Ethics Moments In Government

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.

Since it was first published in 1991, The Ethics Challenge in Public Service has become a classic text used by public managers and in public management programs across the country. This second edition is filled with practical tools and techniques for making ethical choices in the ambiguous, pressured world of public service. It explores the day-to-day ethical dilemmas managers face in their work, including what to do when rules recommend one action and compassion another, and whether it is ethical to dissent from agency policy. This essential text explores managers' accountability to different stakeholders and how to balance the often competing responsibilities.

This first serious empirical work to study administrative ethics 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 carefully qualify their findings and take great care not to overgeneralize results. Specific areas addressed include understanding public corruption, ethics as control, and ethics as administration and policy.

This practical book is dedicated to building ethical organizations. It has been written for college students preparing for careers in public service as well as for elected and appointed officials, administrators, and career public servants in the United States and elsewhere. Concise and comprehensive, Ethics Management for Public and Nonprofit Managers takes a managerial ethics approach to building and leading ethical public organizations. It includes: a discussion of the U.S. constitutional and administrative environment in which officials carry out their duties; descriptions and assessments of the tools available to elected and appointed officials who are committed to building ethical organizations; an overview of legislative and administrative measures taken by Congress, presidents, the judiciary, and the fifty states to foster ethical governance; unique coverage of ethics management around the world, with a focus on the US, Europe, and Asia; and hands-on skill-building exercises with active learning opportunities that conclude each chapter. This third edition includes a new chapter on ‘achieving ethical competence,’ exploring a wide range of ethical issues that confront public and nonprofit managers in their efforts to lead and build organizations of integrity. Examples and cases from both the public and the nonprofit sectors are incorporated throughout the third edition so that the book acts as a kind of ‘field guide’ for ethical behavior, with descriptions and assessments of the tools available to elected and appointed officials at every level. Accompanying the third edition text is a series of exercises that build ethical competence skills, asking the reader to judge the ethical competence of key actors in cases drawn from recent headlines.

In a down-to-earth review of the often-contentious subject of ethics, Public Sector Ethics: Theory and Applications presents personal accounts of individuals who faced moral dilemmas and how they resolved them. It moves the study of ethics away from a box checking exercise of what to do/not to do to a discussion that creates understanding of existe

This volume focuses on the ethical and unethical behavior of elected and appointed government officials. Steinberg and Austern discuss the various types of ethical dilemmas that confront public sector managers, offer ways to analyze them, and describe a series of management strategies designed to prevent unethical behavior. The authors also suggest ways to identify the susceptibility to corruption of a jurisdiction and present model policies, procedures, and legislation which could be effective in reducing the opportunity for unethical behavior.

At a time when there is a growing consensus among governments on what should constitute the essential elements of an effective and comprehensive ethics strategy, this OECD report constitutes a unique source of comparative information on ethics management measures in OECD countries.

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