states, and federal agencies throughout America. Real Situations, Real Advice Providing a one-stop resource for all those who must contend with thorny ethical issues, this volume presents case studies that vary in complexity and context and are based on real situations. Each case scenario is followed by discussion questions and case assessments by expert practitioners who describe how they would handle the situation. Using a "total immersion" technique, the book encourages readers to be reflexive and analytical in addressing the problems presented and arriving at appropriate solutions. A supplemental CD is included which contains PowerPoint® slide presentations, articles, workshop programs, tests, and links to organizations. For many of the scenarios presented in this volume, there are no easy answers. Practical guidance on reasoning through difficult decision-making situations enables public administrators to acquire the ethical knowledge, skills, abilities, and instincts that will ultimately help them gain the trust of their citizens and advance in their careers.

Exploring the ethical frameworks and principles upon which governments can and should base their policies, this study draws on papers from the 2009 Ethical Foundations of Public Policy conference held in Wellington, covering topics such as ethics in decision making and advice giving, sustainability, equality and justice, and measuring progress. The examination contends that interplay between ethical considerations and policy creation is often complex, controversial, and challenging but that the careful management of this interplay is vital to the effective functioning of liberal, democratic government. Demonstrating the inextricable link between ethics and public policy, this is essential reading for policymakers, students, and those interested in the policy process.

"Ethics and Public Administration" refutes the arguments that administrative ethics cannot be studied in an empirical manner and that empirical analysis can deal only with the trivial issues in administrative ethics. Within a theoretical perspective,the authors qualify their findings and take care not to over-generalise results. The findings are relevant to the practice of public administration. Specific areas addressed include understanding public corruption, ethics as control, and ethics as administration and policy

[T]his is much more than a conventional reference guide. The 12 carefully written chapters examine significant issues and contemporary views of many of the basic problems in the field. Topics are approaches to the study of ethics in government, ethical dilemmas and standards for public officials, techniques for incorporating ethical considerations in policy-making, and several substantive problems--professional ethics, the ethical use of quantitative analysis, several forms of corruption, and morality in foreign policy-making. The volume assimilates most of the contemporary literature, presents a number of interesting cases, and is ideally suited as a text for upper-division or graduate courses in public administration and public policy. . . . an essential item in any collection that deals with the subject of ethics and public policy. Choice Although democracy in the United States was founded upon ethical principles that Americans continue to hold sacrosanct, these values are seldom explicitly heeded in the policy-making processes that affect the destiny of the country and its citizens. With the professionalization of public administration during the past one-hundred years, managerial efficiency and scientific methods have been promoted at the expense of both ethics and politics. In this important new work, a distinguished group of social scientists, management scholars, attorneys, and philosophers explores the implications of neglecting these vital concerns. The authors focus on the difficult questions facing policymakers, administrators, and elected officials and suggest approaches to reconciling bureaucratic necessity with democratic values. The first part of the volume examines contemporary ethical perspectives and establishes a framework for analysis. The moral dilemmas faced by public servants and the ethical standards governing the conduct of legislators are considered next. Chapters devoted to the techniques and methods of ethical policy-making discuss such issues as risk analysis, negotiation of rules and standards, the ombudsman in conflict resolution, and equal opportunity and affirmative action legislation. Chapters exploring systemic issues include professionalism in politics and administration; quantitative analysis in decision-making; waste, fraud, and abuse in government; and morality in the making of foreign policy. The volume concludes with an overview of ethics and public policy from a comparative perspective. Addressing the fundamental ethical relations between organizational authority and public employees, this unique new study is pertinent to many of the most pressing problems of our time. It will be of interest to scholars, students, practitioners, and other readers concerned with public administration, public policy, ethics in government, and professional ethics.

Ethics in Public Administration: Understanding Ethics, Corruption, and Public Policy provides students with a timely and valuable collection of articles, essays, and case studies regarding ethical challenges, expectations, and opportunities in public administration. The collection begins with an introduction to the foundations of ethics in public administration and explores the definition and meaning of ethics as a concept. In later chapters, students read about the relationship between ethics and the law, as well as the delicate interplay between ethics, public service, public careers, and Constitutional practice. Additional sections of the anthology examine corruption in government and the ethical dimensions of decision making. Each chapter presents readers with an ethical dilemma to spark critical thought and self-reflection, an introduction to the featured readings, and a case study to demonstrate the real-world implications of topics addressed within the chapter. Providing valuable insight into complex contemporary issues, Ethics in Public Administration is an ideal resource for courses in public administration. Meriem Doucette is an assistant professor of public administration at California State University, Fullerton. She holds doctoral and master's degrees in public administration and policy from the University of Georgia. Dr. Doucette's research interests include performance feedback, the roles of discount rates and time preferences in decision making, public and private sector comparisons, and educational policy. David Adams is an assistant professor of public administration at California State University, Fullerton. He holds doctoral and master's degrees in public administration and policy from Auburn University. Dr. Adams' research interests include environmental policy, federalism and intergovernmental relations, collaborative governance, social networks, American political institutions, and public service ethics.

Ethics and Public Policy:€A Philosophical Inquiry€is the first book to subject important and controversial areas of public policy, such as drugs, health and€gambling€to philosophical scrutiny.

Conflicts of interest in both the public and private sectors have become a major matter of public concern world-wide. The OECD Guidelines define a conflict of interest as occurring when a public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. However, identifying a specific conflict of interest in practice can be difficult. And resolving the conflicting interests appropriately in a particular case is something that most people find even more challenging. The Toolkit focuses on specific techniques, resources and strategies for: Identifying, managing and preventing conflict-of-interest situations more effectively; and Increasing integrity in official decision-making, which might be compromised by a conflict of interest. This Toolkit provides non-technical, practical help to enable officials to recognise problematic situations and help them to ensure that integrity and reputation are not compromised. The tools themselves are provided in generic form. They are based on examples of sound conflict-of-interest policy and practice drawn from various OECD member and non-member countries. They have been designed for adaptation to suit countries with different legal and administrative systems. FURTHER READING: Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service: OECD Guidelines and Country Experiences

For civil servants who take an oath to uphold the Constitution, that document is the supreme symbol of political morality. Constitutional issues are addressed by civil servants every day, whenever a policeman arrests a suspect or members of different branches of government meet. But how well do these individuals really understand the Constitution's application in their jobs? This book encourages civil servants to reflect on specific constitutional principles and events and learn to apply them to the decisions they make. Twenty seminal articles by a preeminent scholar seek to legitimate public service by grounding its ethics in constitutional practice. John Rohr stresses that ethical practice demands an immersion in the specifics of our constitutional tradition, and he offers a guide to attaining a greater sense of those constitutional principles that can be translated into action. Along the way he considers such timely issues as financial disclosure, the treatment of civil servants as second-class citizens, and instances of civil servants caught between executive and legislative forces. Rohr's opening essays demonstrate that responsible use of administrative discretion is the key issue for career civil servants. Subsequent sections examine approaches to training civil servants using constitutional principles; character formation resulting from study of the constitutional tradition; and the ethical choices that are sometimes posed by separation of powers. A final group of chapters shows how a study of other countries' constitutional traditions can deepen an understanding of our own, while a closing essay looks at past issues and future prospects in administrative ethics from the perspective of Rohr's long involvement in the field. Throughout this insightful collection, Rohr seeks to remind public servants of the nobility of their calling, reinforce their role in articulating public interests against the excesses of private concerns, and encourage managers to make greater use of constitutional language to describe their everyday activities. Although his work focuses on the federal career civil servant, it also offers valuable lessons applicable to state and local civil servants, elected officials, judges, military personnel, and those employed in the nonprofit sector.