The Role of Values in Public Service Ethics

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
--Warren Buffett
 

Ethics is what one ought to do--the kind of behaviors that would make the world a better place, especially if everyone engaged in them.

The key question is: how does the conscientious public servant sort through competing considerations and determine “the right thing to do?” When it comes serving the public, how does one put one’s values into practice?

There are a number of sources of guidance. One, of course, is the law. For example, California has a complex array of laws relating to ethics in public service. But laws are only minimum standards. The laws define what one must (or must not) do, not what one ought to do.

To determine what one ought to do, go to the root of the matter and think in terms of values.

Research by the Institute for Global Ethics identifies ethical values that transcend virtually all cultures and religions.  Among them are:

• Trustworthiness
• Responsibility
• Respect
• Loyalty
• Compassion
• Fairness

The concept of “integrity” might be understood as endeavoring to honor all these values, in all facets of one’s life, and on a consistent and ongoing basis.