This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Jos, P. H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Social Contract Theory

Implications for Professional Ethics

College of Charleston, South Carolina

Social contract theorists of the 17th and 18th centuries provide diverse accounts of human nature and the social processes that shape conflict, cooperation, and compliance. These ideas are applied to the challenges of contemporary public administration, specifically; the effort that often underlies both the search for public administration's identity and professionalization more generally: the effort to build consensus on shared values and ideals and ensure ethical practice with a minimum of external policing. A consideration of social contract theory yields a heavy dose of realism when it comes to this objective but invites neither despondency nor complacency.

Key Words: professions • ethics • administration • codes

The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 36, No. 2, 139-155 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0275074005282860


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?