ABSTRACT
Dialogue began in late spring 2001 about a convergence of two topics seldom conjoined: globalization and public-sector ethics. The former is typically an external matter of international economics and trade policy, quite distant from the moral tenor of public service within the boundaries of the United States. Yet in their conversations, published to elicit wider discussion, Donald Menzel and Willa Bruce recognize globalization as an identitychanging force. Specifically, these two scholars perceive it as the compelling of citizens-and public servants in particular-to reconsider who we are and what we will become in terms of an international breadth of moral obligation. Although they foresee profound impacts of global forces on public administration, both professors are candid about their own difficulties in grasping the totality of globalization, much less its ramifications for public-service ethics. Bruce writes to Menzel:
Globalization is so overwhelming to me. I’ve had a hard time deciding how to respond to the questions you raise. Partly, I think that’s because globalization speaks of subjects so vast and complex that I cannot encompass them, much less see them or touch them. I can’t help but wonder how any of us can talk about the large issues affecting humankind, when we seem unable to deal with the ones in our own country and neighborhood. How can I love humankind, but ignore my neighbor? (May 6, 2001)
Since Professors Menzel and Bruce initiated this dialogue, much has happened in the world that even further confounds our understanding of globalization and its implications for public service. Although some might claim that the era of globalization ended on September 11, 2001, others assess those tragic events as dramatically illustrating its turbulent nature-indeed, testimony to the need “to make sense out of the ups and downs of globalization” (as Menzel writes to Bruce on June 3, 2001). My task in this chapter is to advance the baton in this second, but still preliminary, leg of inquiry about globalization and public-service ethics. The first section presents a framework that lends focus to the overwhelming nature and reach of globalization, particularly as it pertains to public management in the United States. The second section charts some direction for those who might contribute further to this dialogue. Specifically, it supports eight recommendations for research (four normative and four empirical) that can guide those so motivated to explore how global forces affect the present character of public-service ethics.
