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Article: Acting on values: an ethical dead end for public servants.
- Article from:
- Canadian Public Administration
- Article date:
- December 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Institute of Public Administration of Canada. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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We all want public servants to be ethical (i.e., to do right rather than wrong when faced with hard choices on the job). But how are we to ensure that public servants individually and in groups act ethically?
Traditionally, democratic governments have focused on the development of rule sets (in the form of legislation, regulations, codes of conduct, policy directives, etc.) designed to provide specific guidance to public servants faced with procedural ethical dilemmas (e.g., decisions concerning conflict of interest, confidentiality, and political neutrality) and substantive ethical dilemmas (e.g., decisions affecting the security, safety, and health of citizens). ...