Acting on values: an ethical dead end for public servants
By: Langford, John W.
Material type:
ArticlePublisher: 2004Description: p.429-50.Subject(s): Civil service
In:
Canadian Public AdministrationSummary: This article provides a critical analysis of the values approach to public sector ethics, particularly as it has been developed in Ottawa. The central tenet of this approach is that a framework of core values can be used directly by public servants to solve ethical dilemmas or to justify more specific rules of behaviour. The author argues that this approach is conceptually flawed on a number of levels. Its advocates seem confused about what a value is and how to identify core values. They also seem tolerant of the existence of a large number of core values that are not clearly defined. This inevitably creates a situation in which there is a substantial value conflict and no way to resolve such clashes. Finally, the values approach, at least as structured in Ottawa, subdivides values into groups, making a puzzling distinction between ethical and non-ethical values. After examining these flaws, the article explores the need to pay more attention to consequentialist approaches for enhancing ethical behaviour that resonate with the ways in which public servants intuitively approach ethical judgements. - Reproduced.
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | Volume no: 47, Issue no: 4 | Available | AR65102 |
This article provides a critical analysis of the values approach to public sector ethics, particularly as it has been developed in Ottawa. The central tenet of this approach is that a framework of core values can be used directly by public servants to solve ethical dilemmas or to justify more specific rules of behaviour. The author argues that this approach is conceptually flawed on a number of levels. Its advocates seem confused about what a value is and how to identify core values. They also seem tolerant of the existence of a large number of core values that are not clearly defined. This inevitably creates a situation in which there is a substantial value conflict and no way to resolve such clashes. Finally, the values approach, at least as structured in Ottawa, subdivides values into groups, making a puzzling distinction between ethical and non-ethical values. After examining these flaws, the article explores the need to pay more attention to consequentialist approaches for enhancing ethical behaviour that resonate with the ways in which public servants intuitively approach ethical judgements. - Reproduced.
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