Taking Tough Choices Seriously: Public Administration and Individual Moral Agency

Abstract

Abstract

Using the concepts of thick and thin relationships as the basis for ethical behavior, this paper critiques the emphasis on discretion in the mainstream administrative ethics literature and argues that moral andother dilemmas facing public administrators provide a more useful frame. Two examples drawn from the UK Hutton Investigation into the death of David Kelly are used to demonstrate the relevance and usefulness of this approach.

Department

Political Science

Publication Date

7-2006

Journal Title

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

Publisher

Oxford Journals

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/jopart/mui050

Document Type

Article

Rights

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org.

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