Ethics In Public Administration

1016 Words5 Pages
ETHICS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACT We have become a society of increasingly fragmented policies because of the differing views of right and wrong. Those differing views of right and wrong have been viewed through the lens of capitalism. Capitalism, by definition, is the economic system in which all or most of the means of production and distribution are privately owned, it has been generally characterized by a concentration of wealth, growth of great corporations, and increased governmental control. The ethical and moral reasoning skills that public policy makers possess will define how public policies are administered. If some public policy makers can make decisions that do not benefit the public as a whole but benefit their personal capitalist goals, their decision making is unethical. Taxpayers must unite to elect policy makers who follow the social enterprise model. This model produces goods and services for the market, but manages its operations and redirects its surpluses in pursuit of social and environmental goals. , By definition, ethics is the process of using reason, guided by moral standards or personal values, to make decisions regarding right- and wrong-doing in one’s professional and personal life, and taking responsibility for those decisions (Cropf). Given this definition of ethics, we would assume that our public officials understand their fiduciary responsibility to create and administer public policy that will benefit of society as a whole. There are three philosophical approaches to ethics that policy makers can follow (Cropf). The earliest philosophical approach is the deontology approach which asserts that there is an absolute or ultimate standard for morals that can be arrived at through reason. This approach is found in Judeo-Christian moral teaching but is not restricted to any one set of religious beliefs One
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