The Ethics Eruption: Sources and Catalysts

Abstract

The chapter is divided into two broad sections. The first addresses macro or global sources of ethics discontent. This will discuss concern about political ethics in the broad context of complex processes such as globalization, development, liberalization, and democratization. These are clearly huge subjects and there is no space to do justice to their complexities, but the aim here is to identify some key aspects, which have particularly important implications for increasing concern about political ethics. The second section is concerned with exploring the political aspects of public ethics through a consideration of political scandal, because scandals are often cited as the source of unease about ethical standards in public life and as the catalysts for institutional reform.

Citation

Williams, R. (2006), "The Ethics Eruption: Sources and Catalysts", Saint-Martin, D. and Thompson, F. (Ed.) Public Ethics and Governance: Standards and Practices in Comparative Perspective (Research in Public Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 29-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0732-1317(05)14003-2