875 Word Article Review/ Both Articles Attached

Public Integrity, 20: 459–477, 2018 Copyright © American Society for Public Administration ISSN: 1099-9922 print/1558-0989 online DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2017.1419053

Ethics in American Public Administration: A Response to a Changing Reality

Imane Hijal-Moghrabi

University of Texas of the Permian Basin

Meghna Sabharwal

University of Texas at Dallas

This article tracks the evolution of ethics in American public administration from the inception of the field in the late nineteenth century to the present, and employs the ethical lens to address some of the current pressing problems (e.g., immigration, climate change, and e-surveillance). The study acknowledges the fact that ethics has not evolved in a vacuum. Ever since the Progressive Era, various forces—social, political, legal, as well as technological—have greatly shaped the evolution of ethics, with every era injecting its opportunities and challenges, as well as its dictating values. This article highlights the continuity of ethics in public administration, by arguing that administrat- ive ethics has not been static as it evolved over the years; it has evolved not by omission but by addition, in reflecting the changing reality of every age.

Keywords: administrative ethics, American public administration, ethical challenges, ethical development

This article tracks the evolution of ethics in American public administration from the inception of the field in the late nineteenth century to the present, and employs the ethical lens to address some of the current pressing problems (e.g., immigration, climate change, etc.). The study acknowledges the fact that ethics in American public administration has not evolved in a vacuum. Ever since the Progressive Era, various forces—social, political, legal, as well as technological—have greatly shaped the evolution of ethics, with every era injecting its opportunities and challenges, as well as its dictating values.

In defining ethics as the rigorous reflection and articulation of morality, this article promises insights into how to approach normative and moral questions in public organizations. The newness of this study lies not in the threads used, because much has been written on ethics in the relevant literature, but in addressing some of the ethical concerns and challenges that have not been given due attention in PA scholarship. This study is important to various audiences. Students of public administration will find in it a concise summary of how ethics in public administration has evolved over the years. Practitioners will gain insights into how to approach ethical issues in the twenty-first century.

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Correspondence should be sent to Imane Hijal-Moghrabi, Public Administration and Leadership Program, The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, 4901 E. University, Odessa, TX 79762, USA. E-mail: hijal_i@utpb.edu

 

 

This article is organized into three main sections and a conclusion. The first section provides a historical overview of the evolution of ethics in public administration from the Progressive Era to the present, highlighting the dictating ethical values of every era. The second section sheds light on some of the ethical challenges that public organizations face today. The third section provides a guide for public managers on how to manage ethics today. The conclusion reflects on the evolution and continuity of ethics in public administration.

THE EVOLUTION OF ETHICS IN AMERICAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The evolution of ethics in Public Administration can be subdivided into six main eras: (1) the Progressive Era; (2) the New Deal and Post–Second World War Era; (3) the Civil Rights Era; (4) The Post-Watergate Era; (5) the Reinventing Government Era; and (6) the Current Era of the New Governance.

The Progressive Era (Late Nineteenth–Early Twentieth Century)

The Pre-Progressive