THE ETHICAL GROUNDING TO 21st CENTURY PUBLIC LEADERSHIP

Abstract

It is never ill timed to examine the ethical grounding of public leaders. Among all social science disciplines, public administration seems to be most prominently concerned with ethics. ASPA conferences consistently feature ethics. However; it does seem an especially appropriate historical moment to revisit the moral reasoning of both elected and appointed officials. In this article, we examine basic ethical processes and specifically consequential reasoning, and find the over-reliance on ends justify the means type thinking problematic. Specifically, any noble government end can be used to justify any means, short of the abhorrent. We then turn to Abraham Lincoln, an exemplar of utilitarianism, as a contrast to this more prevalent and distressing form of decision making.

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