The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide

By Carol W. Lewis and Stuart C. Gilman

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787967564
• ISBN13: 9780787967567
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.4" x 1.2" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Required Readng for Public Servants

It's tough to be a manager in a public agency. In addition to obeying the law, public servants have an additional ethical obligation to "serve the public interest" and "uphold the public trust". Even the appearance of not serving the public interest is unethical for public servants. Thus, while it could be okay for a manager in a private company to hire relatives and to let employees sleep on the job, it would be unethical for a manager in a public agency to do so. This book was required reading for my graduate course in Ethics for Public Administrators. It should be required reading for every politician, public servant, and citizen, too.