ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the ways in which the principle of accountability creates a set of ethical obligations for career public servants. It examines theories of administrative responsibility in a critical light. The chapter presents a balancewheel model that portrays the four administrative traditions as existing in constant tension with each other. It discusses administrative responsibility some criteria for distinguishing public administration in America from other realms of administrative or managerial work. The chapter addresses some implications of public morality for bureaucratic politics in modern society. John Rohr’s theory of administrative responsibility obligates administrators to serve as a balancewheel among the superior branches of government. The idea of public morality as being distinguishable from social or personal morality seems foreign and troubling to many people. Public managers are obliged to find meaningful ways to engage the public in civic dialogue about important public issues, and to cultivate participation at key points in the development and execution of public policy.