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Morality and public administration

University of British Columbia

In this thesis the relationship of morality to democratic public administration is examined. After a description of the role of the public administrator in the modern democratic state and a discussion of the powers of moral reasoning required by the public administrator, the relationship of morality to policy analysis is considered. It is argued that the pursuit of the public interest in domestic policy formation, implicit in democratic public administration and understood as a function of individual citizens' interests, can best be realized through adherence to classical political principles. International relations are shown to be susceptible to moral judgement, and an ethic of foreign policy formation consisting of the pursuit of the national public interest with rights as moral constraints upon policy is posited. Finally, the usefulness of codes of ethics in ensuring morally correct formation and implementation of public policy by administrators is assessed, the necessity for a morally adequate ethos of public service posited, and the question of how to foster such an ethos addressed.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-03-06

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5688

Philosophy

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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