Literature and Public Administration Ethics

Abstract

Interest in professional ethics education for public administrators has been booming for the past two decades, and teaching public administration ethics entails a variety of approaches. This article argues that literature is an effective main source for exploring public administration ethics. Several reasons support this argument: students are receptive to literature and learn from it; there is an element of storytelling in our everyday approach as well as in our scholarly approach to ethics; literature offers an empathetic dimension; and good literature of lasting value instead of more prosaic methods with short-lived value contributes to lifelong education as well as professional training. This article offers examples of how we can use certain works of literature to teach public administration ethics and how this literature relates to central questions of public administration ethics. This approach can be useful to practitioners in their exploration of professional ethics as well as to public administration teachers and students. This perspective also suggests directions for future research.

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