PADM505 American Military Ethical Issues in Affordable Care Act Paper So as the introductory forum please give an example and links to a current issue that

PADM505 American Military Ethical Issues in Affordable Care Act Paper So as the introductory forum please give an example and links to a current issue that demonstrates a lack of ethical conduct at any level of public service or government. What were the circumstances? What rules/laws were violated? Would it qualify as ethical, moral or legal? Who suffered? What was the outcome if there was an investigation or trial? Do you think that was a reasonable outcome? What could have been done early on to avoid that outcome? Must have at least 2 sources Introduction
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Ethics Defined
Theories and Perspectives on Ethics
Leadership Styles
Leadership Categories
Sources of Power
Ethical Leadership
Ethical Dilemmas
The United States is a republic with a representative democratic government. Many public officials are
elected to hold public office. While other government employees are appointed or hired with little or no
input from citizens, all public servants who work for government agencies and receive pay for their
services are paid using funds derived from citizens’ tax dollars. And all government operations are financed
and supported by citizens’ tax dollars.
This means that residents of the United States who are citizens have the right to expect certain things from
the government at all levels, including local, state, and federal government organizations and agencies. To
exercise this right, citizens must be knowledgeable about governmental operations. This means that all
government employees, from the President of the United States down to the lowest level bureaucrat in a
local government, are accountable to the citizens they serve, and they have a responsibility to conduct
governmental affairs in a manner that meets citizens’ expectations.
To promote accountability among government employees, those involved in public service must conduct
government business in an open manner. They must practice transparency and, by being transparent, they
give citizens the opportunity to examine governmental programs and seek change if the citizens are
dissatisfied with government actions. Transparency is vital to accountability because citizens cannot be
certain the government is meeting their expectations unless they are knowledgeable about the government’s
work.
To promote transparency and accountability among government employees, they must practice ethical
behavior. This course provides an in-depth review of ethics in government. This lesson will introduce the
concept of ethics, offering an overview of different perspectives on ethics, including different ways to
define ethics. It also will discuss ethical leadership, explaining how leaders who practice ethical behavior
can help promote ethical behavior throughout the ranks of government at all levels.
Ethics Defined
Ethics is a challenging concept and how it is defined depends on who is defining it. For example, consider
the following:
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Leys (1943) defined ethics as “the art of making wise choices” (p.10).
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Frederickson (1997, p.157) said, “the realm of ethics is a world of
philosophy, values, and morals, while administration is one of decisions
and actions. Ethics will search for right and wrong, while administration
must get the job done. Ethics is abstract, while administrative practices are
irremediably concrete.”
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Bruce (2001) defined ethics as “the study of the nature of morals and moral
choices and the rules governing a profession that define professional
conduct” (Bruce 2001, p.xiii).
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Cooper (2006, p. 2) said that ethics “considers what is meant by principles
such as justice, veracity, or the public interest; their implications for
conduct in particular situations; and how one might argue for one principle
over another as determinative in a particular decision.”
For a simpler definition, Johnson (2009) argues that “ethics refers to judgments about whether human
behavior is right or wrong” (Johnson 2009, p. xix). From this perspective, ethical behavior can be defined
as conduct that is “accepted as morally ‘good’ and ‘right,’ as opposed to ‘bad’ or ‘wrong,’ in a particular
setting” (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2005, p.33).
Theories and Perspectives on Ethics
Just as various definitions of ethics exist, various theories exist to guide how to practice ethical behavior.
The more widely recognized and accepted theories include the following (Geuras & Garofalo, 2002):
DEONTOLOGY
UTILITARIANISM
TELEOLOGICAL THEORY OF ETHICS
EGOISM
VIRTUE ETHICS
ETHICAL RELATIVISM
SOCIAL GROUP RELATIVISM
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
SITUATIONAL ETHICS
In addition to the various ethical theories, scholars such as Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn (2005) have
identified the following four approaches to ethics:
UTILITARIAN VIEW
INDIVIDUALISM VIEW
MORAL-RIGHTS VIEW
JUSTICE VIEW
We all hope our leaders are ethical. But if you are like me, you feel our public administrators should be
held to a higher standard. They are the stewards of public resources and owe a higher duty to the citizens
they serve. Most are dedicated, conscientious individuals who meet that standard, however, we have all
seen the headlines of those that do not. We now have ethics codes, ethics committees and countless laws to
enforce those concepts yet we still have headline news about officials that break the ethics rules. Menzel
notes that “Ethics are values and principles that guide right and wrong behavior. The Golden Rule – do
unto others as you would have them do unto you is an example of an ethical principle that guides
behavior.” (Menzel, 2012, p.9) He contrasts this against morals which he notes are core beliefs. This can
also be contrasted with laws, which are legal obligations of the administrator.
Public leaders should demonstrate many attributes that display ethical behavior. Among the most respected
is trust, followed by fairness, integrity, honesty, loyalty, and civility. It will likely come as no surprise to
you that trust in government has gone downhill from a high of 77% in the 1960s to a low of 20% today. For
a full review of this transition, please see the Pew report.
Leadership Styles
Leadership can be practiced many different ways. The following are brief descriptions of some of the more
common leadership styles (Yukl, 2006):
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• Authoritarian, or autocratic, leadership
Authoritarian, or autocratic, leadership is used by leaders who wish to
have complete control, dictating everything that subordinates do and the
way they do it. Subordinates’ opinions are not respected and they are
tightly controlled by their leaders. The leader does not seek input from
subordinates and they are not empowered. All decisions are made by the
leader, and subordinates are expected to follow orders and get the job done.
There are various styles of leaders: transactional, transformational, and entrepreneurial to name a few. Can
leaders cross styles? Apply them all in different settings? How do the attributes of an ethical leader apply
within or across these styles? What if, as Perego (2014) notes, the leader asks someone that works for them
to do something on a personal matter that seems innocent at the time but in fact results in an ethical
violation? How does this impact the organization?
Next, watch the panel from a conference put on by SMU. They discuss ethics in government and
particularly the issues of a list of rules vs. leadership.
Open file: Transcript
Leadership Categories
In addition to leadership styles, leaders fall into different categories, depending on what type of leadership
they practice. These categories include the following (Rooke & Torbert, 2005):
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• Opportunists
Opportunists are influenced by rewards. They will be ethical if their
behavior is rewarded and unethical if they are not rewarded. Opportunists
tend to be mistrustful, egoistic, and manipulative, focused on personal
gains. They tend to reject feedback from others, feeling that they do not
need to change or improve their behavior. They externalize responsibility
for problems or mistakes, feeling that when things go wrong, it is the fault
of others, not themselves.
• Diplomats
Diplomats are influenced by others and behave in ways that others agree is appropriate. They are
team players, loyal to the group, and seek to please their colleagues while avoiding conflict. They
strive to gain control of their own behavior and are not concerned about gaining control of the
people around them or events. For diplomats, leadership is about gaining acceptance and
influence, accomplished by being cooperative with the organization’s norms and by performing
daily roles.
• Technicians
Technicians rely on data and analysis to make decisions and determine behavior. Once certain
that their data and analysis is sound, they present it to others, expecting support for their ideas.
They value improvement, efficiency, and excellence. They are confident and expect others to do
exactly what they recommend. They do not collaborate with others because they feel they already
have the answers. As such, they may regard others’ opinions and input with disdain.
• Achievers
Achievers focus on achieving the organization’s goals by any means possible. If the goal can be
accomplished using ethical methods, their behavior will be ethical. Likewise, if unethical
processes are required to achieve a goal, their behavior will be unethical. Achievers both challenge
and support their subordinates, creating a positive work environment that focuses on teamwork
and delivering results.

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