The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide (Wiley Desktop Editions) [Hardcover]

Carol W. Lewis (Author), Stuart C. Gilman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787967564 | ISBN-13: 978-0787967567 | Publication Date: March 11, 2005 | Edition: 2nd

Since it was first published in 1991, The Ethics Challenge in Public Service has become a classic text used by public managers and in public management programs across the country. This second edition is filled with practical tools and techniques for making ethical choices in the ambiguous, pressured world of public service. It explores the day-to-day ethical dilemmas managers face in their work, including what to do when rules recommend one action and compassion another, and whether it is ethical to dissent from agency policy. This essential text explores managers' accountability to different stakeholders and how to balance the often competing responsibilities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a wonderful combination: it has the depth of an important contribution to the literature of applied ethics and the relevance and usefulness of an ethics training manual. Lewis really knows how to get down to cases. The provocative cases, taken from real sources and unfailingly illustrating key ethical points, would be reason enough to read this book. Lewis has a light and deft touch with what could be ponderous material, and her wonderful sense of humor shines through in unexpected ways."?Bayard Catron, professor of public administration, George Washington University (Bayard Catron, professor of public administration, George Washington University) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"If you have ethics responsibilities in the public sector, you must read this book for its text and compilation of resource materials."
--The Honorable Stephen D. Potts, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ethics Resource Center and former director, the U. S. Office of Government Ethics

"This book is three things: the best available synthesis of ethics in public affairs, a first-rate theoretical consideration of ethics, and a wonderfully applied, useful, and practical guide. Carol Lewis and Stuart Gilman are two giants in the field, and this book lives up to their stature."
--H. George Frederickson, Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Policy Research Institute, The University of Kansas

"The Ethics Challenge in Public Service is a necessary tool for public administrators and students alike in this era of fiscal challenges, heightened citizen expectations of government accountability, and public scrutiny, providing both theoretical frameworks and practical applications for ethical decision making. Carol Lewis’s book is a ‘must-have’ for any public sector professional’s reference shelf, without regard to sector or specialty."
--Ann M. Hess, J.D., M.P.A., president, Massachusetts Chapter, American Society for Public Administration, and staff director, Boston City Council

"Having used The Ethics Challenge in Public Service in my graduate course for years, it was good news that Carol Lewis and Stuart Gilman have prepared a second edition. Incorporating updated material and new treatments of international developments and of ethics in the nonprofit sector, this book remains simply indispensable for teaching public service ethics."
--Guy B. Adams, professor, Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri-Columbia

"The Ethics Challenge in Public Service draws the reader into the pervasive ethical dimension of public service. Lively, timely, well-crafted cases in every chapter engage both reason and moral imagination. This is an ideal text for professional ethics courses. Practicing administrators will recognize the ethical conflicts and dilemmas, and learn effective strategies for working through them. It also includes an extensive chronology of public service ethics, a useful resource in itself."
--B. L. Catron, professor emeritus of public administration, George Washington University

"The authors’ deep commitment to public service and empathetic understanding of the complexities and ethical dilemmas faced by public service practitioners are reflected in this book’s title and in its thoughtful balancing of idealism and realism, so that Lewis and Gilman offer moral direction without restoring to simplistic rote prescription for belief or behavior."
--Jonathan B. Justice, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Delaware

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 2nd edition (March 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787967564
• ISBN-13: 978-0787967567
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Required Readng for Public Servants, June 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide (South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism) (Hardcover)

It's tough to be a manager in a public agency. In addition to obeying the law, public servants have an additional ethical obligation to "serve the public interest" and "uphold the public trust". Even the appearance of not serving the public interest is unethical for public servants. Thus, while it could be okay for a manager in a private company to hire relatives and to let employees sleep on the job, it would be unethical for a manager in a public agency to do so.

This book was required reading for my graduate course in Ethics for Public Administrators. It should be required reading for every politician, public servant, and citizen, too.

5.0 out of 5 stars Quickly shipped and in great condition, June 25, 2010

By 

Bruiser - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide (Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

I would buy from this seller again. The book was just as advertised and I received it very quickly.

2.0 out of 5 stars BORING, October 29, 2008

By 

J. Johnson "Public Servant" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide (Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

The subject of Ethics and Values in Public Service doesn't have to be dull. The book has valuable information, especially in the cases and excerpts, but the book is not a good read, even for a textbook.