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This book identifies six ethical competencies for public leadership in contexts of pluralism. While diversity in proximity generates conflict where people want and value different things, the right kind of leadership and the right kind of politics can minimise domination, humiliation, cruelty and violence.
Written by a public policy advisor for fellow practitioners in politics and public life, this book applies political theory and social ethics to identify a set of competencies-being civil, diplomatic, respectful, impartial, fair and prudent-to keep ethics at the centre of a pluralist democratic politics. The six competencies are described in behavioural terms as personal resolutions. They offer valuable tools for mentoring and professional development.
This book will appeal to politicians and those who advise them, and anyone who engages in or aspires to public leadership, whether in the public sector, the private sector, the community and voluntary sector or academia.
List of contents
Introduction: Ethical Public Leadership.- Pluralism, Tribalism and Civility.- Rights, Interests and the Public Interest.- Freedom, Toleration and Respect.- Equality, Identity and Impartiality.- Fairness, Justification and Transparency.- Community, Reciprocity and Sustainability.- Conclusion: Building Ethical Muscle.
About the author
David Bromell has worked in senior policy advice roles in central and local government in New Zealand since 2003. He teaches political philosophy and public policy part-time in the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington. He is a Senior Associate of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University and an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury.
He has been a visiting research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Otago and the NRW School of Governance at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
