ABSTRACT
Public policies distribute resources and values, shaping social and political life in the process. Elected and appointed public offi cials inevitably make normative decisions; in the classic words of David Easton, “Politics is the authoritative allocation of values.” The candidate for offi ce who is sure his victory depends on a deal with a corrupt local leader, the analyst evaluating a program who feels pressure to overemphasize benefi ts or underemphasize costs, the public health administrator developing a state-wide program to distribute organ transplants, the administrator of a public university contemplating an affi rmative action plan, and the deputy who sees his superiors violating the law all face important ethical choices.
