Ethics, Public Policy and Civic Education

This paper addresses current issues in ethics, public policy and public policy education. I have written about ethical issues in public policy research (Ballard and James) and I have developed codes of ethics in two organizational settings. Yet, this topic is a difficult one. To most public servants, "ethics" is either an abstract topic or one familiar to us only because of highly visible events, such as scandals or obviously immoral behavior. Ethical issues are not, typically, part of our routine professional lives. Yet, it can be argued that unethical behavior, both in larger society and in the public service, has contributed to widespread disillusionment with our fundamental political institutions and threatens to erode the American spirit. One of our greatest challenges of the 1990s and beyond will be to reform our institutions and our own behavior to more closely reflect our fundamental ideals and values.