To complete this assignment, you will: • Carefully go over the following readings assigned for Week 7. 1. Chapter 2 in the required course textbook The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. 2. Menzel, Case: 4.9 "Mired in an Ethics Swamp" (pp. 106-116) available in the required course textbook Ethics Moments in Government: cases and Controversies. • (a) Using the following framework (incorporating elements from different decision-making models covered in the course) and (b) taking into account the takeaways from Case 4.9, analyze a real-life ethical dilemma that you have personally experienced working in the public or private sector. In doing so, please provide answers to each of the following questions/prompts: 1. Ethical issue perception: What was it about the situation you experienced that made you “see” an ethical issue? (e.g., being confronted with expectations, demands, opportunities, and conflicting interests) 2. Gut feeling: What was your gut feeling reaction to the situation? 3. Personal responsibility: How did you know it was your responsibility to do something about the situation? 4. Ethical dilemma description: Develop a description of the dilemma, including pertinent factual background information. Specifically, please emphasize the following: key actors, the viewpoints of each actor, the issues, the sequence of events, and the risks. 5. Conflicting values and principles: What were the conflicting ethical values or principles embedded in the situation? (e.g., efficiency/expediency vs. civic engagement; organizational interest vs public interest vs personal interest). 6. Ethical dilemma: Based on the conflicting values or principles that you identified, provide a general statement of the ethical issue involved in the situation you experienced (e.g., conflicting loyalties). 7. Dealing with the problem: Now that you have defined the ethical issue before you, think about how you should deal with the problem from different perspectives. Specifically: ? Identify your responsibilities to your organizational superiors, to your colleagues and/or subordinates, to elected officials, to the citizenry (refer to the readings from Week 2). ? Public interest (refer to the readings from Week 2): • What are all the relevant interests and dimensions of the issue involved in this situation? • How can I reach common ground with others (e.g., my boss, my colleagues, politicians, citizens, other organizations, etc.) involved in this situation? • How can I listen to opinions that run contrary to my own? ? Virtue (refer to the readings from Week 3): • How should I act in this situation based on the content of my character? • Am I being true to myself? • How should I act based on the central character trait of civic virtue that ought to guide me as a democratic citizen of the American ethical citizenship tradition? ? Principles (refer to the readings from Weeks 4 and 5): • How should I act based on the principle of social equity —i.e., acting on behalf of the less advantaged? • How should I act to protect individual liberties and group rights in my community (refer to the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights, the 1th Amendment, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Civil Rights Act of 1991)? • How should I act based on the principle of self-interest rightly understood —i.e., providing goods and services in a manner that enhance the common good, that is, the experience of community. ? Consequences (refer to the readings from Week 6) • How should I act to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people? • What would be the gains and loses of all parties involved, particularly the ones whose voices have been historically neglected? 8. Action: Now that you have considered how to deal with the problem from different perspectives, think about whether you need to act. Specifically: ? Need—Is there a genuine requirement for me to act? ? Proximity—Am I nearby or in proximity to act? ? Capability—Do I have some capacity to change the situation? ? Last resort—Am I the last resort to change the situation? 9. Finding a Fit: If the situation you experienced meets the four criteria outlined in the previous prompt, then answer the following questions: ? How should I act to advance the public interest in a manner that balances virtue, principle, and consequences? ? Will I be demonstrating courage? ? Will I be able to share my decision?