Utilitarian Ethic In Public Administration

Decision-making that affects the lives of the public or occurs in a high-risk, delicate situation cannot afford to be aimless. Thus, it is logical that philosophies have been developed to direct an individual’s behavior and are applicable in various fields such as the criminal justice system and the public sector. The utilitarian ethic is a school of thought that can conceivably impact the actions employed in public administration. The principle behind the utilitarian ethic holds that maximizing the happiness for the greatest number should function as the foundation when formulating judgments (Starling, 2011, p. 187). Therefore, the utilitarian ethic can facilitate the interests of those individuals that identify as being a part of the greatest number, but considerably disadvantage the “minority”. For example, suppose that the government is faced with a crisis and their designated response can result in either the mass loss of human life or the deaths of a few. Consequently, officials may determine that ensuring the

Starling (2011) “Kant found that ultimately all moral decisions should be based on a single principle: Act as if the maxim of your action were to become a general law binding on everyone” (p. 189). In other words, no one is exempt from observing the rules and rules that are implemented should evenly pertain to the people as a whole. The applicability of the categorical imperative in the public sector is discernible. For example, in accordance to Kant, policymakers would not enact a policy they would not intend to follow or a policy they would oppose being bound to. In addition, Kant rejected the act of lying and did not deem it as being acceptable under any circumstances (Starling, 2011, p. 189). Thus, deception within the public sector, in spite of the purported reasoning, would constitute as being utterly wrong when subject to Kant’s