ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ethical responsibilities of public administrators. It begins by drawing a distinction between accountability and responsibility. The former focuses on what is ethically forbidden—what we call hygiene ethics. Responsibility focuses on the affirmative obligation of administrators to honor the oath of office they take to support and defend US federal, state, and local constitutions and charters. The chapter explores the moral implications of this oath. In doing so, we revisit the Democratic Balancewheel model introduced in chapter 4 and the responsibility of administrators to be stewards of the five core values needed to secure a regime of ordered liberty: representing citizen views; ensuring competent governance; protecting minority rights; the flexibility to be creative in addressing future problems; and ensuring space for strong local community governance. We abstract nine core principles from our review of the development of public administration that help to transform these five core democratic values into meaningful practices. We end with a discussion of strategies and techniques tor dealing with moral conflict among competing values
