PUB 210: Ethics In Public Administration

Course Description

This course will focus on analyzing the ethical issues facing public employees, officials, and leaders, and on the organizational, legal, political, and moral perspectives on ethical dilemmas. (3 credits)

Recommended Prerequisite

PUB 101: Public Administration

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Understand and respond to issues of legal ethics.
Understand and respond to issues of political ethics.
Understand and respond to issues of personal ethics.
Demonstrate understanding of administrative responsibility and its challenges.
Demonstrate understanding of ethical issues for civil servants: financial disclosure, oaths, academic vs. practical ethics.
Understand and apply tools for ethical decision-making.
Understand the challenges of organizational ethics
Apply ethical standards to governmental structures.
Understand ethical issues of dissenting behavior.
Understand comparative ethical standards from other nations.

Course Activities and Grading

Assignments	Points	Weight
Discussions (55 Pts, Weeks 1-3, 5-7)	350	35%
Midterm Exam (Week 4)	300	30%
Final Exam (Week 8)	350	35%
Total	1000	100%

Assignment and overall grading will follow the standard Charter Oak grading rubric, found in the Course Shell.

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's Book Bundle

Lewis, Carol and Stuart Gilman. Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide. 3rd ed. Jossey-Bass, Inc., 2012. ISBN-10: 1-118-10986-4 or ISBN-13: 978-1-118-10986-1
O'Leary, Rosemary (2020). The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerilla Government. 3rd ed. CQ Press. ISBN-13: 9781506346359
Rohr, John (1998). Public Service, Ethics and Constitutional Practice. University Press of Kansas. ISBN: 0-7006-0926-1

Optional Text

Bell, Derrick (2002). Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth. Bloomsbury. ISBN: 1-58234-205-9

Course Schedule

Week	SLOs	Readings and Exercises	Assignments
1	1	Ethical Standards and Responsibilities Readings: Lewis, Introduction/Chapter 1 O’Leary, Chapter 1 Rohr, Chapters 1-2 Discussion and Questions	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Answer the Discussion Question(s)
2	2,3	Legal And Public Interest Obligations Readings: Lewis, Chapters 2-3 Discussion and Questions	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Answer the Discussion Question(s)
3	4,5	Are We Responsible? Character Of The Civil Service: Ethical Challenges Readings: Lewis, Chapter 4 Rohr, Chapters 6-10 Discussion and Questions	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Answer the Discussion Question(s)
4	6	Ethical Reasoning: Decision-Making Tools Readings: Lewis, Chapters 5-7, Resource 3	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Take the Midterm Exam
4	Midterm Exam Readings: All readings Weeks 1-4 SLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
5	7	Ethics In The Organization Readings: Lewis, Chapters 8-10 Discussion and Questions	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Answer the Discussion Question(s)
6	8	Ethics In The Federal Government: A Constitutional Model Readings: Rohr, Chapters 11-15 Discussion and Questions	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Answer the Discussion Question(s)
7	9	The Ethics Of Dissent: Case Studies Readings: O’Leary, full text Discussion and Questions	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions Answer The Discussion Questions
8	10	Comparative Ethical Standards Conclusions Readings: Rohr, Chapters 16-19 Lewis, Afterword O’Leary, Postlude	Read Assigned Chapters Write Final Exam
8	Final Exam Chapters: Readings, Weeks 5-8. SLOs 1-10, with emphasis on SLOs 7-10

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.