Ethics Notes

Lewis and Gilman have two focuses for Public service: (1) using enforced rules or compliance systems and (2) depending on individual integrity in decision making. (pg.1)
Working definitions
Ethics-involves thinking systematically about morals and conduct and how we treat other people (pg.5)
Values – refers to principles of action that implement or promote morals or ethics (pg.5)
Morals- refers to standards of right of conduct (pg.5)
Moral choice- the would-should divide, the heart of good moral character to which most of us are exposed (pg.6)
Moral character- having appropriate ethical values and is associated with virtues such as honesty and fidelity (pg.9)
Chapter one
Need for public trust
More than a decade ago, for example, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2000a) declared, “Public service is a public trust… Fair and reliable public services inspire public trust… Public service ethics are prerequisite to, and underpin, public trust, and are a keystone of good governance.” (pg.20)
Intensifying value conflicts contribute to the erosion, recognized years ago, that has been dubbed the confidence gap. ( class note; confidence gap is what we do as public servants and what the public expects us to do. The space between that) (pg.21)

Pg. 22 chart for public trust 1985-2010
Honesty, Integrity, Competence
Public confidence is and experience with the ability of government to perform and handle problems are judgments about competence, a matter different from judgments about ethical behavior and trustworthiness (pg.24)
What ethics is all about
1. Ethical action is in part reflective, based on thought and reason as well as emotion
2. Ethical action is principled and draws on sound values
3. Ethical action means making normative judgments, and that means choice

Read pg.32 to 35
Demorcracy + Professionalism + Ethics = Integrity pg.39

Chapter two
Let us start by admitting that being a public manager brings with it real power. Wielding power and public authority entails special ethical obligations. This lopsided power relationship-the power of people in public service relative to the power of those they serve-is behind Thomas Jefferson’s and others’ idea that “public service is a public trust.” (pg.46)
The reciprocal is that public managers are obliged to implement and comply with the law. Failure to do so is often a legal violation and usually an ethical violation. (pg.47)
See page. 49 Federal appointment Affidavits
See page. 52 Disobedience before illegality
See page. 54 Disobeying for good reason
See page. 57 Go/No-Go decision model read third consideration
Chapter 3
Resolution carries with it considerable ethical content and fallout (pg.63)
Protecting common-pool resources is a governmental purpose (pg.64)
As a public service duty, pursuing