Effectiveness of Public-Service Ethics and Good Governance in the Central Administration of the EU-27

Comparative studies of public-service ethics at the central governmental level in the EU Member States have a rather short history. Particularly, only a few studies have discussed the institutionalisation of ethics and the effectiveness of ethics instruments. Filling this gap and taking one step further, this particular comparative study analyses to what extent the transition towards a new and more complex concept of ethics and governance has proved effective and fruitful. The authors argue that discussions about ethics should be better integrated into other policy areas that affect the behaviour of public officials. These include public management reforms, human resource policies and leadership styles, perceptions of organisational fairness, impact of the ongoing financial crisis as well as cost-and-benefit considerations. The book provides a comprehensive view and analysis of the developments in the field of public-service ethics.

Autorentext

Christoph Demmke is Professor of Comparative Public Administration at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe. He holds a PhD in Administrative Sciences and taught Comparative Public Administration at several European Universities, national civil service academies and European institutions. The author was an Emile Noel Fellow at Harvard Law School and visiting fellow at American University and the University of Georgia. His fields of specialisation are comparative studies of public service reform including human resource management reforms. The author published many books and articles on comparative public service reforms and public-service ethics, among other topics. He has regularly advised the different EU-Presidencies in the field of public services reforms and human resource management reforms.
Timo Moilanen, M.Soc.Sc., is a political scientist specialised in public-service ethics and human resource management. For most of his working career he has been affiliated with the University of Helsinki. He has taught human resource management, organisational ethics and research methods at various universities. He worked for several EU Presidencies in the European Public Administration Network, and carried out projects for several international institutions. The author has conducted a number of comparative studies and evaluations on state personnel and employer policy, governing bodies and public-service ethics among the EU Member States.

Inhalt
Contents: Increasing importance of ethics Uncertain and complex effectiveness of ethics Institutionalization of ethics Financial crisis and impact on workplace behavior Impact of HR reforms on ethics Evaluation of ethics instruments Good governance and ethics.