Through the Ethical Looking Glass Darkly

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to a growing. body of empirical research on ethics issues in the public sector. More specifically, this article reports findings that describe and analyze the ethical perceptions and outlooks of three sets of actors-citizens who file ethics complaints against public officials, the officeholders who are accused of ethical lapses, and local government managers. The research addresses two questions: (a) How do these actors view their ethical environs? (b) Are their ethical outlooks similar or dissimilar, congruent or incongruent? A third question is also addressed, one that follows from the effort to answer the first two questions: What are the implications for governance if ethical outlooks, especially those held by public officials and public managers, are incongruent?

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bellah, R. N. , Madsen, R. , Sullivan, W. M. , Swidler, A. , & Tipton, S. M. (1992). The good society. New York: First Vintage Books Editon, Random House.

Bowman, J. S. (1990). Ethics in government: A national survey of public administrators. Public Administration Review, 50, 345-353.

Cigler, B. A. (1990). Public administration and the paradox of professionalization. Public Administration Review, 50, 637-653.

Frederickson, H. G. (Ed.). (1993). Ethics and public administration. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

Ghere, R. K. (1992, April). Personality type and perceived ethical norms in the organization workplace. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Society for Public Administration, Chicago, IL.

Johnston, M. (1983). Corruption and political culture in America. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 13, 19-39.

Kincaid, J. (Ed.). (1982). Political culture, public policy and the American states. Philadelphia: Center for the Study of Federalism.

Krasno, J. S. , & Green, D. P. (1988). Preempting quality challengers in House elections. Journal of Politics, 50, 920-936.

McCauley, D. P. , & Kuhnert, K. W. (1992). A theoretical review and empirical investigation of employee trust in management Public Administration Quarterly, 16, 265-285.

10.

Meier, K. J. , & Holbrook, T. M. (1992). I seen my opportunities and I took em: Political corruption in the American states. Journal of Politics, 54, 135-155.

11.

Menzel, D. C. (1992a). Ethics attitudes and behaviors in local governments: An empirical analysis. State and Local Government Review, 24(3), 94-102.

12.

Menzel, D. C. (1992b). Ethics and government: What's happening in Florida. Governing Florida, 2, 6-8.

13.

Menzel, D. C. (1993a). The ethics factor in local government An empirical analysis. In H. G. Frederickson (Ed.), Ethics and public administration. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

14.

Menzel, D. C. (1993b). Ethics induced stress in the local government workplace. Public Personnel Management, 22, 523-536.

15.

Menzel, D. C. , & Benton, J. E. (1991). Ethics complaints and local government: The case of Florida. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1, 419-436.

16.

Near, J. P. , Baucus, M. S. , & Miceli, M. P. (1993). The relationship between values and practice: Organizational climates for wrongdoing. Administration & Society, 25, 204-226.

17.

Nice, D. C. (1983). Political corruption in the American states. American Politics Quarterly, 11, 507-517.

18.

Peters, J. G. , & Welch, S. (1978). Political corruption in America. American Political Science Review, 72, 974-984.

19.

Overman, E. S. , & Foss, L. (1991). Professional ethics: An empirical test of the "separatist thesis." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1, 131-146.

20.

Stewart, D. W. , & Sprinthall, N. A. (1993). The impact of demographic, professional and organizational variables and domain on the moral reasoning of public administrators. In H. G. Frederickson (Ed.), Ethics and public administration. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

21.

Svara, J. H. (1990). Official leadership in the city: Patterns of conflict and cooperation. New York: Oxford University Press.

22.

Wittmer, D. (1992). Ethical sensitivity and managerial decision making: An experiment. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2, 443-462.

23.

West, J. P. , Berman, E. , & Cava, A. (1993). Ethics in the municipal workplace through the year 2000. 1993 municipal year book. Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.