Safeguarding the public trust: Teaching organizational dissent in an era of political polarization

ABSTRACT

Over recent decades political polarization has transformed the political, ideological, and cultural landscape of the United States. Political polarization has also contributed to increased attacks against the administrative state and career public servants. As a result, some career public servants have fought back making use of various methods of organizational dissent. The article argues that MPA/PPA programs have a moral obligation to help students understand the impact of political polarization on the administrative state and to help students in MPA/PPA to explore organizational dissent in the context of political polarization.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethics
• public management
• teaching

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert Roberts

Robert Roberts has taught at James Madison University since 1982. He holds a BA, MPA, JD, and a PhD in Public Administration from Syracuse University.