ABSTRACT
Ethics are involved in all manner of public activities, such as protecting us from criminals, ensuring that confidential information does not get in the wrong hands, keeping us safe from man-made and environmental hazards, and much more. "Ethics may be only instrumental, it may be only a means to an end, but it is a necessary means to an end," asserts Dennis Thompson. The challenge is to ensure that one understands the importance of ethics in carrying out the work of government and then act on that understanding. A national survey conducted by the Ethics Resources Center in 2007 reports that local government leaders are less likely than state or national government leaders to be aware of wrongdoing when it happens. Many government managers understand that ethics and integrity are essential qualities that managers must embrace in order to be successful.
