Transcript Week 15

Week 15: Ethics, Wrap Up, Student Presentations
• Ethics -- framework for public sector ethics
• Ethical issues in public budgeting and finance
• Look back at course goals
• Course evaluation
• Begin student presentations
Framework for Public Sector Ethics
• Traditional view of ethics (roots in business world):
– neutrality/expertise/administration/rules/efficiency
– controls to guard against fraud, waste, abuse
– “low road” of compliance -- stay out of trouble
– means-based approach
• Contemporary view of ethics
– integrity/moral reasoning/leadership/justice
– Increased administrative discretion
– Results-oriented government ==> ends-based ethics
Framework for Public Sector Ethics (cont.)
• Competing roles and loyalties:
– personal
– professional
– organizational
– public interest
• ASPA Code of Ethics
– reflects new public management
• exercise “discretionary” authority
– not much help with role conflicts
Ethical Issues in Public Budgeting and Finance
• Old budgetary ethics
– line item accountability
– limit discretion
– focus on allowable uses of funds
• New budgetary ethics
– discretion on use of funds across categories
– program control, not line-item
– focus on accomplishments with budgeted funds
Ethical Issues in Public Budgeting and Finance (cont.)
• Budgeting as political
– who benefits from public budgeting decisions
– political leadership for the public interest
– political v rationality issues
• 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 Budgeting and Finance (cont.)
• Budget management
– using funds for different purposes than budget planned
– is it ethical to circumvent budget controls when they
impede desirable outcomes?
• Accountability
– shift from accountability for use of budgeted funds to
accountability for results
– ethical issues in performance reporting
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
• 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