Transcript accomplishment

Week 15: Ethics, Wrap Up, Student Presentations
• Ethics -- public sector
• Ethical issues in public budgeting and finance
• Revisit course goals
• Begin student presentations
Ethics: Definition
•
•
•
•
Systematic thinking about morals and conduct
Making judgments about right and wrong
Choosing between legitimate but competing values
In public sector:
– from thought to action and consequences
– discretion by un-elected public managers
Ethical Philosophy
• right v right (value conflicts)
– individual v community
– short-term v long-term
– truth v loyalty
– justice v mercy
• theories of moral philosophy
– utilitarian – ends-based
– rule-based (Kant)
– care-based
Framework for Public Sector Ethics
• Competing roles and loyalties:
– personal
– professional
– organizational
– public interest
• ASPA Code of Ethics
– reflects new public management
– not much help with role conflicts
Changing Public Sector Ethics
• Traditional view of ethics (roots in business world):
– “low road” of compliance -- stay out of trouble
– neutrality/efficiency/rules
– prevention of fraud, waste, abuse
– means-based approach
• Contemporary view of ethics
– “high road” of moral reasoning, integrity, justice,
leadership
– ethics of value, not of neutrality
– integrity/moral reasoning/leadership/justice
– accomplishment of public good
– Results-oriented government ==> ends-based ethics
– Responsible use of increased administrative discretion
Ethics Applied to Public Budgeting
• Old budgetary ethics
– limited discretion
– line item accountability
– focus on allowable uses of funds
• New budgetary ethics
– discretion on use of funds to meet goals
– program control, not line-item
– accountability for accomplishments
Ethical Issues in Public Budgeting
• Budgeting as political
– who benefits/who pays from public budgeting decisions
– political leadership for the public interest
• Budgeting as technical
– budget experts can withhold or frame information
– gimmicks and fixes
• Budget process
– playing the budget game
– use (abuse) of data in budget justifications
– advocacy for program v loyalty to executive budget
Ethical Issues in Public Finance
• Estimating revenues
– Choosing optimistic v pessimistic scenarios
– Withholding information on available reserves
• Impact of finance policies
– Short-term v long-term impacts
– Political expediency to gain passage (features or
gimmicks that aren’t fiscally sound)
– User taxes to replace general purpose revenues
Ethical Issues in Budget Implementation
• Budget analysis
– tactics to delay implementation of programs
• Budget management
– using funds for different purposes than budgeted
– circumvent budget controls to accomplish desired
outcomes
• Accountability
– setting goals and objectives—who is involved?
– accountability for results – how much discretion?
– ethical issues in performance reporting
Discussion Questions
• Does unethical behavior in public servants occur because
they are inherently unethical or because unethical behavior
is rewarded?
• How can “high road” focus on accomplishments be a guide
when there is no consensus on desired public outcomes?
• Is “public trust deficit” best addressed by low-road ethical
focus, rather than promoting administrative discretion?
Course Goals Revisited
• Understand political context of budgeting at federal, state,
local levels
• Develop working knowledge of California budget process,
concepts, terminology
• Learn some basic skills in budget development, analysis
• Understand role of budgets within life of an agency
• Understand budgets as tools of accountability
• Develop some basic skills in selection and use of
performance measures in context of budgeting
• Improve applied (memo) writing skills