Ethics in Public Administration PA 209

Critique: Chapter 16. The relationship Between Ethics and Public Administration: The Concept of Competing Ethical Obligations. By Richard Stillman. Public Administration: Concepts and Causes

The essay Public Administration and Ethics: a Prologue to a Preface by Dwight Waldo is introduced in a daunting manner. The chapter in the text has 3pages informing the reader that Mr. Waldo is one of the most highly regarded individuals in the field, posing an intimidating task for a critique, a task that I am willing to take on.

The design of the chapter starts off heavily with references to Chester Barnard, presented in such a a manner that the reader is initially lead to believe that the subsequent essay is directly related to Barnads, which it is not. As the introduction continues gaps and problems in the field of ethics are mentioned, however with little to no solution present during the chapter and could have been excluded. Nearing the end of the introduction the author leads the reader into an overview of whats to come, ultimately providing a very positive review

“When you read his essay, you will no doubt gain an appreciation of why Waldo's contributions are regarded so highly by administrative scholars. Few other write with such stylistic grace, raise such profound questions, and provide the historical context to present-day issues in public administration.”

Dwight Waldo indeed writes with style in this essay strong and descriptive language is put to use. Analogies are used in an engaging manor, from his argument for a map and navigational equipment to the analogy that if you dig too far at structures they will fall down, but our super structure is already down. Waldo starts his essay describing moral and ethical behavior in public administration as chaotic. In the second section he writes of the necessity for governments to engage in lying, stealing, cheating and killing. Than raising the question of when sins and crimes are committed in the name of public are do they hold the same value? Ultimately transitioning to his focus with the thought of “the end justifying the means” when public and private morality conflict.

This essay is written in a humble manner, Mr. Waldo claiming the his reach is incomplete however it reflects his life career working in public administration and therefore can be seen as creditable and well thought out. Waldos style while creative is logical and easy to follow giving him a strong argument for the complexity of ethics in public administration as well as the need for more understanding.

Using the messiness of the ethical universe, that Waldo started the essay with he puts forth a solution. in order for a complex dilemma to be resolved a map or framework would be most effective if it provided weight to the components. Waldo is clear that the need for more and better maps is considerable. Waldo states what most would find accurate that if we are going to talk about ethics in public life it would be useful to know what we are talking about. From this he proposes twelves types of “maps” or guidelines for research that impact ethics.

• Obligation to the constitution
• obligation to the law
• obligation to nation or country
• obligation to democracy
• obligation to organizational – bureaucratic norms
• obligation to profession and professionalism
• obligation to family and friends
• obligation to self
• obligation to middle range collectives
• obligation to the public interest or general welfare
• obligation to humanity or the world
• obligation to religion or to God.

As a novice in ethical study these twelve areas of focus in my view are well thought out and encompassing. A big factor that I believe runs thought all of these areas in the impact that money has on ethics and perhaps it warrants its own sector.

I found Waldos proposal for navigation instruments inspiring. The need for research on history, social science, self awareness and religion, and their relationship to public administration makes the field seems filled with opportunity. As a 209 student Waldo use of the values of democracy as effectiveness, efficient and economy, I could easily relate to Pugh.

Waldo ends with the idea that our ethical problems are compounded in this growing gray world, leasing me to wonder what ultimately was the purpose of this article? Many articles have highlighted numerous issues and gaps in ethics, so while waldo gives us a different format of inquiry, I think more informative information would have be possible, even who has started to work in the different arenas and what they have found so far would have been useful. Overall due to the complexity of the topic and the purpose of the essay as an overview Waldo fashioned a very sensible essay.