To countereffect the wordiness of the author, I'll keep this brief. This is a thought-provoking read, and as an administrator I will take much of this book to heart. In many respects it will be life- or at least job-altering. For that, I am very pleased.

The painful part was actually getting through the book. It is very dryly written, with pretentious language and lacking clear outline. Truly painful.

I found the first couple chapters agonizing. Then the author hit his stride and offered a lot of valuable insight. I wish it had been written in plain english rather than all the superfluous fluff. We already know you're smart: now tell us what you are trying to say.

I wouldn't have read it if I didn't have too, but since I did, it was pretty good. As an administrator, I will keep this on my book-case..Ha ha.

Terry L. Cooper's The Responsible Administrator will someday (if not already) be listed by successful and respected public administration practitioners as one of the books that had the most influence on their careers. Those who list it as such will probably have a well-worn copy on their library shelf because it is not a piece that is read through once - even very carefully, word for word - with the reader then declaring, "Now I see how it should be done." Rather, it is a book that increases in utility as one's experience in decision-making and working through administrative ethical dilemmas increases. For this reason, its greatest impact will be on practitioners, as opposed to students and academics. Nevertheless, although it is certainly realistic about, and empathetic with the day-to-day decision-making and ethical conflicts faced by public administrators, it is nonetheless theoretically thorough and academically thoughtful.

Cooper is obviously a scholar of the philosophical and moral issues surrounding public administration and decision making. In addition to his own thoughtful analysis and theory, he provides a comprehensive and thorough review of literature relating to each item of discussion, as well as on-point case studies that amplify the ethical complexities and difficulties challenging today's administrators. Fortunately for practitioners, he is not content to conclude his treatise with conceptual, theoretical and philosophical analysis of ethical problems, but suggests a design approach for dealing with both the short-term decision-making situations and the long-term organizational, political, legal, cultural, policy and procedural issues faced by administrators as they attempt to make balanced and ethical decisions.

The manner in which Cooper presents his case studies allows the reader to interact and find conceptual application. Each one is "based on reality and fictionalized only slightly to protect those who wrote them" (p. xxi), and is very illustrative and thought provoking regarding the ethical problems being discussed. However, they are always left unresolved. Cooper says, "To indicate an outcome [in each case] would diminish the experience of dilemma they are calculated to evoke" (p. xxi). This emphasizes the ultimate purpose of The Responsible Administrator which "is to illuminate the ethical situation of the public administrator and cultivate imaginative reflection about it - not to prescribe a particular set of public service values" (p. xxi). Although the volume leaves no doubt in the reader's mind that its author has strong opinions and a well-established belief structure, it makes no attempt to proselytize the reader with a substantive system of moral values or standards for public administrators.

The premise of The Responsible Administrator is that public administrators, in fulfilling their administrative responsibilities, are faced with complex and ambiguous ethical issues which force them to juggle multiple compelling factors: the facts of each situation; their own personal values and beliefs; and external obligations and institutional norms. Through the process of resolving these issues in specific and concrete situations, administrators define administrative responsibility and develop an operational ethic for themselves. Over time, "this working ethic becomes the substance of one's professional character" (p. 6).

The book focuses on providing a method whereby a design system can be developed and utilized by administrators to formulate their responsibility in dealing with conflict, tension, uncertainty and risk. "A basic assumption of this book is that the more we consciously address and systematically process the ethical dimensions of decision making when we confront significant issues, the more responsible we become in our work as administrators. It is then that we are able to account for our conduct to superiors, the press, the courts, and the public" (p. 17). The decision-making model Cooper proposes consists of four initial steps: "defining the ethical problem, describing the context, identifying the range of alternative courses of action, and projecting the probable consequences of each" (p. 245). He then prescribes stepping beyond this initial linear exercise to the "nonlinear process of searching for a fit among several considerations: moral rules, ethical principles, anticipatory self-appraisal, and a rehearsal of defenses" (p. 245). Thus, the model is a pragmatic leveling of the rational and behavioral playing fields of responsible decision making.

One chapter in The Responsible Administrator is dedicated to understanding the administrative role as it relates to the social and cultural context in which it functions. Therein he poses the question of how one sorts out "the priority of obligations between those of being a citizen in a democratic society and those associated with being a public administrator" (p. 37). This is a theme explored in even greater detail in The Spirit of Public Administration (1997), wherein H. George Frederickson concludes that the public administrator must act as a "representative citizen." Cooper suggests that the theories of Weber and Wilson regarding the separation of politics from administration are no longer viable in a postmodern society. Today, public administrators play a substantive political role and need to acknowledge their high degree of accountability to the citizenry, while at the same time being a member of the citizenry. An ethical struggle can develop, therefore, leading to confusion for the public administrator when carrying out the orders of superiors and being loyal to the organization is in conflict with his or her duty to uphold the public interest.

The Responsible Administrator is not a book that will provide much satisfaction to public servants who are looking for the answer to the question, "Why should I be moral?" But for administrators in public service who are looking for a guide to assist them in developing an operation ethic - an "ethical identity" (p. 7) - Cooper delivers. Those who commit to and adopt his design methodology should do so only if they are prepared for an ongoing and maturational process. Cooper is not proposing a read-it-once and master-it-forever theory. Rather, he is calling for public administrators to commence a life-long journey of cultivating intuitive decision-making skills, resulting in responsibility and accountability to superiors, subordinates, the law, the public and themselves.

The 'Handbook of Administrative Ethics', edited by Terry L. Cooper is divided into seven major sections which are further divided into 29 chapters. Scholars in the field of administrative ethics have written all the chapters. The book tries to Delineate implications for administrative ethics from other fields such as sociology, psychology, and philosophy, and provides a comprehensive review of administrative ethics in the public sector. It recommends useful research techniques for generating various categories of knowledge concerning administrative ethics and examines the effectiveness of ethics training and legal and organizational devices for encouraging desired conduct. It is designed to help public administrators become more effective decision makers through consciously addressing and systematically confronting ethical issues. The book provides techniques that help managers consider all the factors involved in a decision and ensure that they balance professional, personal, and organizational values. The focus of the book is mainly on public sector and it does not cover issues related to private sector. In 'The Emergence of Administrative Ethics as a Field of Study in the United States', Terry L. Cooper traces the growth of administrative ethics as a field of study from its early years in the late nineteenth century to the present. The focus of this chapter is on the literature of administrative ethics since the late nineteenth century. Coopers examines the treatment of this subject in numerous books and articles. In 'Research and Knowledge in Administrative Ethics', George Frederickson talks about different approaches to research in public administration. The dominant of these is positivist, rational, and empirical. It is by research that knowledge of ethical issues, attitudes towards ethics, and ethics behavior is developed. In the positivist family, there are five methods. These are: surveys, experimentation, interview, use of data and the use of case studies. The post-positivist or subjective research methods in the study of administrative ethics include history, naturalistic inquiry, and stories. Frederickson basically describes the differences and similarities between the different approaches by drawing examples from numerous sources. In 'Ethics Education in Public Administration', Catron and Denhardt talk about the necessity of ethics education, the contents of ethics courses, and the strategies for incorporating ethics into the curriculum. 'Ethics in Inservice Training' describes the lack and need of the training of ethics and associated things in the public sector services. Hejka-Ekins first describe different approaches to ethics education. This is mainly based on John Rohr's work. There is a difference between "compliance ethics" and "integrity ethics". Compliance ethics refers to compliance of employees regarding legal or official rules and statutes while integrity ethics attempts to impart ethical standards and values. Compliance ethics specify "what employees should not do" where as integrity ethics lay stress on "what employees should do". Another differentiation is based on "Fusion ethics" and "Integration ethics". The chapter then describes the currents training efforts in the US public sector. At the federal level, the Office of Government ethics is responsible for providing directions to officers and employees in executive agencies. At the state level, The Council of State Governments/Council has compiled guidelines in its COGEL Blue Book. This is based on a huge data which is compiled biennialy. At the local level, The Municipal Reference Service of the National League of Cities and the International City Management Association play an active role in defining ethics. At the professional level, The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training is responsible for providing training to all law enforcement officers in the state of California. Similarly, there are other bodies in different states. Section II, "Philosophical Perspectives in Public Administration", includes five chapters. In "The Use of Philosophy in Administrative ethics", Charles J. Fox, clearly differentiates between the study of philosophy and ethics. Fox identifies two kinds of orientations. These are foundationalist teleological (consequentialist) and deontological (duty oriented) orientations is the literature. He next talks about the current challenges of different philosophies and orientations. David Hart in "Administration and the Ethics of Virtue" describes administrative ethics as a virtue. The ethics of virtue have been divided into six categories: the cardinal virtues; moral excellence; moral action; moral intentionality and voluntarism; moral reinforcement and refreshment; and living the best life. The four cardinal virtues are: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. The chapter concludes with the qualities of a virtuous administrator. Ralph Chandler in "Deontological Dimensions of Administrative Ethics" talks about one of the two orientations described by Fox in "The Use of Philosophy in Administrative ethics" i.e., Deontological ethics. He defines and explains the meaning and implications of deontological ethics. He also summarizes the work of eighteenth century philosopher Immanuel Kant which led to the theory of Kantiansim. He also discusses two other so called 'single rule deontological' theories. These are: Ethical and Cultural Relativism and Agapism. The next chapter "A Teleological Approach to Administrative Ethics" by Gerald M. Pops discusses the second approach as opposed to the "Deontological approach" as described above. This is the consequential approach because unlike deontological approach, this is not concerned with duty to principle, but to the goodness of the consequences of one's act. Section III, "Contexts of Administrative Ethics" deals with the organizational setting and public realm in which public administration is practiced. The first chapter "Organizational Structure as a Context for Administrative Ethics" by Kathryn G. Denhardt discusses relationships between the organization structure and administrative ethics. The organization structure plays an important role in shaping an employee's values resulting in his behavior. Although it might not directly impact the behavior but there could be hidden aspects which effect an employee's behavior. There are four ways in which the organization affects the culture. It acts as an embodiment of values and institutionalizes it; it shapes and reinforces values; it acts as a shield against outside influences; and finally it acts as a pathological organism that influences those within it. Next chapter, "Governmental Ethics and Organizational Culture", by Leigh E. Grosenick essentially discusses the role of ethics vis-a-vis Governmental organizations. It discusses the role of culture in shaping employee's ethical/unethical behavior. Curtis Ventriss, in chapter 12, "The 'Publicness' of Administrative Ethics" begins with a distinction between administrative ethics and public ethics, arguing for the latter as a broader and more appropriate perspective within which to develop an administrative ethic. Ventriss then offers some observations about the surprising lack of attention to the meaning of "public" in the study of public administration and moves on to a review of literature that addresses this subject. This material is classified into four categories: classical, neo-classical, consequential and organizational. Section IV, "Maintaining Ethical Conduct: External Controls", examines various legal and organizational devices for encouraging desired conduct. According to Jeremy F. Plant, the author of "Codes of Ethics", codes of ethics help to define acceptable conduct. A code can be written or in written but for it to be enforceable, it should be written. A written code can be enforces by any authority which has the jurisdiction power. E.g. a lot of companies has an element of this code in their mission statement. Some companies have such codes inscribed on each and every wall. In such cases, it is usually up to the employees but in other cases, like the systems of laws, such codes and mandatory. The author goes on to review the literature on this topic and concludes by taking the example of the code of ethics of the International city Management Association. The next chapter. "Ethics Legislation" by Harriet McCullough traces the history of laws related to ethics since 1960. "Locks are only for gentlemen" and hence we need legislation. It provides balanced, in-depth coverage of controversial topics in the areas of law and ethics within the business environment and introduces issues via specific legal cases. It analyzes the participation of federal courts in the area of public administration at all levels of government, presenting legal decisions based on how indiv