ABSTRACT
The public is increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of accountability and ethicality exhibited by public officials, as articulated in the calls for restoring confidence in government, reassurance that taxes are spent for the good of the whole, and that government representatives act for the greater good. Inglehart and Welzel found in their longitudinal, cross-cultural values study that societies that emphasize freedom of individual choice and democracy tend to be less permissive of corruption and experience more distress when values of trust, national pride, and human choice are violated. As the incidence of narcissism has increased at a rapid rate in society, modes of ethical reasoning that rationalize self-serving behaviors at the expense of citizen welfare are increasingly witnessed in the public sector. Such an explosion of corruptive acts reduces citizen trust and, in turn, the ability of the sector to function effectively, reduces individual well-being and affects the economic solidity of the nation.
