· Unit 3 Consequentialism

DPA 8408 – Unit 3 – Summary

· Unit 3 Consequentialism

INTRODUCTION

Some people criticize our government’s actions as being corrupt; while that may be true in some cases, in most instances our public servants attempt to do the right thing and do it effectively. In a 25 year study of public attitudes about government corruption, Malec (as cited in Frederickson, 1993) noted that public opinion has become more tuned in to issues of influence peddling, violations by public officials, and public scandals. Malec’s examination of studies about corruption and the public’s tolerance of corrupt behaviors also brought to light differing standards depending on the public role that a person played. For example, a judge would be held to higher standards of behavior than police officers. Certain activities, while technically a violation of a code of ethics, were deemed to be worse in the eyes of the public than another. Someone might use backdoor means to get a friend’s child admitted to a prestigious school, but that was not as bad as purposely writing a bad check or embezzling.

TOGGLE DRAWERHIDE FULL INTRODUCTION

How then can we as public administrators follow a correct code of ethical conduct when ethics appear to be so conditional? Doing what is right has been a struggle even in ancient times—the theory base of consequentialism dates back to Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Kant, Locke, and others who tried to shape ethics as a form of natural law. Bentham added the perspective of natural rights to this debate, and over time the topics of consequentialism and nonconsequentialism have evolved to what we interpret today as illustrated in your text. In this unit, you will examine the theory bases that guide the subject of ethics in public administration, beginning with the subject of consequentialism and how it applies in our modern times.

Reference

Malec, K. L. (1993). Public attitudes toward corruption: Twenty-five years of research. In H. G. Frederickson (ed.), Ethics and Public Administration (pp. 13–27). Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.

Unit 3 Readings:

In your Thiroux and Krasemann text, read Chapter 2, “Consequentialist (Teleological) Theories of Morality,” pages 30–45.

Mindmap

Add to your ethics mindmap based on the theories and practices that you learn about this week. As a reminder, you will add to this mindmap in each unit and submit it to your instructor in Unit 8.