Don’t get your name in the headlines!

Re-discover and apply the underlying values that vary among people but nevertheless drive our actions and conclusions about ethical behavior in public service.  You will conduct practical exercises that will reveal traditions and conflicts in ethical and moral values that have been incorporated in the decision-making processes of modern state and local government managers.  You will become keenly aware of the body of laws and obligations – and the regulatory shortcomings — governing your actions on the job and how to avoid taking “unethical” actions.

By the end of this class you should be able to:

1. Discuss the key ethical issues in public sector management.
2. Articulate guidelines for ethical decision-making.
3. Apply an ethical decision-making model to public sector dilemmas and scenarios.

Subordinate Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the difference between ethics and morals
2. Understand the value of ethics
3. Identify your values and moral principles
4. Be familiar with philosophical approaches to ethical decisions
5. Identify ways to improve ethics in your office or workplace context
6. Know what is required to start developing an office code of ethics
7. Know ways to avoid ethical dilemmas
8. Have tools to help you make better decisions
9. Be familiar with common ethical dilemmas

Instructor: Philip Freeburg (J.D. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) teaches and writes on local government law including ethics, Open Meeting Law, Public Records Law, roles and responsibilities and land use. He is a longtime educator with the Local Government Education Program at the UW-Madison Division of Extension.