Americans deserve honest government. This text addresses the need for a comprehensive statement of ethical behavior for public officials and employees at every level of government. Recognizing the need for legal reforms that focus mainly on campaign contributions, the authors examine the broader question of how we should measure the routine, day-to-day ethics of men and women in public service. By focussing more on attitudes and practices, the authors suggest that the highest standard of both ethics and competence should be demanded of all our public servants. The book identifies situations in which officials ought to act cautiously and presents the ethical rules that should be applied to each situation. The text presents a philosophy of public service and then moves to particular situations to which this philosophy must be applied: campaign finance; the campaign itself; behavior of elected officials, appointed officials, and public employees; the role of lobbyists; compensation for public servants; moving to and from the public and private sectors; ethical guidelines for lawyers and judges; the private lives of public servants; and enforcement of ethics. The final chapter discusses the sometimes competing forces of ethics and competency. Ethical guidelines are gathered in the appendix and serve as a useful starting point for ethics in any public service setting. The combination of persuasive and thought-provoking proposals for governmental ethics reform along with practical guidelines on how to maintain the highest possible standards of ethical conduct makes this an important text for students in ethics and government courses, as well as an imperative reading for public officials, whether elected, appointed, or career.

Recognizing that the quality of governance is a crucial factor in the overall development of a country, experts on government ethics and law enforcement examine the principles that need to be applied to create more effective and efficient governments. While focusing on the approaches adopted by the City of New York, case studies from around the world are also given. As the essays make clear, it is difficult to over estimate the importance of authorities to set proper ethical standards and regulations while operating on the basis of transparency, predictability, and accountability. An important resource for scholars, researchers, and policy makers involved with public administration issues.

This concise text is a reader friendly primer to the fundamentals of administrative responsibility and ethics. Your students will come away with a clear understanding of why ethics are important to administrators in governmental and non-profit organizations, and how these administrators can relate their own personal values to the norms of the public sector. Since the publication of the first edition of The Ethics Primer, there has been significant change in the climate of public affairs that impacts the discussion of ethics for those who serve the public in governmental and nonprofit organizations. The new edition reflects those changes in three major areas: • Ethics in an era of increasing tension between political leaders and administrators over the role and size of government. • Ethical choices in making fiscal cuts or imposing new taxes in the face of the greatest economic crisis since the Depression. • Ethical challenges to established practices in public organizations. The Second Edition also offers thoroughly updated data and sources throughout, as well as examples that incorporate new research and new developments in government and politics. The Second Edition of The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations: • Introduces readers to the fundamentals of administrative responsibility and provides comprehensive coverage of the important elements of ethics. • Features an accessible and interactive approach to maximize understanding of the subject. • Includes information on the nature of public service and the ethical expectations of public administrators, as well factors that may lead to unethical behavior. • Written from a political perspective, the book addresses questions that are highly salient to persons working in government and nonprofits. • Offers helpful ways to link ethics and management in order to strengthen the ethical climate in a public organization.