Ethics in Public Administration: Case Studies
PADM 700
Discussion: Case Study Assignment Instructions
Discussion Thread: Ethics in Public Administration — Case Study
Apply concepts related to ethics in a specific, researched public administration case study. Whatever source is used for the actual case study must focus on a real-world public administration situation that is being discussed and analyzed in the chosen article.
The article can be qualitative or quantitative in nature, but it must specifically focus on the public administration context.
Remember to synthesize your research and findings with the required readings and presentations for this week and a Biblical/covenantal model of statesmanship, leadership and organizational behavior.
Please carefully study the Module 2 instructions and scoring rubric. Here are some additional insights as well.
Overview:
In this module you will explore the relationship—learning from the assigned references below and
using a specific case example—between ethics and public administration. Additionally, this module will discuss the ethical considerations one must keep top of mind in drafting and implementing public policies.
Learn:
· Read: 6 articles Fischer, Shafritz & Hyde, Einolf, Marini, Simon, Dept. of Interior
· Watch: 2 videos Fischer chapters 2 and 3
· Explore: 1 website Office of Government Ethics
Remember to incorporate (and cite) some learning from each source in your posting or replies.
Apply:
Post a case study and reply to two students’ postings as well.
As suggested previously, peer-reviewed articles are highly recommended but you are not limited to those. We can all easily, unfortunately, find case examples of ethical or unethical behavior by public officials every day in the news
Please don’t make this about the person or her/his politics (or your opinions) but the actions that person took and objectively summarize whether you consider those actions—or failures to act—ethical or unethical.
So, let me
suggest more specific actions to make this assignment a bit more applicable (personal) to us.
· A case study is based on
an actual government agency and public administrator’s action or failure to act.
· It is a
specific agency, persons, time, location, results, etc.
·
It is not a policy paper, or someone’s blog, or political position of some advocacy group or your opinions.
· It is your analysis of what a public administrator did and what you and I can learn + or – from that person’s experience.
· A case study is an
analysis of some event or action that actually happened—a specific agency/department/government, location, time, people, etc. I know I am repeating myself but you would be surprised at the number of persons who miss this.
· Build on what you learned in Module 1 re. ethics in public administration and apply that against the case example you are assessing.
· The ask of you is to assess and report if you believe the actions taken were ethical or not.
· What would you have done in the same situation?
In your posting (and
label/title each section):
1.
Cite the case study and reference.
2. Briefly explain/
summarize the case study/example you chose—to help us understand the context (what agency, where, when, who are the stakeholders, what is the context, what actions were taken, what results, etc.)
3.
Identify the ethical questions/issues obvious in the case example.
4.
Assess whether that person (or persons) acted ethically; and
5. Put yourself in that person’s shoes.
What would you have done?
Students will take part in 4 Discussions in which you will conduct a case study of an observed study in a public administration context. The analysis will be based upon the concepts you learned and discussed in the previous module’s essay assignment, writing 450-500 words in the initial thread.
For the case study, students are welcome to cite a scholarly source, but if they do, it must not be merely a theoretical/philosophical discussion. Instead, whatever source is used for the actual case study must focus on
a real-world public administration situation that is being discussed and analyzed in the chosen article. Students will in turn apply concepts discussed in the previous
Module: Week’s essay to analyze the situation, in addition to the required reading and presentations from the current Module: Week. Remember: it will be important to do both!
Thread:
· 450-500 words
· Ideas and citations
from
all the required reading
and presentations from the Module: Week
· Ideas and citations from two scholarly sources
· Case Study of a real public administration situation related to the concepts discussed in the prior week.
In this course, Discussions play an exceptionally important role. Consider these threads and replies to be formal communications on the same level as those you would conduct with employers, clients, or colleagues in the professional, political, or academic world. As such, they must be free of grammatical errors, must be properly formatted in current APA style, and must consist of well-reasoned, contemplative, and substantive posts and replies, rather than mere ipse dixit. These threads and replies must be adequately supported by citations of the sources or support for your ideas as well as any quoted materials.
Open, courteous discussion will yield the greatest opportunities for growth in this class. Both responding to other students and responding to the instructor will count as 1 reply post. Remember that the art of communication is in many ways the lifeblood of effective political leadership. Everything you write—every paper, post, and email—creates or reinforces an impression of you. Begin to cultivate the communication skills of the statesman and stateswoman—the ability to speak the truth logically and persuasively with compassion and respect. Each response post must include new research and analysis and must build upon the ideas communicated in the original post. Thus, they must go beyond merely restating and affirming what a classmate has said and instead bring in more depth, research, and analysis. Accordingly, each response post must include citations from the required reading and presentations.
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