Skip to main content

Administrative Theory of Ethics

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 799 Accesses

Synonyms

Administrative Ethics; Governance and Ethics of Public Service; Philosophical Ethics; Theories of Ethics

Introduction

Ethics, most broadly, is the study and development of rules for determining and promoting right or good action rather than wrong or bad action. In public, administrative, and governance settings, the adoption of an administrative theory of ethics and corresponding practices is central to maintaining public trust, fairness, and the appearance of propriety in government action. This entry describes the topic by first locating administrative theory of ethics in broader study of ethics and traces the links between the study of ethics in philosophy to the study and practice of administrative ethics. This treatment also identifies some of the challenges and dilemmas facing both the theory and practice of administrative ethics, as well as contemporary efforts to respond to those challenges.

Philosophy and the Formal Study of Ethics

The formal study of ethics in...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • American Society for Public Administration. Code of Ethics (nd) http://www.aspanet.org/public/ASPA/Code%20of%20Ethics/ASPA/Resources/Code_of_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics1.aspx?hkey=7d5473b7-b98a-48a4-b409-3efb4ceaa006. Accessed Feb 2016

  • Aristotle (1947) Nicomachean ethics. In: McKeon R (ed) Introduction to Aristotle. Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Catlaw TJ, Jordan GM (2009) Public administration and “the lives of others”: toward an ethics of collaboration. Adm Soc 41(3):290–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper TL (1990) The responsible administrator: an approach to ethics for the administrative role, 3rd edn. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Dreyfus HL, Dreyfus SE (2004) The ethical implications of the five-stage skill-acquisition model. Bull Sci Technol Soc 24(3):251–264. doi:10.1177/0270467604265023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagan JL (2014) Withholding the red ink. Adm Theory Praxis 36(2):240–258. doi:10.2753/ATP1084-1806360205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault M (1984) The ethics of the concern of the self as a practice of freedom. In: Rabinow P (ed) Michel Foucault: ethics, subjectivity and truth. New Press, New York, pp 281–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmon MM, McSwite OC (2011) Whenever two or more are gathered: relationship as the heart of ethical discourse. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbes T (1991) Leviathan. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe LE (2014) Genealogy and the governance of self and others. Adm Theory Praxis 36(2):219–239. doi:10.2753/ATP1084-1806360204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kant I (2002) Second section: transition from popular moral philosophy to the metaphysics of morals. In: Wood AW (ed) Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp 22–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilla MT (1981) Ethos, ‘ethics’ and public service. Public Interest 63:3–17

    Google Scholar 

  • MacIntyre A (2007) After virtue: a study in moral theory, 3rd edn. University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame

    Google Scholar 

  • Pincoffs EL (1986) Quandaries and virtues. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohr JA (1989) Ethics for bureaucrats: an essay on law and values. Marcel Dekker, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Spicer MW, Terry LD (1993) Legitimacy, history and logic: public administration and the constitution. Public Adm Rev 53(May/June):239–246

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric K. Austin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Austin, E.K. (2016). Administrative Theory of Ethics. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_948-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_948-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics