Summary: | In this thesis the relationship of morality to democratic public administration is examined.
After a description of the role of the public administrator in the modern democratic state and
a discussion of the powers of moral reasoning required by the public administrator, the
relationship of morality to policy analysis is considered. It is argued that the pursuit of the
public interest in domestic policy formation, implicit in democratic public administration and
understood as a function of individual citizens' interests, can best be realized through
adherence to classical political principles. International relations are shown to be susceptible
to moral judgement, and an ethic of foreign policy formation consisting of the pursuit of the
national public interest with rights as moral constraints upon policy is posited. Finally, the
usefulness of codes of ethics in ensuring morally correct formation and implementation of
public policy by administrators is assessed, the necessity for a morally adequate ethos of
public service posited, and the question of how to foster such an ethos addressed.
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