Reading 10.1 The Fish Bowl Existence of Government

Pressure

In a government agency, the pressure can be political. For example, in Arizona, public perception about the efficacy of its Child Protective Services resulted in audits and reports and a political battle that saw the agency respond to 355 requests for information from the legislature. One audit report, using the figure of number of cases per case worker, concluded that case workers were overworked, a justification for more founds for the agency from the legislature. However, a follow-up analysis by an outsider found that the initial report included, in that per case number, cases that were actually closed. That initial number was deceptive, whether by accident or choice, and costs the agency credibility. The report was compiled during a period of intense public scrutiny and political pressure. Regardless of how anyone lands on the question of the agency, its efficacy and funding, the etical issue of honesty transcend all; do the numbers depict fairly and accurately the current status of the organization?

The same question was at the heart of all the corporate scandals. The answer was that the numbers had some footnotes, some qualifiers and caveats that were not included in the financial statements, but the numbers were released to the public. The reason is the sane, whether publicly-traded company or government agency : employes felt pressure to make the numbers do what they felt their superiors wanted them to do.

Conflicts

Conflicts from appointments and awards of contracts can develop through close connections between the board numbers and elected officials. For example, one city learned that one of the Business people serving on it citizen’s board for drug education was a partial owner, along with one of the city council members, of a drug education and rehab center that was awerded several citty contracts through the board’s approval. The citizens are often the watchdogs of government actions and when their role becomes intertwined with those who appoint them, that objectivy and supervisory roel is lost. Government agencies must step beyond statutory requirements and focus on vreating a culture of virtue ethics.