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Administrative Ethics; Governance and Ethics of Public Service; Philosophical Ethics; Theories of Ethics

Introduction

Ethics, most broadly, is the study and development of rules for determining and promoting right or good action rather than wrong or bad action. In public, administrative, and governance settings, the adoption of an administrative theory of ethics and corresponding practices is central to maintaining public trust, fairness, and the appearance of propriety in government action. This entry describes the topic by first locating administrative theory of ethics in broader study of ethics and traces the links between the study of ethics in philosophy to the study and practice of administrative ethics. This treatment also identifies some of the challenges and dilemmas facing both the theory and practice of administrative ethics, as well as contemporary efforts to respond to those challenges.

Philosophy and the Formal Study of Ethics

The formal study of ethics in...

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Correspondence to Eric K. Austin .

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

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Austin, E.K. (2018). Administrative Theory of Ethics. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20928-9_948

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Policies and ethics