ASPA code of ethics as a framework for teaching ethics in public affairs and administration: a conceptual content analysis of MPA ethics course syllabi

ABSTRACT

Extant research has demonstrated a positive effect of ethics education in public affairs and administration programs, yet the same suggests the lack of a unifying framework for teaching ethics in the discipline. Since the ratification of the 2013 revised ASPA Code of Ethics, scholars have called for NASPAA programs to incorporate the Code in their curriculum. This article examines the learning objectives and contents of 30 MPA ethics course syllabi. Content analysis was conducted to determine the match between concepts and values in syllabi and the ASPA Code of Ethics. The results indicate that the typical MPA ethics course only partially addresses the full range of ASPA Code of Ethics principles and values. The four most widely shared learning objectives that conform to the ASPA Code of Ethics are a) professional excellence in public service, b) ethical organizations, c) personal integrity, and c) the public interest. Course objectives focusing on constitution and law, democratic participation, social equity, and provision of professional policy advice appear relatively less often. The results are discussed and several suggestions offered to more fully integrate the ASPA Code of Ethics within the typical MPA ethics course curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• MPA ethics education
• ASPA code of ethics
• course syllabi

Notes

1. Guy Adams and Danny Balfour’s, Unmasking Administrative Evil (2014), James Bowman and Jonathan West’s Public Service Ethics: Individual and Institutional Responsibilities (2014), Terry L. Cooper’s, The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role (2012), Rosemary O’Leary’s Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government (2013), and James Svara’s, The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations (2014).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen M. King

Stephen M. King received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1990. He is Professor of Government at Regent University, where he teaches undergraduate courses in American Government, Public Administration, and Public Policy, and graduate courses in Public Policy. His current research agenda focuses on administrative ethics, ethical and spiritual leadership, and workplace spirituality.

Elijah Agyapong

Elijah Agyapong, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of public administration in the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, Virginia Beach. His teaching interests are in public administration, public policy, organizational theory, and research methods. His research focuses on the relationship between bureaucracy and democracy, public administration and policy implementation, bureaucratic responsiveness, representative bureaucracy, and street-level bureaucracy. His recent works have been published in the International Journal of Public Administration, Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, and Review of Development Economics.

Gary Roberts

Gary Roberts, Ph.D., is a Professor and Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program in the Robertson School of Government at Regent University with teaching interests in human resource management and nonprofit administration. He has held a variety of positions in human resource management within local government, the nonprofit sector, and private industry and serves on several nonprofit boards.

Professor Roberts’ research interests include servant leadership within the human resource management system and the influence of spiritual intelligence on personal and organizational well-being. With 5 books and 50 plus articles and book chapters, he has published extensively primarily in the area of human resource management. His latest books include Working the Christian Servant Leader Spiritual Intelligence and Servant Leader Human Resource Management: A Moral and Spiritual Perspective