Ethics and Integrity of Governance Perspectives Across Frontiers

Abstract

While the media and organizational discussions around the globe have been abuzz with talk of public sector ethics, academic research in the field was, until very recently, dominated primarily by American researchers focusing primarily on American topics. This is of no surprise given that it is only in the US that public sector or administrative ethics has developed as a separate discipline and area of study within public administration. Consequently, the vast majority of textbooks, courses, journals, and professional networks are US-based and reflect the American culture. Yet, this has changed recently as the debates on public sector ethics across the globe have also generated aca demic interest outside the US. This book represents these changes. Born from presentations delivered at the first ‘Transatlantic Dialogue on Ethics and Integrity of Governance’, held at the Public Management Institute of the University of Leuven in Belgium in June 2005, the chapters in this book represent a milestone. The conference was jointly organized by European and American networks (the Study Group on Ethics and Integrity of Governance of the European Group of Public Administration and the Section on Ethics of the American Society of Public Administration, respec tively), representing transatlantic dialogue in the truest sense. It is a dialogue of balance, integration, perspective and, ultimately, demonstrates an abiding respect for perspectives from both sides of the Atlantic. A peer-reviewed selection from amongst those myriad voices is presented in this book, chal lenging current suppositions, confirming mutual concerns, and challenging everyone interested in public sector ethics to move to the next level of inquiry and practice.