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Ethics & Accountability
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Topics
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 | Administrative Ethics |
| Competing Ethical Obligations |
| Dealing with Value Conflicts |
| Accountability |
| Internal vs. external
accountability mechanisms |
| Formal vs. informal
accountability mechanisms |
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Readings
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Lecture Notes
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Web Resources
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Video Picks
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| There are several good movies
that illustrate the important ethical and moral conflicts that often
confront those that work in the public and nonprofit sectors. A few
of my favorites include: |
| A Few Good Men
(1992) staring Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon,
Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, and Cuba Gooding Jr.: Two
Marines are charged with murdering a member of their platoon during an
unsanctioned disciplinary action. The Navy assigns who they
believe is a lightweight defense attorney to handle the case.
The movie concludes with a dramatic courtroom confrontation between
the defense attorney and a high ranking military official. It is a
good movie that examines the consequences of blindly following orders.
The movie received 3 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture
and Best Supporting Actor--Jack Nicholson. |
| Miss Evers Boys
(1997) staring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne: This movie
is based on the true story of the decades-long Tuskegee
experiment. Faced with having their federal funding cut off
entirely, the staff of a syphilis treatment center in Tuskegee,
Alabama is forced to institute a government-mandated research project
in which they study--without the patients' knowledge--the effects of
the disease on untreated black patients from 1932 to 1972. The
government only apologized for the mistreatment of these patients in
1997. The movie touches on a wide range of ethical issues
surrounding program design and evaluation. It also
illustrates the importance of accountability and oversight. |
| Boiler Room (2000) staring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin
Diesel, Nia Long, and Nicky Katt: Seth Davis (Ribisi) runs a small
time casino out of his apartment until he is recruited to join a hot
new stock brokerage firm that is far from the traditions of Wall
Street. Trained by the firm's young turks (Diesel and Katt),
Seth quickly takes to the new job, its instant riches, and the hope of
his father's approval. It all seems to good to be true and is
when Seth learns the secrets behind the firm and its unethical and
illegal activities. The firm is an excellent depiction of moral
dilemmas confronting Seth and the impacts of his actions on his family
and new found friends. |
| Wall Street
(1987) staring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen,
Daryl Hannah, James Spader, and Hal Holbrook: It is the
story of how an unscrupulous, multi-millionaire corporate raider
persuades an ambitious young broker to acquire information about his
father's company, profiling the complex crime of "insider
trading" in this indictment of '80's style finance. The
movie is an excellent illustration of how greed and the lust for power
can lead to ethical and moral dilemmas. Michael Douglas won an
Academy Award for Best Actor. |
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| There are several good movies that illustrate the important role
that different accountability mechanisms play. They include: |
| Serpico (1974) staring Al
Pacino:
The story of Frank
Serpico's struggle against corruption in the New York City Police department (based on
a true story). An excellent example of how it often can be hard to do the right
thing and the role that wistle-blowers often play in exposing government corruption.
There is also an excellent A & E Biography of Frank
Serpico that you might want to watch. |
| All the President's Men (1976) staring
Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, and Jason Robards: The movie tells the tale of
Woodward and Bernsteins' quest to expose the cover-up of the Watergate break-in (based on a
true story). It is an excellent illustration of the important role that the media
plays in helping to keep government accountable. Robards and screenwriter
William Goldman both won Oscars. |
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