Public Service Ethics

Individual and Institutional Responsibilities

James S. Bowman, Jonathan P. West

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781483323763
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politique et relations internationales
• Subtopic: Affaires publiques et administration

Ethics—in all its exemplary and exhausting forms—matters. It deals with the most gripping question in public life: "What is the right thing to do?" Bowman and West examine individual-centered and organization-focused ethics, applying ideas and ideals from both to contemporary dilemmas. The authors take on controversial issues—from whistle blowing incidents to corruption exposés—to explain how they arise and suggest what can be done about them. They start with the conceptual tools students need to evaluate an ethical dilemma, then analyze individual decision making strategies, and go on to assess institutional ethics programs. The emphasis is not only on the "how to, " but also on the "why." The ultimate goal is to bolster students' confidence and prepare them for the ethical problems they will face in the future, by equipping them with the conceptual frameworks and context to approach thorny questions and behave ethically.

PART I

Foundations of Public Service Ethics

1	Pertinence, Practicality, and Poppycock Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. —Mark Twain

This chapter—the first of three that explore the foundations of public service ethics—explores the multiple rationales for examining ethics as well as reasons behind the reluctance to discuss ethics in policy and administration. Knowing why one is undertaking an activity is the first step to understanding any situation. The chapter objectives are to

• appreciate personal reasons for studying ethics;

• recognize the pervasiveness of ethics;

• acknowledge that professional public service has never been solely a technical enterprise;

• understand that the exercise of power is immediate, real, and vital;

• distinguish the costs associated with ethical pitfalls; and

• evaluate credulous poppycock that claims ethics is impossible, unnecessary, and simple.

PERTINENCE: REASONS TO STUDY ETHICS

There is no guarantee that anyone will make more effective choices by studying ethics. But such study helps to contemplate them on your own and to speak intelligently about ethical matters with others. Reflecting on ethics issues encourages the recognition of moral duty and obligations. Ideally, it serves to make prudent judgments that can be publicly justified. This understanding is the basis for at least five reasons to explore ethics: it is personal, pervasive, professional, powerful, and full of pitfalls where the costs of ethical failure are high.

Personal

While the word ethics may provoke fear and loathing as a dull topic, or one that takes people out of their comfort zone, in fact, it stimulates thinking people with life’s most compelling questions—those that deal with what is right and wrong, good and bad. As Thomas Schelling (1984, 38) writes, “Often the question is not, ‘Do I want to do the right thing?’ but rather ‘What is the right thing to want to do?’” Humans are the only creatures that are struck by the difference between is and ought, and wonder about what sort of creatures they are and could be. Homo sapiens are, in other words, unique moral agents because they have the capacity to think about thinking, to ponder about what is “right” and “proper” and “fair” (Wilson, 1993).

In public service, the “what is” question seeks to discern what is actually occurring in a particular setting. This seemingly obvious factual or descriptive question aims to better understand or make judgments about ethical behavior. However, describing “what is” is complicated by the varying ethical perceptions, beliefs, values, and biases found at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. The “ought to be” question is normative and focuses on what should be done in a given situation (e.g., how to treat a long-time employee when downsizing). The issue for managers and leaders is how to get from “what is” to “what ought to be” in practice. It is challenging because it requires weighing what can be done with what ought to be done. This is where you come in.

You count, and can make a difference in the movement from what is to what ought to be by adding to—or subtracting from—excellence and joy in the workplace. What you do matters. This book is aimed squarely at readers, inviting everyone to actively engage ethics—to take it personally. It will help prepare for the day when you are called upon to juggle these considerations and then decide: “This is what should be done, this is why it should be done, and this is how it will be done.” When that time comes, it will be important to be confident that the action taken is ethically feasible and desirable.

This leads to a second observation: People unabashedly make decisions about what is best. Henry Ford said, “Believe in your best, think your best, study your best, have a goal for your best, never be satisfied with less than your best, try your best—-and in the long run, things will work out for the best.” You need to know what is right, and that the choices you make are good. If an unexamined life is not worth living, following Socrates, then an examined life is lived for a good reason. Every act of every person is a moral act, to be tested by moral criteria; to study ethics is to learn not only how people make good judgments, but also why they make bad ones. Readers are bid to probe the empowering, if inherently controversial, choices about meaning and value in public service. Managers and employees without a carefully considered set of public service values are likely to be poor decision makers; they are inclined to dither when confronted with decisions presenting ethical implications.

The third observation of a personal nature is that individual values are the final standard, as there are many, sometimes conflicting, determinants of action. “To the question of your life,” wrote Jo Coudert in Advice from a Failure, “you are the only answer. To the problems of your life, you are the only solution.” Individual responsibility and accountability, therefore, are inescapable (notice the “i” in “ethical”). But note that people typically perceive themselves as more ethical than others and that consensus regarding proper behavior diminishes when proceeding from abstract to specific circumstances. Actual human contact can change everything, clarifying some issues while confounding others. Indeed, black and white can look like two shades of gray.

The implications of the personal reason for studying ethics are that they can be both enabling (it is not mere sentimentality) and debilitating (being questioned about ethics can strike at the core of one’s moral being). Either way, how you handle an ethical dilemma may be the only thing remembered about you (“The decision of a moment,” it has been said, “lasts a lifetime”). The question, in short, is not whether we will die, but how we will live. Existence is defined by choices, as French philosopher Albert Camus asked, “Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?”

Pervasiveness

Not only is ethics a highly personal concern, but it is also a pervasive one. It is part and parcel of the activities of everyday life, encompassing and affecting almost everything that happens. Indeed, as technology has further interconnected with others around the globe, it has also made us more ethically interdependent. Ethics is a fundamental, familiar component of all walks of life: business, government, religion, sports, academe, and nonprofit organizations. Newspaper headlines, television and radio broadcasts, and Internet coverage provide story after story of wrongdoing in business, government, and nonprofit sector organizations. Heroes and heroines plummet from their exalted status by making poor choices (e.g., see the compelling saga of the rise of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer vs. the fall of Governor Spitzer in Eimicke, 2005, and Eimicke & Shacknai, 2008). Likewise, organizational brands are tarnished by immoral actions. In both, citizen trust is lost and financial resources squandered for short-term gain. Ethical leadership is lacking and sorely needed, particularly in the civil service where public-regarding ethics is so central to the core of democracy: government by, for, and of the people.

And ethical concern is probably greater than ever before as ethical issues have a tendency to be magnified and expanded today for three interrelated reasons:

• The scale effect: Modern technologies make it possible to do misdeeds on a massive scale.

• The display effect: Communications systems (particularly the advent of social media) can dramatically package, instantly distribute, and repeat incidents.

• The PR effect: Public communication has become professionalized public relations as a result of polling, focus group research, image management, news event “spin,” “damage control,” “spontaneous” grassroots mobilization, and related marketing techniques (adapted from Heclo, 2008, 26–28).

In addition, as the postindustrial service economy shifts emphasis from products to people, higher moral standards are expected. People have learned to become sensitive to the natural environment, and today they are also becoming sensitive to the ethical environment. Yet while a broader range of activities are seen as unethical today, conditions for employee abuse continue to grow, exacerbated by rapid societal change.

Professional

Public servants, accordingly, must not only do technical things right but also do ethically right things. Professional work is value intensive as it focuses on goals, synthesis, and priorities; leaders take responsibility for what is done as they serve as models and represent others. Someone without basic ethics skills is professionally illiterate. The classic definition—and often oath—of a professional is someone who shows leadership in technical competency and ethical character. A professional is not a professional merely because of her expertise, but also because of her adherence to ethical standards. The ability to contemplate, enhance, and act on these faculties is the essence of professional life. It is unthinkable for a professional not to do her best; it is her duty.

This is what makes scandals so devastating. Scandals result when professionals in a variety of fields have demonstrated a lack of understanding of this basic precept. Namely, the question “Management for what?” seems to have been misunderstood. Management is not an end; rather, it is a means to an end. Thus, while process and policy often overlap, the ethics of process—regardless of the policy issues involved—is key. If process is ably done, policy is likely to be ethical as well. A focus on “why” when making decisions may lead to recognition of ignorance, followed by the acquisition of knowledge, resulting in expansion of moral imagination. The aptitude for critical judgment is the sine qua non of a professional. Those who treat management and ethics apart will never understand either one.

One attempt to keep management focused on ethics is the appointment of a chief ethics and compliance officer in an organization. Criticized by some as window dressing, while praised by others as a way to highlight ethical issues and promote right behavior, these officials have become commonplace in large firms, nonprofit organizations, and governments (see Exhibit 1.1 on a week in the life of Marisol Lopez, an ethics and compliance officer). A critical question is whether these positions have the power and resources to make a difference (see Chapter 8).

Power

A fourth reason for interest in ethics is found in the capacity of government and its agents to exercise power. The study and practice of public administration has never been regarded as only a technical matter. Moral reform is the impetus of modern public administration as values are at its soul (Frederickson, 1996). Governance is both a democratic and a moral endeavor. The argument for democracy is not that it is efficient, but that it is the right form of government. If questions of right and wrong are answered by the state, those decisions are the immediate, real, and vital official allocation of values. When citizens, advocacy groups, and lobbyists demand government intervention, they seek an authoritative resolution of a conflict of values. This distribution of values—promoting particular values while minimizing others—is significant because it has far-reaching ethical consequences. The results range from human health to social and corporate welfare to government regulation. Democracy provides accountability mechanisms for such value allocations, which can permit careful consideration of competing interests by decision makers.

EXHIBIT 1.1

A Week in the Life of Ethics Officer Marisol Lopez

Marisol Lopez is an ethics and compliance officer for XYZ, a large nonprofit organization in a big southeastern city. Like most nonprofit ethics off...